001say good evening everyone. We're going to call the meeting to order. If we can please rise for the pledge of allegiance. Sorry. >> I pledge algiance 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. I know. Thank you. >> Okay, we're going to move on to our Golden Apple Awards. Dr. Lans. >> Thank you very much, Madam President. I'm happy to turn over to Miss Mir. >> Okay. Thank you, Dr. Lans. Our Golden Apple recipient this evening is Miss Amy White. >> Come on down. Let's go. Here we go. >> Feel free to if it's really uncomfortable, you're in the right spot. So that's great. Yeah, I know. It's difficult, isn't it? You can just spin.
002There you go. The whole time. >> Amy White is a CI program pair professional at Wald Lake Central High School. Amy was nominated for consistently opening her heart to her students and providing the love and support that they need and deserve. Amy goes above and beyond to help her students in any way she can. Whether that's offering a hug, sharing kind words, or supporting them in any way within her reach. She speaks to her students with genuine warmth and helps them feel valued. She is also a steady source of support for her co-workers, always ready with a listening ear or encouraging words. Amy never hesitates to seek support when she or her students need it. Thank you, Amy, for ensuring that every student you work with feels cared for and has the best day possible.
003We're honored to honor you. life. They're all out of high school now. And so I joy for me to be at my kids school at Central Friday and just still being a part of this community. So thank you. >> Thank you. Okay, we're going to move on to new course proposal. Dr. >> Thank you very much, Miss Quansky. >> Thank you. Um uh Miss Michelle Brandon, our Northern High School uh fizzed teacher, is going to be uh presenting a new course offering that's been piloted last year and now this year. Uh it's called Outdoor Pursuits. um she'll be reviewing a presentation for the board's consideration. Uh this new course offering uh we're hoping to uh seek approval from the board in January. So that timetable is that 30 days and uh if approved it will
004be added to the official program of studies for students to select and has uh this process has been endorsed by the administration and then as I mentioned that motion for approval for the adoption of this will be presented to the board at the January 8th 2026 meeting. So, with that, I'm going to turn it over to Michelle and uh she's got a presentation to share with you and then she's happy to answer any questions that that you may have afterward. >> Okay. So, thanks for having me. I'm going to try to keep this under 40 minutes. I'm not kidding. Uh, so Outdoor Pursuits is a class that I have been dreaming up for couple years and I talked to Kathy a lot about it and finally we put a proposal together and they let me
005try it and it's been awesome. So, um, basically outdoor pursuits, it is an actual fizzed class. It does have, um, state and, um, national benchmarks that I meet, standards that we meet within this curriculum. Um, we do all of our activities outside or as much outside as possible. They have skill development just like any other PE class. Um, there's a lot of challenges, personal and team challenges, um, outside in nature's elements, which is awesome. Um, there's a lot of there's a lot of stuff in here, so I'm going to go through it as much as I can, but uh, we I try to do water-based activities as well as land-based activities and adventure focused activities. So, things uh, in the water. Um, we do fishing. I can do fishing in the pool, too. I have
006these plastic fish that float. There's a whole lesson. It's amazing. Um, you should come and and fish with us. But, uh, I have we can do we just did, uh, paddle boarding in the pool for a week. Um, we do a little bit of water ecology. I'm not that's not my strong point, but it's where I hope to get better at. Um, ice fishing, water safety. I'm going to have um, a police officer next um, semester, early next semester, come in and all the kids will get their boater safety license. So, there's a lot of water-based um activities, landbased, a lot easier to do at school, hiking, backpacking, we do orienteering, we do um geocaching, we put up tents, we put up hammocks. Um they love it. Um we just did some outdoor cooking today.
007They they love it. Um and then adventure based, we have bikes. I've written several grants. We um do biking. We um sled on campus. We're lucky enough to have a hill and so we sle at school. They love that as well. Um when we go to the outdoor center, we've been twice last year and this year we do the high ropes. Um they Southeastern Michigan Orientering comes out and sets up a whole course through Proud Lake for the kids and they go and do it. It's amazing. Last time it was pouring and I'm like, "Oh, they're going to come back any second." And they didn't. They finished. They were so excited. They loved it. Um I am taking a group whitewater rafting in West Virginia this summer. So, um I I love it. Okay, I'll
008keep going. uh every um one awesome thing about physical education across the board is that we touch all four domains of education. So we uh physical domain, effective domain, social and cognitive and that's definitely true for this course as well. So they're learning skills, they're learning u consequences to choices that they might be making whether it's you know tying up a hammock in a tree, what happens if my knot is too high? Well then my butt's on the ground, right? Or what if one's higher than the other? My feet are higher than my head. They fall asleep. So super uncomfortable, but they learn that um they work together a lot and there's communication. Um they feel better about themselves. They they they love being outside. Um I could go on and on about this. Um
009I wrote the course proposal um two years ago and I don't want to read it word for word here, but mostly because I believe that I mean how many of you in this room as adults are playing a competitive sport still? Maybe a few, maybe a few, but most of us aren't playing competitive anything. We're not doing, you know, football or baseball or some some adults do a volleyball or a kickball or whatever, but most of us don't. But what we are doing is hiking and biking and gardening and um boating and things like that. Those are like adult things. And so I'm hoping to prepare these kids for what's next. And um I want them to grow up and have be able to go camping with their families and teach them how to be
010safe around the fire and how to cook at the fire. And it's amazing some of my I have a kid in my class this year who's never carved a pumpkin. A high schooler has never carved a pumpkin. And so now of course I'm thinking I spent $88 on eight pumpkins. I can't keep doing this. So now I want to plant some pumpkins at school second semester so that next year first semester we have more pumpkins. But I couldn't believe that. And I have kids that have never slept in a tent, never put a hammock up, and it's these are things they can do for the rest of their life. So that's why I wanted to teach the class. Um there is a lot of research that links improved wellness, mental wellness, and physical wellness to
011time spent outside in nature. So we will not open those right now, but the information is there if you're interested. Um why I'm passionate about the course, I pretty much just said it. I love being outside. Um, I think the kids learn from the teachers that are passionate about what they're teaching, so hopefully they're learning in my class. Um, non-athletic kids feel successful. Um, they are doing lifelong skills that they can continue to do with family and friends. Um, yeah. So, I'll keep going. There's my block plan for semester 1 and two. Leave no trace principles, geocaching, navigating, learning how to read a map. That's a life skill. My mom will tell you she still reads a map and she gets annoyed by by the GPS, right? So, like everyone should be able to read
012a map and kids today don't aren't always learning those skills, but these kids are. Um, we did pumpkin carving this year. I didn't do it last year. It was amazing. Uh, backpacking, first aid. I mean, I don't need to read all of that for you, but um, all of those things are linked to, um, standards in the curriculum, um, state and national standards. So, I'm just going to show a couple quick pictures, but that's a trail actually at Northern. Um, we rode our bikes uh one day around around campus and that again is on campus. We rode one day to Long's Farm and got catered and donuts and that was really fun. These are some emergency shelters they buil built out of tarps and wood and sticks and whatever they could find. Um, fishing on
013campus. We have a little retention pond and one of our former custodians actually stocked it with bluegill. So, um there's bluegill in there. And then that's at Proud Lake when we went camping, backpacking. We spend the night for two nights at Proud Lake. Um those are the tents they put up and the hammocks they put up. High ropes, that's at the outdoor center. It's beautiful there in October. It's gorgeous. So, we go there in October every year. That's their walk wall. Outdoor cooking. This is probably their favorite part of class. Um, we learned to cook on a fire at camp because we can't make a fire at school, but we do use the backpacking stoves, which is in the bottom corner. Blake's there cooking, I don't know, ramen noodles or something. We use those all
014the time. And today we made chocolate covered pretzels with our backpacking stoves, and it's great. Uh, there's our pumpkin carving. Um, the young man on the top left with the black sweater, he's the one that has never Aziz is his name. He's never carved a pumpkin before, so that was his first time. Archery, we do 3D archery. Um, I just got another FFE grant for more archery equipment. Um, and then we do bullseye equipment. Um, archery as well. Water safety. That's Dawson on the right. He made a life jacket out of pants. So, I have them all jump in. They have to tread. They have to float with their clothes on and then take their they have a suit underneath, but they take their jeans off. And while they're treading, they had to make a
015life jacket. It's way harder than it sounds. So, he's super happy because he did it. Um, paddle boarding. Those are all pictures from last year, but I just wrote another grant and got I have eight new pedal boards that we did this summer or I'm sorry, this week. So, that was um sledding. So fun. Even the kids that forgot their jackets and boots still came out and went sledding with us. Um if I were to link if I were to click on that link, it would take you to the the benchmarks, which most of us probably aren't super interested in, but they're there. So, if you guys want to see them, it's in the slideshow. Um this is my favorite part, so I hope you'll indulge me. It's a couple minutes long, but this has
016um student feedback. Those are some grants I won, but I didn't mean to get there yet. Matt Weber, I think, had the volume up. >> Hi, my name is Eli. I was in Miss Burn's class as a senior, class of 2025, and it was my favorite class of high school. >> Hi, my name is Andrew Schneer. I was in outdoor pursuits last year. last year and by far my favorite two memories were sledding with the whole class and setting up our hammocks because we all had teamwork involved a little bit with it. >> All right. Hello, my name is Mason Bangal. Uh I took outdoor pursuits last year and I think anyone who has the opportunity to take it definitely should. It is by far the best class I took in all of high school
017and that's saying a lot. Um, my favorite memory is when we took our camping trip and we built hammocks and built tents and we stayed the night in Proud Lake. Let's see. We also made food overnight and I can tell you I some of the friendships I made in that class, I'll be friends with them for life. Nothing will ever ever be the same as as that class was and nothing will ever be that fun. Um, I'm starting an owl watching club here at Kazoo College in honor of that class that got me into owls. So, I think definitely if you have the chance to take it, you definitely should. Miss Brandon is a phenomenal teacher, not only in gym, but for outdoor pursuits. And so, yeah, if you have the chance to take it,
018I think you should. So, yeah. Thank you. So, I'm Dawson and I am um I'm uh representing Miss Brandon's class uh outdoor pursuit class. And uh one of my favorite things that I did there was going camping cuz it's it's like an experience that you never get to experience anywhere else other than in that class. You're camping with a bunch of your classmates and everything. And not only that, but I learned so much on that on that trip camping. I learned um what like what to avoid for like poisonous plants and uh poison ivy like that stuff and um also ticks. Ticks are a big thing around there and I learned how to prevent that and remove them safely without uh going to any urgent care anywhere. But I believe that Miss Brandon should be
019able to run this class literally forever. And not only run it forever, but be funded to do this because I I believe that this class offers something that nothing else you can't get it anywhere else. Feel like every kid should know and experience what outdoor is like, out, what the outdoor pursuit class is like, because it offers so much more than just a class. It's experience. It's um bonding with like other people in ways that you wouldn't be able to do in a classroom. But I believe that this is probably one of the best classes you could take ever in high school. And I still think about that class to this day. And I believe that every kid should be able to take that. And I feel like every school should offer that. Thank you.
020>> So he's a doll. He uh actually came back and helped my daughter with her Girl Scout project roofing. And he's these kids are great. Anyways, uh this is this one's faster, I believe. Trust me, it's my current kids. >> My name is Nicholas Bowen, and my favorite part about this class is the fact that we get to come outside during school hours and experiment on like how to survive in the outdoors. learning supporter and something I liked about the class is being able to go outside during the day and the field trips were a lot of fun. >> All right, my name Wyatt. Uh, something I like about the outdoor pursuit class is the field trips and stuff like longs and camping. And something I've learned is how to use a cooking stove outside,
021which was pretty cool, I guess. Yeah. >> One thing I learned in this class was how to put a hammock up. I've never known how to do that. And uh another thing is uh using cooking stoves. I've never used a cooking stove before. I've always just had my stove inside my house. >> My name's Cohen. My favorite part of this class is the field trips and being outside more. And something that I tried that I've never done was sleep in a hammock and tent camp. >> Hi, my name is Hunter. My favorite thing about this class is definitely the camping trip because we got to like apply what we learned. I've learned a lot of different stuff. Tried a lot of different things like sleeping in a hammock, try new food. I really like this
022class. >> Uh, one thing I learned how to do was set up a tent. I never knew how to do that. Oh, and cook outdoors. That's brand new for me, too. I have learned a lot from this class. From learning how to hike to building a tent to hammocking, I've not only learned how to do all those things, but I learned my love for nature. >> I know. Isn't she cute? Okay, so almost done. >> Uh my name is Nicholas Bowen, and >> my favorite part about this class. >> Okay. Um so those are some grants that I wrote to get the equipment. Also, my PTA bought me 12 hammocks and I've done some fundraising, sold some t-shirts and used some of my department money. So, um, we have a lot of money, a lot
023of money invested into this class. Um, so my reflection is over the past two years, a lot has gone really, really well. I've been surprised. I've been really happy. I love watching the kids grow and have fun. Um, some things that, um, oh, and the second time around definitely went better than the first time around. I just learned what to do and how to do it as all teachers do. We're constantly reflecting, right? So, it's always it kept getting better and better. Uh my kids have been absolutely amazing. They were constantly talking with their friends about it. Kids are like, "What what are you doing?" And we I on purpose like I'm pretty smart and sneaky. So, when we do our bike rides, I make sure I go by all the classroom windows. And when
024we did our um you know our pumpkin carving, I made sure it was right in the middle of the commons where everyone saw it. So um a lot of kids are really interested and asking for schedule changes, which makes me happy. Um so let's see. The only thing I wish was different is like honestly Welic Central would be the amazing place to teach this class because they have block scheduling. So today we were really rushing. Um they have the Richardson Center, they have bike trails. I mean, I don't know why they're not doing it there, but um that would be an amazing place to teach this class. I just feel like my classes are a little too short. I wish they were like 70 minutes. It would be perfect. Um I also wish I had
025a classroom that was like right off the gym, which I used to have, but I don't anymore. So, if I'm teaching in the comments, there's a lot of distractions. Or if I'm teaching on the other end of the building, we're not as close to my equipment. So, those are like just the two small things that aren't like not deal breakers, right? So, I'll deal with having an inconvenient classroom if I can keep teaching this class. Um, the administration and the community, my community partners have been amazing. Um, Proud Lake gives us free firewood when we go and Carrie at the outdoor center has been amazing and my administration's been amazing. So, um, it's been really great. I want to keep expanding activities. Um, I did get approval to make a bike trail on campus. So,
026um, I just and I have a bike shop that's actually willing to work with me on that. So, they're excited about it, too. Um, I have a dream of building a garden. We have that retention pond, but there's super huge weeds. And so, every time we like cast our rod, we're bringing in like weeds. So, it would be amazing if we could have like a little like platform or something so we could stand on that. Um, if that's possible. This is huge dream, but you know, the elementary schools have the small little rock walls. Um, I want a really big rock wall, but I know it's really expensive, so that's probably not going to happen before I retire. But um and I would love to also partner with my science teachers and I said I
027wasn't really strong with water ecology. It's really interesting to me. I went and actually got certified to be a fishing instructor, which is crazy, but it was amazing. I learned to fly fish and everything. Um but they did a lot of water ecology there and I loved it. I just don't have the background to teach it. So if I could partner with a science teacher for like little sessions like that, I think that would be really cool. And then that's it. So, thanks for letting me share my passion. Is Is there any questions or comments or concerns? >> Mr. Seagler? >> Not questions, but you you know, I'm looking at this as a an evolution, if you will, of fifth grade camp that has morphed now into the high schools. And I really I do
028love the idea because you look at the collaboration your students are doing together. You look at the tie-in to science, the learning about nature, teamwork, uh outdoor safety, which a lot of our children are not exposed to, how to survive, if you will, in the outdoors. Uh again, I don't I think most of our young adult children don't spend enough time out there to do that. And you you're also watching student growth and you're watching them really appreciate the depth of what you're what you're doing. And I I the enthusiasm I I can see it already bottled up in you. I can see I can see it in the students and uh I wish you luck and I can't wait to see what the end result is. >> Thank you. >> Um I'm I'm very
029excited about this course. I think sounds really cool. um especially in a world where we are so focused on technology and I feel like that we have this disconnect between us and nature. So to actually really force our kids out into nature and reconnect with it and learn those basic survival skills and that's what it sounds like a lot of basic survival skills which I think is just amazing but we could really utilize in our lives today. So, I really appreciate you really being passionate about this enough to bring it into our schools and try to have a course that's offered. Um, so thank you very much. I am curious about how you plan on doing a final exam. >> So, yeah, that's a good question. And so, um, last semester I the kids are
030taking pictures and I'm taking pictures and then they all had to present at the end of the, um, la last semester of, um, basically a reflection. It was like a virtual um, what's the word I'm looking for? Uh, not like a scrapbook, but a portfolio. Um, so they had to there was some questions that they had to answer like what did you learn? What were you surprised about? um what did you not enjoy? Um and then they, you know, put in some pictures and they had to present it to their class. Um this year, in addition to something like that, they're researching an outdoor career and they're presenting that. So, people have chosen DNR. Oh, and the first boy, Eli, on here that was very quiet. He actually was going to go into athletic training,
031but after my class, he's decided to be a DNR officer. Yeah. So, he's currently at OC taking some police work, whatever you have to do before you can be a a DNR officer. But anyway, so um the careers were um like park rangers, tour guides, DNR officers. Um I can't remember all of them. One of them wants to be a lifeguard. I'm like, good luck with having that be your career, but it's, you know, a you should research it. Um and I can't remember the list of them, but they all have picked a different list. Uh, one of them wants to be a zoologologist and work with the animals at the zoo. And he promised me he'd only work with outdoor animals, so I let him do it. Um, so that's part of their their
032we're adding that piece. Um, another project I did have them do at one point, it was really kind of um a yucky period of time. I don't know, rain or something. We didn't go outside. So we researched local parks that they could go to. So they all had to pick a different local park. How far is it from Northern? We had Northern be the base. What can you do there? How much is the cost? like um you know, Kensington has a lot of different activities. Other parks don't. So, but people didn't know about the Wisewood Trails, so one of the boys wrote about the Wisewood Trails and um so I'm having them do that kind of stuff, too. So, that's plugged into their final assessment. >> Yep. Mr. Lipit. >> Yeah, thank you for your
033presentation. Super enthusiastic about this. It's like the uh the anti-screen time class, which I which I appreciate. Um just really quickly um what are your numbers likely to be uh for this year? How many students? Uh what grades? And also I'm interested in knowing what costs will be for families and students to be part of this course. >> Sure. So um the first year it was kind of hard to recruit people for a class that had never existed before. So I had 17 kids last year in the class. Um this year it's more it's closer to 30. Um, I have Okay, that was the numbers. What was the next question? >> Oh, grades. So, I only wanted to offer it 10th through 12th grade because I just felt like maybe the freshmen weren't quite as
034mature, but honestly, um, I think freshmen are easier to teach than sophomores, personally. And a freshman accidentally got put in my class and I let him stay and he was Hunter, the kind of quiet kid. But he has an A++ in my he has like 105% because he does all the extra credit. like I offered them five points if you can make a whistle out of an acorn top, which I learned as a Girl Scout, but none of these people knew how to do. And so now it's really funny. They bring it inside and they're like blowing their whistle constantly. And if you know Milkshake Mike from the outdoor center, he said to me one time, "Don't you kind of feel now like the parent that bought their kid the drum set because they they
035will not stop with these whistles?" So anyways, that's why he has 104%. Um, so I am going to ask when I um if the class passes and I work with uh the counselors to put it in the course book, I think I'm just going to open it up to nth grade, too, because that ninth grader is some of my nth graders are more mature than some of my tenth graders. So that's kind of a um so it's open to everyone and the cost like um I do try to make it as um economical as possible. Nothing is mandatory. No one has to go to the camping trip, but when we went to Longs it was $5. when uh we oh we did a Thanksgiving dinner. I didn't talk about that, but we I brought in
036a turkey, but they made the stuffing and the corn and the mashed potatoes and the gravy and everything in those little cook pots and that was $5. They all gave me $5 and I just I just bought the diff. I just covered the difference. Um and then our camping trip was $80. Um two people did not go camping this time, but they said it was just because they didn't want to miss school. Um, so I am guessing that they're spending less than a hundred if they went on everything, which is probably I mean I think that the choir field trip to Cedar Point is the same. So I don't know if it's that much different. >> Yep. Mr. Smith, >> thank you uh for this wonderful presentation as well. It's it's uh viewing it as
037a different approach to PE and this will be an extra as well. PE still happens of course. Um, is this uh each semester? Is it going to be different topics that are more spring summery versus I see on the >> slide? Yes. Last year I only taught first semester and um I did something else second semester. I didn't have that fifth hour, you know, the next semester. This year I have it both. So I am thinking to myself, how can I make it different? So if one kid wanted to stay and I do I have like five kids who are going to be in it both semesters. I want it to be different for them. So, we did um I did, for example, I don't have a picture of it here, but the plastic fish
038I have, I they were all over the commons, and we learned how to cast our rods and catch the fish and bring them in on the ground. Next semester, I'll do a similar activity, but we'll have it they float. So, we'll do it in the pool. And then when they take the fish and they look at the bottom, it'll say, "This is a rainbow trout. It's eight inches long." They have to open up their DNR book and they have to look to see if it's in season and if it's big enough and if it's the type they can keep. And if it is, they'll put it in the bucket. And if not, they throw it back in the pool and they have a bucket and it'll be a contest like how many fish are you
039allowed to whatever. So, I'm just gonna have the same activity but different so it's not boring. I did a photo scavenger hunt first semester where there was a big I had crazy stuff down there too that I did not think they were going to find like easy stuff like a beehive and a bird's nest. But there was I put animal bones on there and they found a coyote skull in the woods by our school. So, like they I saw oops, sorry. They had to take a picture of everything they found. Next semester they're going to do a scavenger hunt, but they have to be able to spell their name like with objects in the in the wilderness, right? So, the shape of the tree or the whatever. So, it's a similar but different. So, it's
040going to be interesting. And we're also going to go camping at a different location that we can do boating at because we didn't do boating yet. So, I did paddle boarding in the pool, but I haven't done boating. So, at a camp, we're going to be able to kayak and do so different skills. >> Okay. And then tied into that, could someone realistically take this course their entire high school career? >> So, Eli, the young man in here, he was my physical education senior um award winner because we have a a department award winner every year. He took five PE classes with me. Was five PE classes with me last year. I had him first hour, third hour, fifth hour first semester and first hour and third hour second semester. He took team sports many
041times. He had all of his credits. That is what the kid loved to do. He loved to move. He loved to be active. He he graduated. He had all of his credits, but he didn't want to take, you know, the other stuff. He wanted to be in the gym. So, he wanted to be an athletic trainer to be fair. But, um, so he can take this class as many times as you want, just like you can take team sports as many times as you want or weightlifting as many times as you want. It's going to be hard for me to keep making it different. But one thing I told the boys, we were cooking today and I said, "Okay, now next semester you five are going to be my experts." So you can help me
042teach the new kids next semester so I can, you know, monitor my way out of that. >> And then with with it, I believe you last question is that you tied in that, you know, working with maybe local police department. And I know some of them like for instance Wolverine Lake has a marine patrol like other things like working with multi lakes and other things. >> Oakland um Oakland County Marine Division Tim I can't remember his last name. I just my daughter just went and got her boater safety license. I've already had mine but I redid it. I spent 20 minutes with him talking about how to get him because we used to do it in our teen health classes but we don't anymore. So I begged him to come and he's going to do
043it for free. Um there's no cost except for my sub for the day. Um and he'll do it. He'll be there all day and the kids will leave with their certification. So, he's for sure coming in. Proud Lake has been a partner. Um the bike shop that I'm going to be working with um cycle therapy will be coming in and helping me with a bike path. So, if anyone has any ideas or any community partners, I would love to hear more about it. Mrs. West, >> sorry, I have another question. Um you said you go camping. How do you separate like how do you manage the campsite with both males and females? >> Um well they're not allowed to share a tent obviously. Um if but everyone actually every single kid has that part of
044their grade is they have to put up their own tent and put up their own hammock. So every individual kid is in their own tent and their own hammocks and then I make sure that I have both female and male chaperones. And um let's see Sadia I only had one girl in the So what makes it easy is I only have one girl. The rest are all boys. So Sadia was kind of over on my side with me and the boys were over there. Um, but they are all in their own structure while they're sleeping. There's not even two boys in the same tent. They all have their own. >> Thank you. >> Yep. >> Thank I I have one question, but I just want to say I'm so enthralled with your enthusiasm and this
045class sounds fantastic and you are right. Us as adults need to keep pushing those activities for us as well. Yes. Um, I want to ask you about the whitewater rafting trip. Yep. >> Like how many kids are going with you and you know, how does that work? And I assume it's not a mandatory thing. >> No, it's not mandatory at all. As a matter of fact, I well, I offered it to my first and my second semester classes. I emailed them right away after as soon as it was approved. I sent it out to everybody and said, I really need to know by this day. And it was turn the sign up was slow. It was 600. It's $695 for three nights, bus transportation, all your food, two days of white water rafting, and ziplining.
046I mean, it's a pretty good deal, actually. So, if any of you want to come, I have some room. Um, so yeah, Mr. Lions, do you want to come? Have you ever >> Okay, you should come. Like, what better way for the board of education to see what I'm doing? So, um, I offered it up to not just my classes, but when the sign up was slow, I offered it to the whole school. So, every single like all 1400 families or whatever got the invite and people were signing up. I have one family from Wik Central coming. Um, I have currently 23 people signed up. I really need 24 to like not lose a ton of money, but we can have up to 48. So, I still have some room for you all if you'd
047like to come. >> It's June 14th to 17th. >> Well, thank you. Yes, >> we appreciate it. Um and very excited to hear. >> Okay. Thank you. >> So, thank you very much. >> Thank you. >> Okay, we're going to move on to 31A. Dr. Lans. >> Thank you, Madam President. As some of people in our community may know, when the state passed their budget 31A is safety and security money that we've been receiving for a number of years. In this particular version of it, they added some additional requirements and we asked our attorney to come in and explain those requirements, the additional requirements to the board of education as some of them have a substantial impact on how the district could function. So, I'm happy to introduce Adam Bllelock from Miller Johnson who is
048here to present an update to the board and to our community on 31A safety and security money. Good evening and thank you for having me. Um I have not had the opportunity to work closely with this board before. Uh but I've become the subject matter expert on our team for this. So um I want to introduce myself briefly. Uh I've been with the MJ team a little bit more than two years. Uh in a prior life I was actually a school administrator. I was a director of human resources at Lincoln Consolidated Schools. Uh and I've been in and around schools for more than a decade now as a lawyer or as an administrator. So, I want to give you that background and that I come to this not only as a lawyer, but also as
049someone that sat in the seat that some of your administrators are right now. Um, and I want to give a little bit more context to Dr. Lansza's statement about this particular bucket of funding. Um, so it originated in the aftermath of the Oxford shooting. Uh, the goal was to provide schools more resources for safety, security, and mental health components. Uh, the provision that we're discussing today is unique and novel. uh to the best of my estimation, it's the first attempt by any state legislature to impose this kind of requirement on a local school district. Uh and ultimately, while I I hope and pray that it's never consequential for any school district here in the state of Michigan or across the country, um it has the potential to be a very consequential decision for the organization.
050And so I apologize for the darker tone after the great enthusiasm that we just saw. Um but this is an important topic and that's why I'm here. Um, I've had the opportunity to speak with dozens of superintendents and a number of school boards about this particular topic. Uh, and I'll be candid is ask your questions. Don't wait for me to get to the end because you'll probably forget. And we're going to talk about some kind of difficult practical things as well. So, uh, unfortunately that is where we are this evening. So I want to start with a little bit related to the actual statutory text and the thing that is giving everyone so much indigestion. Uh and I've bolded and underlined kind of the key clause from this language which requires local school districts to
051affirmatively agree to wave any privilege that may otherwise protect information from disclosure in the event of a mass casualty event. And so that word, those words mass casualty events mean a couple of different things and we'll talk about that a little bit more. Um, but ultimately the target for this is just what I talked about. It's school shootings. It's mass events that are catastrophic for local school districts. The thing that's given everyone so much indigestion is that concept of affirmatively wave any privilege because it's kind of a bedrock principle of American civics to be able to talk to your lawyer and have that conversation be confidential. Uh and ultimately that is what has caused all of the issues and all of the indigestion. I don't think anyone disagrees with the idea of agreeing to be
052subject to an investigation. That seems fair and reasonable. Um, it's the idea that the conversations that you might have with district counsel might ultimately be disclosed. And that's something that kind of cuts to the core of a lot of basic principles that uh I as an attorney feel. I don't like it. I'll be honest. I don't like this language. I don't think it's good for schools. But it is the law. Uh, at least it's the statutory text. The second piece, and again, this is a lot of words on the slides. I don't expect you to read them all, but I want to I want to give you these words to have you and have in front of you. Um, the comprehensive investigation that's also subject to this language has certain expectations in terms of what
053they're going to investigate. And then after that mass mass casualty event, the governor has the authority to appoint this independent investigator. Um, and that person or that organization is supposed to be given access to all relevant records and data, interview witnesses and district personnel involved, and then issue findings and recommendations based on that investigation, and then ultimately generate a report that will be transmitted to the legislature. All of which is a lot of stuff to be thinking about in the aftermath of what is the most catastrophic event that a school district could potentially deal with. So unsurprisingly, when you've got something like this, people sued. Um, so there are two lawsuits that are going on right now. Um, and as I as I mentioned to Dr. Lans earlier this week when he asked me to
054put together this presentation, I said, "Well, we're probably going to have something that happens between now and then." And I was right. Um, so the first case is the federal court case that was there was an opinion issued earlier this week in that case and it effectively kicked the can down the road. Uh, it said it's not going to consider or contemplate what's going to go on with this case until after final resolution of the state case. Uh, and candidly, I think after the state case decision, which was issued yesterday, uh, the most likely outcome is that that whole case is going to get kicked out. Um it's possible that there's a different permutation or a different set of facts, but I think that's the most likely outcome. And then yesterday, uh the Michigan Court
055of Claims issued a decision upholding that privilege waiver. And there was a a large group of school districts and school officials that have sued uh in both of these cases. And I was hopeful, although not optimistic, uh and ultimately was proven right in terms of the decision. Now, there are likely going to be appeals uh and the deadline for a decision or a recision on the decision that the district has made uh is December 30th. And so what I would suggest is the most important takeaway from the discussion that you end up having tonight is giving Dr. L's clear direction on what the board's will is on this particular topic. And I'll be candid, districts are all over the place. This is perhaps the most split that I've ever seen school districts on any particular
056issue. Uh, and I say that as someone that that lives and breathe this breathes this. I I represent many of the school districts in South Eastern Michigan and all across the state. Uh, and it seems like every place I go, I am a little surprised by the conversation that we have. Madam President, >> as you bring that up, oh, I'm sorry, my I don't want Jimmy to tell me which districts, but can you give me a percentage of what are saying yes and what are saying no? You know, where is it splitting? And you can focus this in Oakland County if you want. >> So, it it's the dynamic has changed a little bit as this whole thing has developed. Um, but when I talk about specifically the privilege waiver, I I'll be candid. I
057think it's about 50/50. Um, there are some trends in terms of what I've noticed. Uh and there are probably two that are really noteworthy. Um one is uh I've I've noticed a difference in based on the fund equity in a particular school district. So there is $140 per student that's available under this grant, maybe more depending on who declines, uh which is a significant sum of money for a lot of school districts. And so the school districts that I work with that have a lower fund equity are more likely to say, "Okay, we'll accept the funding." Those that have identified some kind of budgetary gap this year are in that same boat. Um the other trend that I've noticed is what I would call kind of an urban rural divide. So the school districts that
058I work with that tend to be in more urban areas are more likely to be willing to accept the money. uh and those that are in more rural areas are tending to say no, we're we're not interested. Um the only other nuance is for our ISDs, the way that the funding is allocated, there's just not very much money. And so almost all of the ISDs that I've worked with are saying no thanks. Um because the the total dollar value is just very low for most of them. So I'll use Wayne Reese as an example. Wayne Reese's and is going to get zero dollars out of this because they have no students. Um and so they're they're not going to sign the waiver in that case obviously. Um, so that's that's the trend that I'm seeing.
059Okay. So, I want to talk a little bit about the decision that we got yesterday because it has offered some clarif some clarity to a lot of the provisions that I had questions about. Um, so there are a couple of what I call statutory clarifications where the court has come in and said, "Here's how I interpret this language." The first one is that any privilege means any privilege. So the most prominent one that I've talked about is attorney client because it's the one that to me is very core and the one that I think has most people riled up. But there are other privileges that school districts can some sometimes claim. Uh one is an investigator privilege. For example, when you have an in independent investigation, some of the that information can be deemed privileged.
060Um so the court of claims has come out and said any privilege means any privilege. It's very broad not vague but broad. The second piece is a little bit of clarification on what the definition of mass casualty event means. So the first definition of mass casualty event is significant injuries to three or more people. So they were like well that means a meaningful injury that's visible. What does that mean? not a whole lot clearer, but the types of things that I think would likely fall under that umbrella are if you have a significant bus accident, that could be a mass casualty event. If the bleachers at the football stadium fall on Friday night and injure multiple people, that could be a mass casualty event as that's defined in the statute. Now whether the governor will
061invoke this provision and appoint an independent investigator is a different question and one that may depend on the circumstances but it's certainly broader than what we normally think of when we define a mass casualty event. The second clarification that the court offered is that there was this question as to whether uh because the second definition is fat says the word fatalities. So there's a question is is that a single fatality or multiple fatalities and the answer from the court's perspective is it's multiple fatalities. So the second way that a an event can be defined as a mass casualty event is if there are multiple deaths. The third is this concept of exceeding the normal resources of a jurisdiction. And that in particular has gotten a lot of my more rural clients riled up because they
062may be in an environment where any 911 call at the wrong time could exceed their normal resources. That's probably a little bit less of an issue in a jurisdiction like this where there are multiple municipalities that may be answering. Um but that's a definition that they offered a little bit of clarity on. And then finally, uh the fourth definition that could fit uh an event within this definition of mass casualty event is a surge of injuries requiring emergency response. Uh and so that in the eyes of the court means an event that suddenly and unexpectedly causes several individuals to suffer injuries that require emergency services at once or within a short window of time. Now, what does that mean? I'm not exactly sure, but those are the pieces of clarity that they've offered on some
063of those definitional pieces. >> Go ahead, Mr. Lip. >> Thank you, Madam President. Uh, I actually have two questions. One, one for you, sir, and one for Dr. Lawrence, if we could. First off, this has not been clear to me from the beginning. >> Is the privilege that we're waving specific to the use of the funds that we are using uh for this grant? In other words, are we waving our privilege for the entirety of our security posture on top of the funds that we are using for this? >> What I would say is that any privilege means any privilege. Um, so it's very broad. There is a a slight narrowing that I planned on getting into in a slide or two that discusses uh so the court spent some time talking about how this
064privilege is for the purpose of the investigation. um that would follow. But and this is one of the practical realities that I I've talked about is that and I say this like I read the guidepost report that was prepared in the aftermath of Oxford. It's 600 and some odd pages. The reality is that in the aftermath of a mass casualty event, there is fingerpointing that happens. And so having an outside investigator that's able to capture all of the information means that it's very likely that the finger is going to be pointed at someone who I don't know. >> But that is a risk that I think is real in the aftermath of a mass casualty event when you have this independent investigator coming in and analyzing all the information. >> Got it. >> Um got
065it. >> There's there's some nuance here still related to the privilege and I'll get into that a little bit more, but I know you had a question for >> Well, I had a question for Dr. Lance. Has our insurance provider to the district made their opinion known about this? >> They did. At this point, they view it non-consequential if we accept the money or don't accept the money. Now, I have heard that insurance providers, if you accept the money, or let me rephrase, once the deadline is passed, whomever has accepted the money, will go into a new bucket of providing insurance for they have they've not stated that officially. That's the rumor that is out there. Okay. >> And it would be important, and this may come up later, so I'll just mention it now.
066For our district, we're looking at right now a baseline of about $1.7 million is what we would receive in this category. >> Am I pretty close there, Mr. >> Thank you. >> You are. I had I had actually I had actually figured it out when we were talking. Uh also, this is one-time money, correct? >> That is correct. >> So for we are opening ourselves into an issue for uh perpetuity for one-time money that would also expose our district and our staff to secondary consequences. >> So, that's there's a there's some quibbling that's going on with this in perpetuity. And I say quibbling because unfortunately the opinion that we received yesterday doesn't deal with it directly. During the litigation, the state conceded that the intent and their interpretation of this language is that it's only
067for the duration that the money is around. Uh, which would mean the current fiscal year and then maybe one more if you carry the money forward because you're permitted to do so. Um, and I I candidly do not think a court would interpret this one-time waiver to apply 50 years from now. um guaranteed >> but but you are 100% right that it cannot be guaranteed and that is still an open question. I think it's it is certainly not the interpretation that I would if I were the decision maker but I am not the judge in this case so I don't get to impose my my interpretation >> say I'm got one other question I know you're probably going to get to it a little bit further in your slides but as Mr. Seagler had stated,
068you know, the district and the staff. I'm also very concerned about our students. >> What of their information can be shared and is not privileged any longer that's happening. You know, if you know they're having a mental health crisis at some point and they happen to be involved in the bleachers falling, you know, now their personal information is all out there. >> Correct. >> So, so let me let me skip to the next slide because it's it's the third bullet point here. Um, and this is I think a very like one of the most consequential components of the opinion that we got yesterday, which is that section 31A applies only to the school district and not to individuals. Um, and so some might be like, is there really a distinction there? And and I think
069there is, particularly when we talk about, for example, our students that have uh rights under the law to have their information protected. Now, under FURa FURPA, there are a couple dozen exceptions. Um, so there are lots of ways for that information to be disclosed, but the law is structured in a way that would initially at least protect that information to disclosure. One of the exceptions is if there's a validly issued subpoena, which is almost certainly going to be coming after a mass casualty event. Um, so I don't think that there's any change for our students. Uh, and I don't think that there's any I mean there there's some changes for our staff as it relates to what would happen. So, um, the the weird thing that's going to be created here is that in the
070aftermath of a mass casualty event as district council, I'm going to tell you my recommendation right now. Get your own lawyer because the conversations that you would have with me would not necessarily be privileged. Um, I think there's some nuance too as it relates to, well, what about legal advice versus factual developments? like there's more arguments that can be had, but we're talking about what I think is a meaningful change in terms of the district's ability to get candid advice from district legal counsel. Um, now an individual will still be able to invoke their own privileges. So, if you've if the example that you want to use is the counselor that spoke to the student right beforehand, um, they could get their own lawyer and they could invoke their own privileges related to that. Uh
071but conversations with district council would not necessarily be protected. >> Mr. Billock, that would also apply to our uh insurance council also. Is that correct? >> I would expect it to as well. >> Dr. Zelner. >> Thank you, Miss Kathlin. Um Dr. What would what right now if we were to take the 31A money where would those funds be allocated towards? I >> I'll speak in broad categories as we don't speak specifically about our security improvement but there are still some hardening of our buildings that we need to do and X number of these dollars would be applied to that. The vast majority of these funds are applied to support people supporting our students. And so we would have to make a decision as to continue with that position or find different funding which would
072only be general fund for the most part or reduce that position and not fund it anymore. >> Correct. Yep. There almost all of them would be directly related to mental health support for our students. One piece, and this touches on some of what Dr. Lans is just sharing, is there are rules associated with how we can spend the money. Um, and those rules have shifted over time. I I wouldn't say they've changed, but like there's been some differences in terms of what the money can be used for each year since it was first put in place back in 21. Okay. All right. So, >> thank you. Um, so I have a couple questions as well. what privileges are currently waved that would not no longer be privileged. >> So again, the most prominent is attorney
073client. Okay. >> And so and and maybe the best way to provide an example of that is kind of the what happens in the aftermath and talking a little bit about what happened in Oxford. And so, um, I know that in I think it was 2023, there were a number of prominent news articles in the Detroit News and Free Press of former Oxford Board members that wanted to disclose more information, um, but were not allowed to do so. And part of that is what happens in the aftermath of a mass casualty event. Um, the reality after a nuclear event like that is that you lose control over about 98% of what's going on. the insurer comes in and is directing traffic on all of the responses because they are ultimately on the hook for the
074vast majority of the dollars and cents that are associated with that event. And so because of that, the insurer will leverage themselves to say, "No, you're not going to disclose anything that's confidential or subject to attorney client privilege because it's going to harm our defense and we will no longer cover you if you don't follow our instructions." Um the way that insurance works is that uh when any loss happens or any potential loss happens, if there is a concern that it's not going to be covered, the insurance company will issue what's called a reservation of rights letter. And it basically says we will we will appoint counsel for you, but on the date of loss, when the when the verdict is in and you're responsible, then we'll make the decision about whether or not we're
075going to cover it. And that is that's how all of these insurance companies work. Um, and so one of the risks is that in the course of this process, some conduct will be uncovered that would exclude the district from coverage by its insurer. Now, I I can't give you all the hypotheticals because it's an impossibly large number. Um, but that is that is how it works and that's the risk that is out there if we're not able to maintain confidentiality or privilege. And when we talk about Oxford in terms of liability, in terms of who was held responsible legally, the answer is that the school district and the school district employees were found not liable. Um, they were able to leverage governmental immunity uh in order to put together a defense to the lawsuits. Now,
076good, bad, or indifferent as to that that the reality is for a school district that's a significant financial consequence if there was liability imposed. And so, that is why the insurance company did that. The insurance company imposed its will in order to avoid liability um because they would have potentially been been on the hook for somewhere upwards of $55 million. >> Okay. Um, and then as far as investigations go, how much is already out there? like you know like it's not it's already transparent and that like we're not really like losing anything because if a mass casualty event happens everybody's talking all public and everybody you know just >> so what I would say is like all of the the data all of the emails that aren't to a lawyer basically um all of the
077communications all of that information all the camera footage all of that is disclosable and would ultimately come out in in the course of any litigation. The difference is in who and in the context of the conversations that are had by individual employees and district staff and any outside investigator. So um in Oxford there are a number of folks that did not talk with the investigators. They chose not to or didn't based on advice of counsel. And so the the question is for those folks can they be compelled? And the answer depends a little bit on whether they have their own council um and whether or not they can invoke their own privileges, but the district was invoking that privilege at that time and so it would change the dynamic of what that investigation looks like.
078>> Thank you. >> Welcome, >> Mr. Smith. >> Wanted Thank you, Madam President. I just wanted to ask maybe you're going to go about it talking about later and I'm thinking that you're you're kind of putting two things. It's insurance but also legal because a lot of my question is uh about like you said immunity and I heard you say that you know the individual employee or administrators or schoolboard members would have to retain our own and if we wave so that that would be my recommendation. No obligation to but it would be my recommendation. Um, and so one of the things that I've shared is for our superintendents that are in school districts that are accepting the funding, they might want to look into their own insurance on this. Um, so that they could
079they they don't have to bear the cost of that. And I know a number of the statewide organizations, whether it's MASA or MASSP and and those types of organizations offer $10,000 policy or something like that, but obviously in the aftermath of a mass casualty event, that's not going to be anywhere near sufficient. Um, and so my recommendation in a district that accepts the funding is that if you are dealing with a mass casualty event, I would recommend anyone that's going to talk to an investigator or whoever it may be to retain their own counsel if it's necessary. Okay. There are a couple of examples in the court of claims case that I want to provide to you so that you have some of the context about how the court was interpreting this particular statute. And
080so the first one is uh a shooting that occurs on a school bus leading to the injury of three or more persons or the death of at least two folks. The state would then have the right to uh conduct a comprehensive investigation. And so a couple of examples that might help with the contours of what this means is uh if the investigators request the district to provide email communications within the district's transportation department about safety issues on school buses, the district may not withhold those documents. The second is if the investigators request communications between the district's superintendent and the district's attorney about legal methods of addressing safety on buses, the district may not claim an attorney client privilege. And that is like those are the kinds of things that um I think would create a
081risk of being able to pierce governmental immunity to get to the point that I think you were making. Um the third bullet is that if a school counselor worked with the involved shooter in the past, the district could not raise a counselor privilege for communications within its control. And then the next point is if the district asked the counselor directly to reveal statements made during a session or to produce materials shared shared with the counselor's own attorney, the counselor could assert any priv available privilege because the counselor did not agree to wave any privileges. And so there's a very fine nuance there between what's disclosable and not disclosable based on that hypothetical that was provided by the court. Okay, couple of other examples. Um, if the bleachers collapsed at a football game resulting in injuries,
082this could be declared a mass casualty event. Talked about that example already. Um, if the bleacher collapse injured or caused injuring or causing the death of one individual, on the other hand, would not be a mass casualty event and would not trigger that investigation. mass food poisoning event or mass illness caused by a gas leak would fall within the definition of a mass casualty event if it met those criteria if there were multiple folks if there was a surge. Um but such incidents impact school safety and school safety is one of the purposes of the funding. So there was a concern that was raised about how does this really impact school safety and the purpose of the funds and the court found that it did. Um, and then one of the examples that was brought
083up in the course of litigation is, well, what about a single teacher that has a heart attack and ends up passing away? Um, and the conclusion from the court was that a single teacher suffering a heart attack in the classroom would not be a mass casualty event. >> Okay. These were the specific examples provided by the court, but yes. >> Okay. Um, I'm stuck on mass casualty. Yeah. >> You know, when you say mass casualty and how you're explaining besides these examples that you just gave, everyone's brain and mind is going to a school shooting. >> Yes. >> There are so many other things that that they're triggering as mass casualty. >> Yes. Can you be just a little bit more specific, you know, so that we I mean a big brawl in the high
084school, you know, at a football game and there's a fight between, you know, one of our schools in, you know, the visiting school and three people get broken noses, that's considered a mass casualty. Correct. >> I think it could be. >> You know, >> three students having a panic attack and would be a mass casualty. So, you know, just trying to fine-tune what we're talking about because yes, the big broad thought is a school shooting and you know, that's the big broad thought, but we need to also look at all the other implications of what they're considering mass casualty. Yes. And that's >> and so that I mean the examples that you're providing like one of the ones that has been on my mind throughout the last two months is a I mean a significant
085fight at a school. Mhm. >> Um now I I don't think those kinds of fights are happening every Tuesday, but they have happened and there is a risk that that would be invoked in order to appoint this governor appointed investigation. >> Mr. Seagler, >> when when you look at mass casualty, literally there is nothing that is being excluded. Unfortunately, the way the way this is set up, I mean, if you had students that were having a panic attack and you had to call for EMS, it it is an incident. If you had somebody some students pass out for whatever reason, it is an incident and you know it is a very very wide umbrella without definition. >> Dr. Zelmer. >> Thank you, Miss Kathlin. So just to clarify, the privilege being waved is in the
086course of the investigation that is triggered by the governor appointing an independent investigative situation. Correct. >> I think that's an accurate statement. And there's there's some argument on the margins still. >> Okay. Okay. So, we're not 100% clear there. >> I I don't want I don't want to oversell it that like that's exactly it because um candidly it we have one opinion that deals with it. And so there is it didn't deal with every permutation. Um I I do think though the the way that the court is looking at this and I have the benefit of having read the whole opinion. >> Sure. >> Um is that the court sees it as narrower than a lot of us probably would. Now is it as narrow as I would like? No, because I would like to
087not have to deal with this. >> But um but that is not the that's not the words that the legislature wrote. All right. So, just to say it back to you to make sure I have it. Is that the the way that the Can we go back to the slide where it has the actual language of the >> statute real quickly? >> Well, I think I'm going the wrong direction. >> Well, we can go back in time. Thank you. >> All right. Oh, yeah. The next one over. >> Yeah. So this is so the well so the investigation this is about the investigation. That's what I'm trying to drill down on because if we're talking about panic attacks I just on its face you wouldn't have the governor being like okay they had three panic
088attacks and now we're going to send in this investigation and we can't say for sure. Um but that's what I was trying to look at um around this language was that it's there's there is an investigation that will assess the circumstances. The governor will designate that person and it will provide a detailed report within 90 days. Okay. >> Okay. Um moving back forward. So um I've had a number of I've kind of distilled this down to what I think are a number of practical issues. Some of them we've already talked about, so I'm not going to belabor those points. Um, the first one is the fact that this is actually in front of you. Uh, because typically grant funds don't end up in front of boards. Uh, and I I want to be candid like
089this is a special case. This is not something that typically I would say requires maybe a board to consider it. Um, but it's long been the view that the board of education holds the privilege for the district. And so ultimately if there's going to be a decision to wave that privilege, that is a board decision in my view. Um, and it has to be knowing and voluntary. And so I'm happy that I am here to give you all of this information so that you can ultimately make what is again a hopefully never consequential decision. Um, but could be. We've talked a lot about the insurance consequences and so um I've had the opportunity to kind of collaborate and work with some of the insurers and what Dr. Lans has shared is consistent although I hadn't
090heard the rumor about different pools yet. So um but but the indication that the insurers have all given is oh this doesn't change your insurance. Um, but as I shared earlier, there are practical consequences for all of this that we need to be mindful of. And not the least of which is that the reality is that this independent investigation is going to have a tremendous amount of credibility and it would make the job easier for someone trying to sue the district in the aftermath of a mass casualty event. Um, and that's just a reality. So, the conversation that I've had with some of those insurance leaders is this. um it likely means that any settlement has a greater value than it would have before. That's one of the practical realities because the process of getting
091there will be easier for those that are trying to sue the district. All right, we touched briefly on governmental immunity and so um as a general rule and this is the law is that governmental employees are generally immune from tort liability. They're immune from negligence actions or intentional actions uh that harm when they are engaged in the exercise or discharge of a governmental function. So operating a school is a governmental function. And so as a general rule that has not gone away. This has not pierced governmental immunity which was one of the anxieties that I that some folks had early on. Um and I make a reference to Oxford because as I mentioned earlier, the district was able to defend itself from the lawsuits with a finding of no liability. Um, and the reason for
092that is that the court in that case decided that the shooter rather than any particular employee was the approximate cause, the the but for cause in uh in the decision in the in the in the shooting. The next piece that I've got is what I call the funding hammer. Um because I want to be candid about the consequences of accepting the money is that the recommendation that I have for all the boards that I'm working with is if the district decides that it's going to accept the funding that it plan on complying with the comprehensive investigation. And the reason for that is this. After non-compliance, after accepting that money, the next thing that I would expect from the department is for them to withhold all of the funding that was allocated under 31A because you
093are no longer complying. So, in the middle of a catastrophe, the district would also likely create a cash flow problem for itself and suddenly knock $1.7ish million dollars off its books. And we talked about the duration of the waiver, right? So, the statute itself is silent. Uh, and as I mentioned earlier, the state conceded that in the litigation, but the opinion didn't deal with it. So, that's not binding in the future necessarily. Um, as I shared earlier, my interpretation is that it's unlikely that a court would see this as a waiver in 50 years from now. Um, that doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me, but that doesn't mean that the argument won't get raised in 50 years either. >> Well, but even I'm sorry. You know, even it's you're taking the money
094for one year. There's nothing guaranteed after that. And I I doubt very much we will see anything. But we are having our hands tied because you know the statute is silent but there because the statute is silent and does not have a term on it. Our hands truly are tight. >> So as a board I will say let's say hypothetically this is one time this is the only year that this language is in the statute which I don't know right can't predict the future. Um, if I were defending a district five years from now, I think it's a very strong argument to say that the waiver was only for one year. I think it's a strong argument, but it is not a certainty. It is an argument. And and I think that is maybe your
095point. >> Yes. >> Because I feel, you know, I feel the exposure to the district, to our administration, to our employees, uh, I don't think there's a limit to this right now. you really wanted to make a case out of it. It could happen five years from now. It could happen 10 years. And that right there is part of why this is potentially a consequential decision for the board is because there is the potential that you'd be binding those that are here sitting at the table as well as those that come after to a decision that you're making. >> Okay. I want to go back for a second back to you know um the scenario of a big school fight and numerous people get injured. You know, I understand, you know, you said that about
096the furpa, but are you telling me that like if you have say three students that were in that fight that were football players or, you know, whatever they were, um, that have seen our counselors have had mental health issues and, you know, they have been reported numerous times that if this fight occurs that their private personal information of what was happening personally with them is not going to be released. So based on the court's opinion, >> the private conversations that were had with the counselor, I think would be protected. There are other things that I think would not be protected. So um their student records, for example, would be protected under FERPA, but as I mentioned earlier, there are a number of exceptions to FURPA that would allow the disclosure. Um, none of those are
097readily apparent, but they are certainly possible because if there's a big fight, there's probably going to be some kind of warrant that's issued and a subpoena that's issued if if need be. Um, and so ultimately, I think the answer to your question is that some of that information is probably going to remain private. Um, but I don't think that there for that group of students that we're talking about that there's really a meaningful change in terms of the law for them. Um, I think that the disclosures that are happening right now would be similar if not identical in that scenario. >> Mr. Smith, >> Miss Kaplan, I have a followup with that and I believe I saw it in there. So, for instance, uh, again, you know, I'm used to foil law and I'm used
098to, okay, they can't get things because it's redactive turning client, then through discovery, they're going to get things and stuff like that. But for instance, say there's a staff member, a counselor or whatever, unless like say they don't uh retain their own attorney. >> Mhm. >> Um they have conversations. Could their personal phone be foyed, you know, to get and they have their private conversations that are there? Maybe they have issues with, you know, family things and it's all public in the report. >> So what I would say is that that that phone is probably disclosable anyway. >> Yeah. >> I don't think again I don't think there's a change. Okay. >> Um what what happens in the aftermath of a mass casualty event is that there's much greater focus and a much broader investigation
099and that's just the nature of those things. Um so I don't think that things would legally change as it relates to the privacy of that person's phone. I'll go back to the question slide. I'm going back and forth. See, any other questions? We're going to have time towards the end um for us to have more discussion amongst ourselves um before we decide what we're going to do. Um but at this moment in time, does anybody have any questions for the attorney? >> Mr. Seagler, >> would you say Thank you. would you say the definition of government immunity in there is very vague? >> Um so this statute doesn't mention governmental immunity at all. >> Okay. and and that's why I don't think it's been changed in any meaningful way. Um the definition of governmental immunity
100as it relates to school district employees is if you're engaged in a governmental function, which is most of the things that schools do, pretty much all of them. Like there's very rare that there's anything that's not a governmental function. Um in order to pierce that, you need what's called gross negligence. And so gross negligence negligence is not just that I made a mistake. It's that I made a mistake that was so catastrophic that no one in their right mind could possibly make that mistake. Um that's a high bar and remains a significant protection for school employees and school administrators um that I think is going to continue going forward. But but that was one of the issues with Oxford that they were trying to push more than anything else. >> So in the litigation for
101Oxford um the the argument was made by the plaintiff's attorneys that the district was grossly negligent. Uh and ultimately again the the defense of the school district was that there was no liability that wasn't pierced. Um, so it it is a risk in every one of those kinds of events that that's going to be the argument that's made. >> Everyone's thinking I can see I can see them all thinking. >> Any other questions for the attorney? >> So is this this Madam President is this uh our we have to decide tonight. >> Correct. >> Yes. >> Okay. Correct. >> And so I can give a little bit maybe more context that'll help is that um at this point at the recommendation because the in the course of the litigation a bunch of deadlines got pushed
102around. Um but what's happened is that every school district in the state that I'm aware of has opted in uh as of the December 4th deadline. We have until December 30th to resend that decision. And so, uh, the recommendation that I sent out to all of our clients this morning after the decision last night was you should continue to monitor the litigation very closely because there are likely going to be appeals. There may be changes between now and December 30th. Um, candidly, I think it is unlikely that the status quo is going to change much between now and then. And so, I think now is about as much information as we are going to have before December 30th. And so ultimately my recommendation to you tonight would be to give Dr. Lans good direction on
103the will of the board as it relates to that topic so that he can make an informed decision by December 30th as to whether or not to resend the district's election at this point. >> Mr. Lipet, >> thank you. Madam President, did I just hear you right? Every district that you're aware of Yeah. >> has opted in for 31A. >> Yes. because they made it cost-free. >> And how many districts have you shared this presentation with? >> This particular presentation is custom made for for Walt Lake. Um I have I have spoken with probably 50 or 60 different superintendents over the past two months, maybe more. Um and probably a dozen or so boards in some way, shape, or fashion. Um, and so the the decision to opt in was made very easy by MDE
104for this reason. They said that you can rescend until December 30th, but in order to get the money, you've got to opt in by December 4th. And the reason for that is there were logistical issues in terms of allocating the money and there was a statutory deadline. They've got to get the money out by December 31st. >> Got it. Got it. So, so it would be fair to say you expect on December 30th or sooner that >> a lot of districts are going to opt out. >> Got it. Okay. How many? As I said earlier, it's about 50/50 based on my experience. >> Okay. I I want to make sure I heard that correctly. Thank you. >> And Mr. Lipet, we are included in the every district. We have opted in at this point, >>
105Mrs. West. Thank you. Um, so are we protecting more of the insurance companies? Is that what I'm understanding? that we are not giving them all the information that giving investigators all the information so that way they don't spend as much. Is that what I'm understanding? >> So I think I would frame it a little differently. Um I think that any consequence for the insurance company is something that I don't care a whole lot about. Um, what I am concerned about in terms of those that accept the money is that I think there is an increased risk of liability in the event of a mass casualty event. How much I can't tell you because it's unquantifiable. Um, I I will I will have a candid moment that I shared with Dr. Lans earlier this week. Uh,
106and I say this and and I recognize that there's a lot of opposition at the table at this moment. I have been on team take the money throughout this process and I'll offer why so that you have this perspective. Um one is I think the likelihood that any particular school district is going to be subjected to a mass casualty event is very low. It's very consequential if it happens but it's very low and the reality is that this is a chunk of money that can be used to help secure the facilities to prevent such an event. Um I don't like this legislation. Candidly, I think it sucks and I think it's bad for school districts and I think it's just just the first of many things that are going to be like this because if
107we're successful here, I it's not going to surprise me when we have other things like this in the future. But it's really hard for me to turn down money uh over something that I think is very unlikely to happen. So, uh I share that because that is my own view. There are others on my team that disagree with me and we argue about it. We continue to argue about it. Um but I I wanted to give that context to the team as well. >> Okay. And then I have another question. Um as far as like if a person is found grossly negligent, >> if it was found that because of that they would be let go, would that change as far as insurance probability and receiving insurance? >> That doesn't change the analysis at all
108in terms of the district. >> Okay. Thank you, >> Mr. Smith. >> Miss K. All right. Um, does this is it I'm sure maybe you've had the discussion that um the money is coming from the state, right? >> Yes. >> If districts don't accept this money, does this put them on a so-called blacklist or what whatever phrase you want to say for future grants that are like, "Hey, they didn't accept this money." >> No. Uh, and I'll be what's been interesting in watching the litigation is how there's a difference between what MDE is saying and what the state is saying. MDE continues to take no position on this. And in some of the candid conversations that I've had with some of their upper level administrators, their attitude is if there's money for schools, we want
109to get the money to the schools. They don't want to jump through the hoops and they don't want to deal with this stuff. Um, but the reality is that this is something that the state of Michigan is defending and there have been rumors about where this language originated. Um, and I would say that it's not from MDE. >> Mr. Seagler, >> early on, was there something in 31A that said we could not use the money to supplant anything that we currently have in our budget, or was that stricken? There is I believe there's still language to that effect in the current version of the statute. >> There has been some additional guidance from MDE on that and they've loosened up their definition in this particular term, but it wouldn't apply to us because we're already
110currently funding in that way. >> So this would be used for additional at least for one year for additional resources. >> It could include additional resources. more likely it would maintain current resources. >> Anybody else? >> Okay. >> So, Madam President, just so the board knows, I Mr. Bleock is leaving. So, when we get to the discussion point, we're not phoning a friend. We're not So, if you want to take a second and make sure you have all of your questions asked because I want to make sure everyone has all the information that that they need. Okay. Well, thank you very much for your time. >> We appreciate it. >> Um I'm going to take a short recess right now. Yes, please. Um five minutes good or you guys need long enough? >> Okay, we'll
111be back at 8:30. Thank you. >> Thank you. meeting back to order, please. And we are going to proceed with public commentary at this moment. So, I want to thank you all for coming tonight and for your interest in addressing the board. This is your opportunity to address the board. The board will listen to your statements, questions, or concerns. Um, we're not going to have a conversation. If follow-up is necessary, a member of the superintendent, staff, or board member will get back with you. You have three minutes to address the board. Please keep an eye on the timer on the wall, please. And if you come close to your time, Mr. Seagler will let you know that you're coming close and begin um to ask you to wrap up your comments. We ask that all
112speakers remain professional and refrain refrain from personal tax, please. With that, we're gonna start with Erin Johnson. >> Okay. >> Hi. Um, I'm Aaron Johnson. Like they said, I'm um here today as a parent and someone who sees our schools as the foundation of our community. Uh over the past few weeks, I've had the opportunity uh to work with community members to educate and gather support for a competitive contract for our teachers. Um which really includes a competitive starting pay um that falls in line with other school districts that surround us. Um in an effort to show leaders the to show leaders the importance of the community, we created a petition. Um, at this time our petition has over 750 signatures and is still growing. Uh, it's actually it was like 787 I think when
113I checked right before I got here. Um, we are using change.org to verify signatures and 85% of the signatures are within the zip codes within our district. So, this is really a true representation of the importance of competitor teacher pay for our school districts. Thank you. >> Thank you. Next will be Kirby Valentini. I hope I said that correct. Thank you. My name is Kirby Josephson Valente and I'm here as a previous student of the district, a daughter of a teacher in the district, a parent, and a community member who values the work that our teachers put in every day. and I see what their contributions are as a foundation for this community. The teachers in the district have been working without a contract since March and the lack of contract causes instability in our
114schools which leads to higher teacher turnovers, lower test scores, and in turn lowers our property value. After reviewing all neighboring districts, including Troy and Farmington for comparable enrollment sizes, Wald Lake has the lowest starting salary for teachers. Our teachers starting salaries are 16% lower than the average in the compared groups. How can we expect to attract more and import more importantly keep our value teachers here teaching our students as they don't or they are not receiving the salaries they deserve. Thank you for your time. >> Thank you Lauren Jaffy. Hi, I'm Lauren Jaffy. I'm also a parent of two kids in the district. And um I think we can all agree that if the solution were simple, it would already be in place. Um no one is suggesting that there is an unlimited funding or
115an easy fix. And even after listening to you say about the money would be used for keeping going services that we already have, that was a little concerning to me. Um, but what is clear is that the value of our teachers should be very important. I've had the privilege of volunteering at Keith and seeing firsthand how deeply our teachers care for our children and even the PE teacher who spoke up here. Um, when I see them walking through the halls and listening to their conversations and how those conversations with the kids, they make them very trusted adults that they can talk to and help shape them into competent, capable students. It is an incredibly demanding job and seeing it up close has only deepened my respect for those who choose this profession. Teachers don't enter
116this field to become wealthy. They do it because they have a passion for educating. But when compensation is no longer livable, that passion is strained and too often talented educators are forced to leave the profession simply to support themselves and their families. I understand the budget is complex. However, what is clear is that paying our teachers fairly should be a priority for this community and essential to the long-term strength of our district. If surrounding districts can pay teachers more, it's fair to ask why we cannot. Thank you. >> Thank you, Amanda Lee. Hi there. My name is Amanda Lavine. I am a parent of two students in the district and the daughter of a parent who worked here for 25 years. to the board of elected officials elected by the over 750 community members who
117signed this petition saying that it is critical we pay our teachers a competitive wage. Our teachers are the foundation of our community's success. We are asking the board to help. This has gone on too long. The expectation of our board is high and we need you to step up and step in. Right now, the administration seems to be standing still and is unable to bring agreeable terms on this vote. Wald Lake is the third largest district in Oakland County and among the largest for enrollment size in the state. We should be an example of how school districts are run. In the past, we have been going months without a contract for our teachers has caused a loss of faith in our district and in our schools. Our community needs our board to start taking actions
118on what they can do. Please help our beloved teachers and please protect our values, our students, our families, and the reputation of our Wald Lake schools. Thank you. >> Thank you, >> Lori Agimba. I have nothing prepared and I'll be really brief. Um, I I have loved working. I love this board. I've loved the time spent with the cabinet. I love my school. You guys have done so much for us. We're losing We're losing qualified beautiful teachers to Leavonia Novi like just settle this. That's all. >> I'm back. >> Thank you, Anna Herertado. I cannot see. Um, hi. My name is Anna Herertado and I have two kids in the Wald Lake school district. One in eighth grade at Sarah Banks and the other is a senior at Wald Lake Western. Um I started volunteering
119for school activities as soon as my oldest entered kindergarten at Wald Lake Elementary. Through the years, I've seen firsthand the hard work and dedication of the teachers in this district. My kids have been nurtured. They've been pushed when they need it. They have been wrapped in love. I love this district and I have been an outspoken advocate for this district my entire time working here um as a volunteer. But what I'd like to focus on through all this is the top-notch extracurricular programs that are available through the school district. Uh my kids have participated in a wide range of activities. They have developed interest in things that I never would have dreamed of. Um, and they do this because of I'm sorry, I don't love speaking in public. The only reason these programs work as
120well as they do is because of the dedicated teachers. And unfortunately, without a contract, they're doing all of this outside work without being compensated for it. Um, I know that they should receive back pay once the contract is settled, but in this moment of unaffordability, this feels especially cruel. Um, you have a nationally recognized band program. That did not happen by accident. Just a few weeks ago was solo and ensemble, a competition for middle and high school band and orchestra students. The rehearsals are after school. The actual competition and it's an all day event on a Saturday. Mrs. Dazinski and Mrs. Sierra Hall were there supporting and cheering on their students. Um, the musicals, the plays are in full swing. That is a workintensive project. Those teachers are giving up evenings, weekends, not getting compensated
121for it until the contract is settled. Um, forensics is about to start soon. Mrs. Mr. Bevier and Mrs. Frame give up weekend after weekend to support all of these students, their sports, model UN, NHS, chess, like the list goes on and on. You should be incredibly proud of all the extracurricular activities that are offered here. Um, but I think that the teachers should be compensated when they're doing their work. several um there's also a current teacher shortage like the other speaker just said and other districts are offering steps to her teachers over. We are going to lose the amazing teachers that we have here. That teacher that presented today, she is a dream. Her enthusiasm is amazing. I want to take her class. We need to do everything we can to protect these teachers. >>
12230 seconds, please. >> Several nearby nearby districts began the school year without settled contracts. The initial delay was partly attributed to the state's budget issues. Since those issues have been resolved, however, most, if not all, of the surrounding districts have successfully finalized their contracts. I'm not going to say the last part. Um, please settle this contract. The teachers deserve so so much. They are amazing. So, thank you, Brenda Raymond. Good evening. I'm Brenda Raymond, the junior kindergarten teacher at Pleasant Lake Elementary School. After 38 years of serving the students and families of Bald Lake, I will be retiring in the next month. This district has been my home, my purpose, and my pride. I have watched generations of students grow, succeed, and come back to tell about their lives they have built. actually just saw
123one at dinner this evening. I've worked alongside some of the most dedicated educators anywhere and it has been the honor for my career to stand among them. It's because I care so deeply about this district and its future that I want to address one issue before I step away. Our current salary for of just under $40,000 for new teachers. It's simply too low. And new teachers no longer get a pension. I get that. They don't. To understand why, let's look back. Here is one of my first teaching contracts. for $22,500. Adjusted for inflation. That amount would be close to $60,000 today to reflect the cost of living. That means the 40,000 we offer new teachers isn't just behind. It's nearly 20 years behind today's economy. And when starting salaries fall that low, below the cost
124of living, we pay the price not in dollars but in talent. Our surrounding districts, as you've heard, are offering more. They know that salary drives recruitment. I had a candidate for my current job. I told her not to bother to apply. She shared that her salary was $110,000 in Westland schools. Our district seemed to know that if you want other districts seem to know that if you want the best educators, you can't greet them with a wage that forces them to work second jobs or to struggle to afford housing. So, here's what's happening. We lose promising candidates before they apply. We invest in training new teachers only to see them walk out the door. We ask the next generation of educators to do more for less while carrying student loans, high rent, rising cost of
125everything from groceries to gas. A district cannot thrive when the pipeline of new teachers dries up. And students, our students are the ones who feel the impact the most. As someone who has spent nearly 40 four decades in these classrooms, I can tell you with absolute certainty, our children deserve nothing less than the very best teachers we can bring through our doors. >> 30 seconds, please. Raising the starting salary isn't a perk. It isn't a luxury. It's an investment in the future of Wald Lake. It tells early career educators, you matter. Your work matters, and this district and school wants you here, growing, thriving, and staying. As I close this chapter on my career, I leave you with deep gratitude and hope. I'm proud of the work I have done and believe in the work
126still ahead. I implore this board of education to take a stand. Do not allow any contract to move forward without meaningful major changes in salaries at the bottom of the pay scale. Our teachers deserve it. Our students deserve it and this dist future depends upon it. Thank you for listening and thank you for 38 years of employment. Thank you Gabby. Gabby, good evening. Tonight I'm here to present a few facts. Fact. Michigan girls have been placed in locker rooms with biological male without their knowledge or consent. On September 9th at Monroe High School, girls were directed to change in a locker room shared with Skyline volleyball team, which includes a biological male. Parents have stated the girls were not informed until the next day. This is documented incident, not an opinion. Fact. The MHSA has
127not provided confirmation that Skyline submitted a completed and approved gender identity eligibility request before competition began. The MHSA handbook requires that approval be on file before the season starts. Despite national attention and parent inquiries, the MHSA has offered no verification that its own rule was followed. When governing bodies fail to enforce the rules, girls are the ones who pay the price. Fact, Wild Lake Consolidated School District repeatedly cites the Elliot Larson Act, but has provided no written explanation on how Title 9 is being enforced. Through FOYA, the superintendent described bathroom access as case by case, referencing meetings, plans, and single stall options. Title 9 was not mentioned once in that explanation. Title 9 is federal law. Elliot Larson is state. A district cannot claim both when one contradicts the requirements of the other. In fact,
128I have raised these concerns more than 10 times and sent multiple emails, and this district has chosen not to respond. I have delivered over 10 public comments asking the same Title 9 questions. I have sent multiple emails, including on November 14th and 19th with no acknowledgement or reply. OCR requires districts to respond to Title 9 concerns promptly and transparently. Silence is not neutrality. It is a decision. When a district repeatedly refuses to answer title N questions, the OCR does not call that confusion. They call that non-compliance. And the final fact, the most critical one, is that consent is non-transferable. A girl's consent to play her sport is not consent to share a locker room with a biological male. Her consent to join a team is not consent to surrender her privacy or dignity. No coach,
129no administrator, no board can consent on her behalf. Consent cannot be assumed, reassigned, or overridden in a case-by case. This is why Title 9 exists to ensure no girl loses her rights because the adults failed to ask does she consent. When consent is ignored, >> 30 seconds, please. >> It is not an oversight. It is a violation. And one final clarification, the girls in this district, including my daughter, are not a security solution for situations where a male student feels uncomfortable using male facilities. Discomfort experienced by a male student in the boys' bathrooms or locker rooms is an issue for administration to address within boys spaces, not a justification to remove consent from girls. Administrators cannot resolve one students discomfort by transferring the loss of privacy onto another group of students. Consent cannot be taken
130from girls and reassigned to someone else. >> Your comments >> regardless of intent, feelings, or circumstances. Title 9 does not allow the district to solve problems by asking girls to absorb them. These are the facts and facts demand action, not silence. I'm asking this board once again for a written public explanation of how Wald Lake complies with Title 9. Our girls deserve clarity. They deserve consistency and they deserve protection. Thank you. >> Thank you, Peter Beerman. Good evening. Uh my name is Peter Barman. I'm a father of five children in Wald Lake schools. Um um my wife and I came here tonight basically to support the teachers, but a couple things I I I kind of wanted to address along with that. Uh watching the presentation today on the outdoor pursuits program, that seems like
131a phenomenal program. Uh, I think that the district should really consider supporting maybe enhancing that. Uh, listen to the presentation from your attorney on the 31 AAA money. Um, I'm an attorney myself. Uh, frankly speaking, if a mass casualty event was to happen, everyone's getting sued. You all know that. um why turn down free money as your attorney kind of advised you earlier. Take the money and and and really hope that you never have to worry about that. Um I did want to touch base on the new Wixom Elementary School. I myself uh live down Maple Road past where the new Wixom Elementary School is being built. Uh it's nice seeing it it being starting to grow, but uh I am concerned that uh in the bond proposal you guys had money allocated for traffic
132improvement, but there really hasn't been any uh anything shared regarding the diagrams or the the map of what's going to happen there. It doesn't look like you guys are looking to do a left-hand turn lane into the new school or right-hand turn lane into the school. and you just there's no other way to get to our neighborhood past the school if if one little fender bender happens. Um you are blocking any access that three miles through dirt roads. So you have to be putting in left-hand turn lane into the new school. You have to be putting in a right-hand turn lane to to allow the traffic to keep moving. I I think the district has failed in the past some of the elementary schools not putting in turn lanes. Um, and I know you guys
133aren't subject to, you know, uh, the same kind of approval that like any other private development would require because any private development would have to put turn lanes in. But for the safety of the residents and the students, you guys really need to look at doing that. But as for the teachers, um I I last came uh to the board meeting when we had a situation at Wixom Elementary last year and I thought the board was slow or the district was slow to react and we ended up losing some teachers at Wixom Elementary because of that. And I think you're going to lose teachers uh across the entire district because of the slow reaction. >> 30 seconds. And uh and frankly speaking, I was happy to see you guys had a close session last month.
134You need to have a close session every month until you get this contract figured out because you need to stay on top of your administration that you want this resolved because it's not the board's job to resolve it. It's the board's job to tell the administration to get this fixed. Um thank you very much. >> Thank you. Okay. I apologize. I'm just going to go for a first name here. Bill, >> good evening members of the board, everyone else. Um, over the last decade, Wald's investment dollar for-doll, real dollar basis for basic programs have really only increased 1.4%. Over a decade, almost every other spending category has increased its share of the pie at the expense of our educators. During the same time, our most valuable assets have had to pick up the burden through
135inflation, through lost opportunity costs. That's darn near shameful in my opinion. For over four months now, we've been having these same discussions here in this room. I'm tired of saying it, but I have to say it again. The distribution of what we are spending is warped in such a way that we are neglecting the heart of the educational mission. I brought some charts. I'm the chart guy. So, some of you may have seen this last time. This is our district comparison side by side for basic basic program funding. We are at the bottom of all the surrounding districts. There are some other charts that talk about some other bits we'll get into here. Educators at every level at Bald Lake, from brand new teachers to our most senior educators, are woefully below the bar when
136contrasted with everyone else. Our fresh new educators are making $10,000 or 20% less on average when comparing against these districts. Why would they come here and start their careers already on their back foot? Why, how do I phrase this? Nicer, a little nicer. I'm I'm yelling a little bit. I apologize. I'm a little fervent right now. But um those that have stuck with the system for 13 years, our long time gone through the 13 steps, our longest tenur educators are making $15,000 less than everyone else or 17%. The people that we've have dedicated their entire working careers are just rock bottom by comparison. Every measure shows a lack of priority for those that we say we value the most. It hurts me to say, but the Wald Lake motto, every child every day, is starting
137to appear to be just a tagline. I urge the board to help direct contract negotiations and budget planning towards meaningful increases for educators, restoring our focus in the classroom and the professionals who help make learning possible. >> 30 seconds, please. >> Thank you. I >> Thank you, >> Sean Carly. Hello, my name is Sean Curley. I'm a product of Wald Lake schools. I have two children going through Wald Lake schools right now. And uh my friends that encouraged me to come here tonight apologized for the the meeting I came to, but I think it was a great one because it touched based on something I have a problem with, which was violence in the schools. Um, so back in September of 20, uh, September 28th, there was an incident on a school bus involving my
138child. Um, 10 years old, 10-year-old fights happen. Um, the big problem was when there was a chance for the fight to break up, the other kid decided to come back and attack my son with a full water bottle, you know, just like the Stanley's that everyone carries around, the 5B sledgehammers. Tried to attack my kid in the head with it. Luckily, he's trained to defend himself. He blocked it and did what he had to do. I've received nothing but blockades from the district. I've gone through the principal to the board of dire or the director of transportation. It's I have names, but I don't know if I need to name them. Um then the executive supervisor of food and services and then deputy superintendent and the superintendent. Not one person hasn't been able to answer
139my question is if that was considered a weapon or not. Um, in page 14 of your guys' code of conduct, which I was a reference to read to when I was handed my son's level two uh, suspension, which I'm fine with because you make a mistake, you get the suspension. Um, it blatantly calls out materials used like a weapon in a dangerous manner. Um, three people that I've talked to that have seen the video that I'm not allowed to see, um, have told me that this did happen intact, in fact, and it was an attempt to hit him in the head. Um, I don't know if anyone's been on a school bus recently, but 4 and 1/2t tall children, only thing sticking up above a seat is their head. Um, so there was only one
140intent with that strike. And it's unfortunate the lawyer's not here because I'm sure this would be a different conversation if a kid was to get struck in the temple with a 5B sledgehammer. So I really need some clarification u because I've been made my attention that Commerce Elementary would consider that a weapon. The other student involved was given the same disciplinary action level two violation which is a one-day suspension. Um, and we were told that we are not allowed to be privy to the disciplinary action of the other student, which I do not understand because this is my student and the other student. We are not asking to know, we're not asking for the entire district to know what happened to the other student and his disciplinary action. We feel this is a AB conversation
141and we are being left out. We're not allowed to see the video. I am uh have a background check on file. So, I'm allowed to do any type of school volunteer activity. I'm allowed in the school. I can see any student on that bus at any point in time when I walk around the school. I need to know why we are not allowed to see footage involving our children's in violent acts against them. This is getting ridiculous. My daughter came to Central or CHS two years ago. Within the first three months, it was a story about an attack and >> conclude your comments. >> Yes. There was about a fight in the um or a scuffle in the in the lunchroom and a kid was struck in the head with a water bottle. That was
142not my kid. That was not my fight. This is my kid. This is my fight. Thank you for listening. >> Thank you, Christine Titus. >> Good evening. Um, first I would like to uh thank the FFE as a recipient of some of their funding. Um, I'm very appreciative to them over the past several years and once again this year I was a recipient. So, I'd like to thank them publicly. Um, like to wish you all happy holidays. Um, but keeping the holidays in mind, no matter what holiday you celebrate this time of year, they all seem to have they all seem to involve lights. We see lights on homes. We see lights on the manora. There's candles. There's all kinds of lights. This time of year we have a lot of bright lights in our
143district and I fear that they are dimming dramatically dimming dramatically not because of coming up on the winter break um but due to the worry they are feeling over a lack of a contract. So as you continue negotiations because it sounds like they're probably going into January at least. Please help to brighten those lights again and offer an equitable contract to our teaching staff. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> We're going to move on to administrative commentary. Dr. Lans. >> Madam President, I'm happy to speak on behalf of all of our administrators tonight. First of all, we'd like to wish Mr. Scaling a happy birthday. >> Happy birthday. You're welcome to sing to him afterwards if you choose to. Oh, I think he's a solid 44, so we'll go with that. >> Yeah, right. >>
144And to our staff, our community, and to the board, happy holidays, safe travels, and I hope you enjoy the break with your families and friends. Thank you, Madam President. >> Thank you. Going to move on to board commentary. Going to start with you, Dr. Zelner. >> Thank you, Madam President. Uh first of all, I've had the pleasure of engaging with all of those wonderful extracurriculars that we've uh been hearing about so far. Um I was able to see a number of the plays and collage concerts and different um I also got to hang out with the robotics team and they had a wonderful beautiful season. Uh so just want to en like call out all of the work that we've been doing um around the schools. Uh I also loved Mrs. Brandon's presentation. I love
145outdoor education. It's a reminder that kids come to school often, especially in the upper grades because of physical education, because of the extracurriculars, because of the passion of those teachers. Um so I just wanted to name that as well. Um, happy birthday, Mr. Scaling. And, uh, I also wanted to name that last night I had the pleasure of joining Dr. Lans and Miss Kaplan, Mr. Seagler at the Oakland County School Board Association joint meeting with the Oakland County Superintendent Association. And we had an incredible presentation from SAMCOG, which is the Southeastern Michigan Council of Governments, and they have a incredible data dashboard. So, if you are a data nerd, if you love charts and graphs like I do and spreadsheets, you can go right out to that website and look at the projections for the
146demographics of our county and how many students we could be expecting over the next 25 years. I think what struck me is in the course of the last 25 years looking backwards uh from when I first entered this profession of education is how many shocks to our system we've had from the great recession to the pandemic has really changed the landscape of the students that we're serving. We're also contending with huge demographic shifts and lower birth rates. Uh someone said to me the other day, "Oh, there was no kids coming to trick-or-treat." This is in October. Yes, because nobody's having kids. We the we have some stable population right now and a lot of that has to do with um demographic shifts in terms of people moving to our county generally from other countries. Uh
147so our our population is changing and while we have some stabilization here in Wald Lake, I think the chart that really struck me was uh comparing the school age children to the number of folks 65 and over. And it used to be that there were fewer 65 years and older as compared to the school age children. And right now we're equal and the trends are going to reverse. So, we're going to increase with our 65 and up population and lose our children. And so, there's it's just a an interesting conundrum to be thinking about how we serve our community, how we continue to keep our communities vibrant. Um, making connections as Miss Brandon does with her class between the schools and the larger community. uh and making sure that we are serving all of us
148and reminding ourselves that we still have an obligation to our children and that public education has a lot to offer to our families and to our community. Uh, one of the other interesting shifts that I just want to name is that it used to be that when people were looking for communities to move into, what they prioritized was the value that was coming with the school district and that is actually decreasing now as well. People are looking for different amenities and not putting as much pressure on the school district. I don't know what that implications of that are uh entirely, but it's just having the premier school district is not going as far either. Um, so there's a lot of interesting demographic shifts that I really encourage our community to dig into and it is
149going to take uh collective conversation about how we prioritize what we are um uh focusing on in our communities and making sure that we are still serving all of our students no matter what's happening with how many we have. So that I think did I miss anything? You all can fill it in. Okay, thank you. That concludes my comments. >> Mrs. West. >> Thank you, Mrs. Kaplan. Um, just want to wish everybody a happy holiday and everybody's safe. Um, hopefully everybody makes good choices as they are out and celebrating with family um, and friends. Um, and I just want to remind students, especially our high school students, that finals are in January. So, not to put a little conundrum there and like have to like dull that break, but don't forget to like open the
150books a little bit and check out your notes every once in a while so you don't have that downward spiral. Sorry, the educator of me comes out here. Um, but this way to, you know, hopefully do well on your exams in January. Um, and just for the public knowledge that we as a board are asking questions regarding the contract. So, I know you don't always see it up here, but we are asking questions and um behind the scenes and um staying on top of things. So, we are trying to be fiscally responsible and give fair contracts. So, um just know that we are here and we are doing what we can on our side as well. >> Thank you. Uh first of all, happy holidays to everybody. Uh, as you know, I spend a lot
151lot of time talking to our representatives in Lancing, uh, trying to figure out what's going on. We were fortunate that the $645 million that was just cut from the budget will have minimal impact on our district. Uh the other thing that happened at about 4:30 this afternoon is the Senate is trying to put a what they call a minibus deal in uh to fund the government and prevent the January 30th shutdown. Uh we don't know where that's going to go, how far it's going to get pushed. uh but it seems to have consensus opinion on both sides which I have to say is you know something I am very in favor of so that we can continue on. Uh I will be one of the members representing Wald Lake and the state going to Washington
152for Washington for advocacy and uh to meet with our representatives the end of January, beginning of February. Uh if anybody in the community has some messages you would like me to deliver, please forward them to me because I will be happy to do that. Thank you. >> Thank you, Mr. Lipet. >> That was unfair. Skipping skipping. Uh yeah, so happy holidays to everybody. Um boy, what a what a whirlwind. You know, when when Halloween starts, I always think that's the beginning of the holiday season. We get to have so many great uh moments. And here we are. New Year's is almost upon us and Christmas is almost here. So, uh I can't believe how how quickly it's happened. And like Dr. Zelner said a moment ago, I too have had the opportunity to attend all
153these amazing events, almost all of them. But I've gone to my fair share. I I love the collage concerts. Did anybody get a chance to see go to any of the collage concerts? But they are fantastic. If you haven't been to one, please uh go to next year's I think there's one tonight. And uh is there any left? Are there any other ones left? I think we're done. Uh but they are they are terrific events featuring our orchestras and bands and and I think that they are uh the pride of our district from a music standpoint. Uh something else to consider is that uh for those of you who have seniors uh like like I have uh college uh admissions are have started and uh this is the period between now and February March where
154our children are either going to be crying or screaming with joy over these next few months and this is the culmination of all the great work they've done in Wald Lake schools. So just be aware and be sensitive to a lot of uh uh students in our midst that are um pretty stressed out right now. So, I just want to uh say it'll all be okay. People end up where they're supposed to be. Um, lastly, I uh I just I'm going to speak just for a moment on a personal note, having nothing to do with the district. Some of you know I I experienced a loss in my family this week, which was uh uh very sad for uh my family. uh my uh elderly father passed away. And the only reason I bring it
155up here is we had the benefit 10 years ago of interviewing my elderly father on video. Um and we put together hours of digital files of my father telling us about his childhood and growing up and what it was like, things he experienced, things he didn't. And the only the only reason I I think it's important to bring up here is um for those of you that have uh either elderly parents or people that you want to document their incredible experience on this earth, I highly recommend you download uh some of the interview templates that are out there. Uh do the interview. Do it now. Do it before it's too late. Uh because I can tell you just speaking for myself and my family, having access to these videos, having access to so much footage
156of my father has been a big comfort uh to our family. Uh so I just wanted to share that with with the group. Uh happy holidays again and I hope uh we'll see you again after the new year. >> Mr. Smith, >> thank you, Mr. Kaplan. Um I want to say thank you to all those uh community members who spoke this evening. Um it takes courage and passion uh of course to show up here and share your thoughts. I know not of not all of us like to speak in public. So, I understand that. Uh just as Miss West stated, I'm sure all of us state is that we are asking questions. I'm frustrated just like everyone else as community member, as a parent in this district. Uh I would I would like to formally
157request that we have a close session in January. I'm throwing that out there to see where we're at with the status. Take it for whatever it is. That's my stance. Um in the past uh in the past month, I've enjoyed the following. I've attended the Wixom Elementary groundbreaking. I've attended the sixth grade band performance at CHS. My son was in in the band and that was wonderful as a quick like 12 minutes, but it was amazing to see how quickly his trumpeting was in September versus now to he could actually play some some things. And then I also attended an eighth grade CHS basketball game which is amazing. I believe they just lost to Banks I think, but that's okay. uh wrapped up seasons of basketball and volleyball through community education which is a great
158opportunity for for residents as well for my own children. Uh attended Hades Town at Wald Lake Western which was amazing. Uh I attended It's a Wonderful Life at Central, equally superb, and the collage concert at Western as well. Uh during the next few weeks or so or months or whatever you want to say, I'm hoping to attend a basketball or hockey game this break uh at Waldik Northern uh to try and be more active in the Northern community as well. and uh looking forward to that. I just have uh kind of a personal note as well here is just that as we know uh December some of you may or may not know but uh December is seasonal effective disorder or sad awareness month. Uh each year millions of Americans are affected by this condition
159which brings on significant mood changes in response to the changing of seasons. I know it affects a lot of us out there. Uh it occurs during late fall and winter months. not only can affect teachers and educators, your kids as well. I know in Michigan it's dark and gloomy and here we are. Uh so just what I want to say is during this time just remember not everyone will have the same experience during this upcoming holiday break. Some might be struggling financially, emotionally, and mentally to get them through these holidays. So be mindful uh because it's two weeks off just to think about that. Think about your neighbors, think about your friends, family members. uh be mindful and reach out to them and uh check in with yourself too. You know, that's that's important as
160well to kind of follow through that and see how you're doing. So, I just want to say treat each other with respect, kindness, and love for one another this season. Happy holidays to everyone out there, to my fellow board members and administration. And I would be uh remiss if I did not state my kids both said before I got here, will there be a snow day tomorrow? They both said that and they said, "Hey, if we could be alerted at like 10 or 11 instead of 4 in the morning." That's all. >> I think you might be asking a little much, Mr. Smith. Um, I just want to say happy holidays to everybody. Um, be careful driving home tonight because the weather was not great coming in. So, I'm sure it's not great going out.
161So, everyone just be very careful and be mindful of that. Um, I want to just identify, tagging on to Mr. Lipid and Mr. Smith, the holiday seasons are fantastic for most of us. There are a bunch of us that don't have the same experiences. And it's important for us to be very mindful of all of our neighbors and our friends um, and the students in this district um, that are struggling. And so, if we can do a helping hand, that would be great. Um, I just want to share a couple programs that we did with Lakes Area Youth Assistance this month. Um, and how fantastic that was for some of our students and our um, community. We did an adopt with Hiron Valley Hospital and we had over 83 students um, served with bags and
162baskets of gifts that unbelievable amount of stuff. I mean, like bags that are bigger and I'm not that big, but bigger than me. Um, and just amazing. I mean, I can tell you because I had to carry them like seven times up and down hallways, probably 20 to 30 pounds each bag. And so that's, you know, was amazing. So, I want to say thank you to Leia for that and to Heron Valley Hospital and all of their community members that also donated personally to the um event. Also this past Tuesday we had um Shop with Hero um over at Meyers and we had one the previous week um at the Wix and Meyers and that's an amazing event that we have numerous amounts of students that come in. They get paired up with a police
163officer, a paramedic, a firefighter and they get $200 to spend and they go shopping. And the heroes probably have more fun than the students. Um well some of them I can tell you some some of them were pulling their hair out a little bit on Tuesday night. Um you had a little rambunctious students some of them and some of these police officers didn't know what to do. Um so it's quite funny um to watch some of it and as a parent you know you step back and you let them try to figure out how to manage the student. Um, and we had I think there was 36 students that were served in Wald Lake or Commerce and I can't remember how many were in Wixom because we jointly do it with um, Wild Lake, South
164Lion, Novi. Um, those Leia programs all collaborate in Wixom. So, I'm not sure exactly how many members and each student, you know, gets the $200 to spend. They get a meal um, for the evening. We give them pizza and you know other things like that. They sing, they you know enjoy themselves for the evening and on the way out each family gets a big bag of food for the holidays, you know, whether it's ham, potatoes, desserts and it's just a very inspirational, you know, evening and event for these kids. And the kids absolutely, you know, love it. Um, I can tell you just on a side note, it's quite interesting if you happen to be at the Meyer when one of these events are going on because there's police cars, fire trucks, ambulances, and you
165have absolutely no idea how many people have approached thinking that there's something horrible going on in the Meyers and can't quite understand what's going on and they don't want to come in the doors. Um, and we have to assure them that they're safe, that they're just out there to help our students. Um, and then they get involved. And I can't also tell you that on a side note, there are some people in the community that will come in. Let's use our brains people. You have 50 police officers and some of them in SWAT gear walking around Meyer and you try to shoplift in front of them. It's not the brightest idea. So, just putting it out there, whoever's listening, don't do that. Um, but besides that, everyone just have a great holiday, enjoy, and just
166think about your neighbors. Thank you. We're going to move on to the consent agenda. We have the approval of the minutes, the proposed November 6th special meeting, November 6th regular meeting, personnel recommendations of new hires, retirements and resignations, our financial records, um dispersements in the amount of 32,000 or 32 million, excuse me, 338 and422, balance sheet and statement of revenues and expenditures unedited and investment schedule purchases under 50,000. one consortium fee districtwide. Oakland schools network maintenance and support. Our annual renewal is 35,830.53 from the general fund. And then we have the Head Start director's report. >> Mr. Seer, >> I move that the board of education approve the consent agenda as presented. >> All those in favor? >> I >> opposed. Motion carries. 6 say we're moving on to purchases over 50,000. Dr. Lans. >>
167Thank you, Madam President. The administration has obtained consortium pricing through the Michigan School Business Officials aggregate bus purchasing program and recommends the purchase of six replacement buses from HORA Transportation. This purchase will be funded from the 2019 bond fund. The three of the six are 53 passenger buses designated for our special education students at $167,400 and one for each totaling 500,000 I'm sorry 52,23 and then three 30 passenger buses designated for our special education students with wheelchair accessible access at $15,456 each totaling 346,368. 8 for a grand total of $848,571. It's a lot of numbers. >> Madam President, >> Mr. Lip, >> I move that the board of education authorized the purchase of six buses from Hoster Transportation, Inc. in the amount of $848,571 from the 2019 bond fund. >> Support >> discussion. >> Okay.
168All those in favor? >> I opposed. Motion carries. 6. Dr. Lind, >> thank you very much. Schwald Lake Consolidated School District and PMR. Our project team recommends entering into a purchase order with Fort the procurement of our Lou systems to be installed at Dublin, Glengary, Guest, Hickory Woods, Keith, Lon Lake, Metobrook, Oakley Park, Pleasant Lake, Wald Lake Elementary School, as well as the Early Childhood Center, and the future Gistler Educational Services Center totaling $591,179.40 40 cents from the 2024 bond fund. If I may add to that for our community, the L system is an interactive program that I'm sorry, an interactive projection system that our physical education teachers will be able to use with the elementary schools. We've had it at Commerce Elementary. I believe we're going in our second year at this point and
169it is a significant improvement in the ability for our PE teachers to instruct our students. I'm very excited to put this forward to the board. I believe it continues to show the equity and the commitment that we have to all areas of education of our students. >> Mr. Smith, >> I move that the board of education off approve the district. Where am I at? to enter into a purchase order with Forte for the procurement of L systems at the 12 district buildings as presented totaling $591,17940 from 2024 bond funds >> support >> discussion Miss West >> um I watched the video about what the loose systems does and my 10-year-old was sitting next to me while I was watching this she's like wow that is really cool I want to do this and then she
170was like very it made her very excited. She's already an active child. Um but I think that it is very interactive. So it'll help bring in those kids who maybe may not feel as athletic or may be a little more kind of shy to interact with their student other students in PE that um hopefully it encourage them to continue to interact a little more. >> Mr. Smith, >> you want >> No, go ahead. I'll save my >> um Mr. Kaplan. Uh question. Was there a vid like a recording done when commerce when it was first installed there? >> Like a video? >> Yeah, something showing the teacher. I thought I remember >> I'm just wondering like if we could reshare it for the public. I I swear there was something that D >> Well, Mr.
171Durk can look into that. >> I thought so. And then um will it uh there will be curriculum that is utilized based on this system? And then can other classes utilize this? Are there like apps or different I don't know templates like music class can use that's interactive with things like that? >> Yeah, thank you. That's actually what I forgot to mention. So I appreciate that lead in. It it does tie into all of our curricular areas at the elementary level. So if you were doing uh two-digit multiplication, the the game and the interactiveness could be based on two-digit multiplication. So there'll be a lot of opportunity to cross over with curriculums. As far as having other classes come in to use it, that would be difficult only because most of our gyms are used
17298% of the time. And so there's there's not that opportunity, but there would be the opportunity to partner with the music teacher and to say for the next week, could you do this activity with with the kids because that'll lead into what I'm doing in the classroom. >> Miss Gransky, am I good with that? >> Perfect answer. Thanks, Dr. L. >> Thank you. I just want to say I think that the system is very cool and I'm very excited to see it widespread across the district. >> We could also do a a board event at it if you'd like. We have >> when we have the new Gser Educational Service Center up and running. We'll we'll take a field trip. How's that? >> Okay. Any other discussion? All those in favor? >> I opposed. Motion
173carries 6. Dr. plans. >> The project team recommends to enter into a standard forms of agreements between owner and contractor by the summary of awards presented for Northern High School remodeling project. The total award recommendation for this project is 12 million 67,9851. Recommendation based on the bids for each trade category include recommending mandatory involuntary alternates, construction contingency, and CM fees. As I had an opportunity to update the board, there is a slight change in this. The community might note that we're I'm actually asking for an approval of 11,724 uh $229.73. And that's because we have an opportunity to save some additional money potentially on looking at the camera system replacement just for Wald Lake Northern. Now, to be clear, the cameras are working fine. There's nothing wrong with them. It's part of the bond replacement.
174We'll end up replacing well over a thousand cameras by the time we're done with the 24 bond. This just gives us a little bit more time to look at that and see if we can save some additional funds. >> Mr. Seagler. >> I move that the board of education approve entering into standard forms of agreement between owner and contractor by the summary of awards presented for the Northern High School remodeling project totaling 11,724,229.73 not to include the bids received for security cameras. >> Okay, discussion. So, I just want to be Oh, go ahead. I was gonna say I just want to be clear. So, the bid that we're asking, you know, is for the exact same thing just without the security cameras so that we can go out and rebid the security cameras to try
175to save us money. >> That's accurate. >> Okay. Mr. Smith, >> Miss Cap, uh, the one question I have, which I already shared, is will this include a new AC system for the auxiliary gym? >> This does not include an air conditioning system for the auxiliary gym. You will see that bid come probably in March, Februaryish. At this point, the bond team is committed to having that installed over the summer. Now, there are obviously things we can't control to go with that, but that is the plan to have it up and functional by the time school starts, and that will make Northern uh comparable with the other two high schools being 100% air conditioned. >> Thanks. >> Any other discussion? Yep. This is West. Um, I just want to thank uh Dr. Lans for including
176all of the bid information because we are able to see that um and that you know it's taken into account as far as like the cost and you know utilizing taxpayer money wisely and so I do appreciate that. So, um, usually it was the lowest bid that was given to us, but not always. And I'm sure there are a lot of things that go into that, um, consideration, but I just want to make sure that people know that there were look it looked like there was very careful consideration going into this. So, thank you. >> Thank you. And this this bid package did come in under the bond budget. >> Thank you. Any other discussion? >> All those in favor? >> I >> opposed. Motion carries 6. Back to you, Dr. Lans. >> The project
177team recommends to enter into standard form agreements between owner and contractor by the summary of awards represented for the GUI educational services center. The total award recommendation for this project is $15,7,647.68. Recommendation, excuse me, includes base bids for each trade category, including recommended mandatory alternative and alternates, construction contingency, and CM fees. This project also did come in under budget. >> Mr. Lipet, >> uh, I move the board of I move that the board of education approve entering into standard forms of agreements between owner and contractor by the summary of awards presented for the Gistler Education Educational Services Center project totaling 15,7,64768. support >> discussion. >> Okay. All those in favor? >> I >> opposed. Motion carries. 6. Back to you, Dr. Lans. >> You know, I'll never admit this publicly, but at this point, I
178do miss Mr. Chatfield. >> Can I Can I streaming? Can I send the tape? >> Let's not tell Bill. Okay. And the project recommends to enter into standard form of agreement between owner and contractor for the summary of awards presented for Northern High School remodeling floor flooring and plumbing project. The total this award recommendation for the project is 1,658,277. Recommendations include base bid for each trade category including recommended mandatory voluntary alternatives construction contingency CM fees and costs. The reason why this was not included in the previous package was when we went out to bid to start with, we did not feel that we had enough biders involved. And so, thanks to a fantastic bond team, they were able to rebid and have additional biders bid for it, which again allowed this to come in under
179budget. >> Mr. Seagler. >> I move that the board of education approve entering into standard forms and of agreement between the owner and contractor by the summary of awards presented for the Northern High School remodeling, flooring, and plumbing project totaling $1,658,277. >> Discussion. >> Okay. All those in favor? >> I >> opposed. Motion carries 6. Okay, moving on. Back to Dr. L. >> Super stoked to keep going. >> Well, reviewing utility services for a new residential development near Hickory Woods Elementary, it was found that an easement was never created for a gas pipeline. As it is customary to enable municipalities to maintain the service and utility that reside on district property, Consumers Energy is requesting approval of a gas pipeline easement. administration has reviewed the documents and with legal counsel and recommends the approval. It's
180as additional information. There's already an easement in this general area that just happens to be for sewer and water. So, they're really just overlaying that so that they can have the gas go to one particular home. It I'm not sure why the builder didn't ask for it at the same time, but this is where we're living right now. To be good neighbors, we would recommend this. It's an area It's in the back playground area. They will, if there's any disturbance to that property, they'll remediate it back to original form. Although with the previous easement, they do slant drilling and so it's very unlikely there'll be much disturbance at all to the building or to not to the building, to the grounds, excuse me, >> Mr. Smith. >> I move that the board of education approve
181the gas pipeline easement with consumers energy and authorize the superintendent to execute the easement documents. >> Support. >> Discussion. Mrs. West. Um will this um will a section of the playground be unattainable to students during while this is be being done? >> It will be it'll be there's a good chance it'll be done over the break. >> Okay. >> That's not dependent on us. That's dependent on a few variables. That's our hope. But it's so far back that it and given the way playgrounds are used in the winter significantly different than the summer. I don't anticipate that really being much of a disturbance. >> Okay. So, do we have any concerns about safety issues with workers being there if students are outside? >> I I do not given that we have adults out there monitoring
182all the time. >> Okay. >> And they'll be told not to go in that area obviously. >> Absolutely. Okay. Thank you. >> Yep. >> Mr. Lipet. >> Uh thank you, Madam President. Just uh dumb question. Is there is there cost associated with this? >> There was some costs because of involving our attorney. The neighbor has agreed to reimburse the district $1,000 to cover costs. Does that $1,000 cover the cost of the attorney? >> Well, with our good friends sitting in the room, sure it does. No, it does not. No, but as we've worked with people in the past, we'd like to be reasonable and as part of a community partnership. >> Got it. I didn't know the attorney was sitting in the room, so apologies for putting you on the spot there. Thank you. >>
183Any other discussion? >> Okay. All those in favor? I >> I opposed. Motion carries 6. Back to you, Dr. Lans. >> Nothing makes me happier. And turn this over to Mrs. R. >> Thank you, Dr. Lans. Uh, Executive Energy, which is our energy manager for the district, has been working over the years with the district to contain and save energy costs through the electrical choice program. As electrical costs have risen, energy, Executive Energy has been able to secure pricing on a year-to-year basis that was favorable and garnered significant cost savings to the district. Executive Energy is recommending that the district enter into an additional 9-year agreement with CMS ERM, which is consumers energy. This recommendation ensures that the district has an additional energy procurement partner partner that has the capacity to meet the renewable portfolio
184standard requirements mandated by the state of Michigan and protects against the inflationary pressures of rising electrical costs. The board is being asked to consider authorizing district personnel to sign a 9-year addendum to the CMS energy contract. This addendum will lock in the base megawatt hour MW for an additional nine years extending the current contract to May of 2036. >> Mrs. Cap, >> Dr. Zelner, finally we hear from Dr. Zelner. >> I move down there. >> I move. Thanks. Thanks, Madam President. I move that the board of education approve the first amendment to the retail electric sales agreement between the Wall Lake Consolidated School District and CMS Energy and authorize the superintendent to sign the agreement on behalf of the district >> support >> discussion Mr. Seagler, >> you know, it's um this has been around
185for quite a while. Uh and to be able to lock in rates that we have as we also do with the uh bus purchases with the fuel costs. I mean we are very fortunate because that is money that is coming out of the general fund but we can actually guesstimate what we're using and it helps us in a to a great extent with the budget and I know when uh this was first brought up I don't know how many years ago but we said you know we were laughing because we said could we do this for our homes and you know it it is a it is an opportunity that we are fortunate to have in the schools and in government as a government entity and uh to be able to lock in right now
186for to 2036 I think is amazing. >> Mr. Lipin. >> Yeah, thank you Madam President. Just just dumb question. Was there something special about 9 years uh versus 10 or eight or another arbitrary number? >> Mrs. Z will correct me, but I believe they offered very specific year options like a one-year, a 10year, and a 20-year, whatever it might be. But we're already halfway into something. >> We actually have the one-year agreement with them, and most of the C customers have been locking into a 10-year agreement. We had that opportunity in 2022, which is when we signed that one-year agreement. At that time, it was determined to just do the one year. So, to be consistent with their other customers, they're extending it to the nine-year. >> That makes sense. Thank you. Mr. Smith, >>
187just two random questions. I was trying to read through it and I you don't have to get back to me today if it's um do does this company do an energy audit to us and provide us like ways to improve? >> We actually we have an on-site energy manager that they work very closely with to to look at the savings that we garner based on what's out there in the market and what we're actually here as well as looking at ways that we can improve our energy savings by procedures that we have within the district. And then follow up with the current pricing. I see it says with inflation area that it's are we seeing a drastic increase like everyone else is in energy costs or is it this is going to really keep it
188down? >> Well, again obviously if we had that crystal ball that would be perfect. Um but up to this particular point in time the yearbyear has worked for us and the contracts we've had in place have um garnered significant savings for us over the years. this one-year contract that we locked into. Unfortunately, it's going to be very more closely to what DTE is charging. So, that that's why we're kind of looking forward because it's really the renewable energy um requirements that will make it more difficult for us to get the the cost savings into the future if that makes sense. So because of the fact that they increase it over a percentage throughout that time period, they have to have the facilities to be able to regenerate the renewable energy and that infrastructure isn't in
189place yet. So that's what our hope is. We also asked for there to be a clause in there that if there's economic changes that we would come back to the drawing board whether that was that they would the state changes the mandates and or if for some reason the economy changes and those prices aren't the same that we would both come back and try to keep each other economically whole. >> Any other questions? >> Okay. All those in favor? I >> I opposed. Motion carries 6. Dr. Lans, >> Mr. Scaling. >> Thank you, Dr. Lans. For many years, Wald Lake Consolidated Schools has been open to section 105 schools of choice under the school state aid act. Under this section, a pupil may enroll from one of one Oakland County school district to another. The
190administration is requesting that the board of education approve Walt Lake Consolidated Schools as a participate participant in section 105C limited schools of choice for the 2627 school year with the designation of school openings not to exceed 10% of the most recent October count in any individual grade in all schools. >> So I I think it'd be important to note that this is a change from what we've done in the past >> and Mr. Mr. Scaling, you're welcome to correct me, but I believe in the past we've had a cap for a building and we've had a 10% exception for kindergarten and junior kindergarten. We're now taking that 10% and applying that to all grades JK through 12. That being said, we typically don't have any concerns in 6 through 11. I should say 11. We
191don't do 12th grade school of choice. So 6 through 11, this has never been a problem. It's only been a problem in the elementary. And by problem I mean we have people that would like to come to Wald Lake and because the total building is at the 5% we're not allowed to take the one student that might have been the school of choice in third grade at Wald Lake L. Would that be a fair summary? >> That is correct. >> Okay. Thank you, >> Mrs. West. >> Where am I? Sorry. Um, I move that the board of education approve administration's recommendation that the district participate in section 105 limited schools of choice for the 202627 school year in the school o school openings be designated by administration not to exceed 10% of the most recent
192October count in any individual grade in the all schools >> support >> discussion Mrs. for us. >> Um, I just want to thank Dr. Lans because he was able to explain that if um, we have a family coming in for school of choice, say they have a third grader and they want to bring in their kindergartenner if the if there's it's full, we're not going to go ahead and accept another student to add another section. So, we're not paying for our salary to expand um, sections if we don't have the capacity in a school. So um it's unfortunate to think that you know we can't accept everybody but at the same time we need to um make sure that we are thinking about our financial um opportunities that we have and u be fiscally responsible
193to the district but um also you know try to take who we can. So thank you. >> Thank you Mrs. West. As a followup to that, at the elementary level, if we have a student, and I I only limit it to elementary because again, we're not seeing this challenge at the secondary level. At the elementary level, if we have a student that would like to go, I'll use third grade at Wald Lake, and we happen to be full there. We've always had the opportunity to offer an alternative location. This wouldn't change that. And so, we go back to that parent. We have a great team that works on this and says, "Would you like to go to Wixom? Would you like to go to guest?" So we try to keep it regional closest sorry Matt
194closest to the building of of which their original choice was. So this will maintain that practice of still offering other alternatives to families if we don't happen to have room at that one specific building. And to to follow up on the fiscal responsibility we heard today from a number of people sharing that we would like to make sure that we can have contracts with all of our staff pay all of our staff. Well, we have two examples today of how we're trying to do that. We're locking in costs in a long term so that we can budget effectively for that and have a knowledge base of how we're budgeting versus a year-to-year trying to figure out what our electricity costs might be. And this is an opportunity for us to increase revenue. I know as
195educators we don't look at students as revenue, but ultimately how we get funded. Students are the only revenue we have. And so to increase the number of students that we have without adding sections allows us to increase that marginal revenue with not increasing fixed costs. Mr. Seagler. >> And if I remember correctly, the uh families coming in provide their own transportation. >> They do. >> Uh and I remember when we started again schools of choice, we had there was a period when we were at roughly 15,000 to 16,000 students, we we would open this up and we would already have schools locked out and we were at a 5% cap. So, you know, it's It is a way to bring people into the district and I thank I am thankful we've modified again. >> Thank
196you. Any other discussion? >> Okay. All those in favor? >> I opposed. Motion carries. 6. Going back to Dr. Lans. >> Going back to Mr. >> Thank you, Dr. Lans. We were approached by White Lake Township to actually eliminate our fees, which again was a nice opportunity versus renegotiating for some more. But um the administration is recommending to amend the existing agreement with White Lake Township to remove the per parcel fee it currently charges the district for summer tax collection services. White Lake Township established a property tax administration fee that now assessed to property owners. This fee is intended to cover the cost associated with assessing, collecting, and defending appeals on behalf of all taxing units it serves, including the district. Implementing this change requires a formal amendment to the existing agreement. >> Mr. Smith.
197>> I move that the board of education approve to amend the existing agreement with White Lake Township to remove the per parcel fee that is current that it currently charges the district for summer tax collection services as presented >> discussion. I have one question which could sound a little odd. Why? I mean I'm grateful that they're asking us to do that but why? >> Essentially because they charged that to the property owners. This was nothing that we requested. They approached us regarding this particular agreement and most of those agreements we do re renegotiate and so they approached us early and asked if they could get that passed because again it's a form for formality for them as well to eliminate those fees and so it would almost be for them be double dipping. Gotcha. Thank
198you. >> Any other discussion? >> Okay. All those in favor? I opposed. Motion carries 6. We're going to leave Dr. Lans alone for a moment. Say Oakland County School Board Association proposed resolutions annually. The Oakland County School Board Association OCSBA government relations committee GRC, which Mr. Seagler is a member of, establishes legislative priorities for the current legislative session. The resolutions and bylaws committee then review the adopted legislative priorities and draft new resolutions and or amendments to previously adopted re resolutions based on those legislative priorities. When there is an alignment with Michigan Association of School Boards and or the National School Boards Association resolutions, the MASB NSBA resolution information is referenced. Once reviewed by the OCSBA board of directors, the proposed resolutions are presented to the members of the district for consideration. Every member district board
199of education has been been provided with the proposed resolutions. OCBA requires that each member district board of education present a vote on the proposed resolutions. Mr. Seagler. >> Thank you, Mrs. Kaplan. I move that the board of education approve the Oakland County School Board Association's proposed resolutions as presented. >> Discussion. Mr. Secret. >> Uh, I want to I do want to thank my colleagues for getting back to me when I did forward you the information. Uh again, as we're looking towards things that we might need to change, might need to modify or things that we have to work on when we are going to uh Washington, I wanted to make sure that everybody was informed and everybody was of uh in support of this going forward. >> Thank you and thank you for your work
200on the GRC. >> Does anybody else have any other discussion, questions or comments? >> All those in favor? I >> I >> opposed. Motion carries. 6. Okay. >> Last but not least, Dr. Lans, I'll start with you. >> Thank you. So, we're we're at the point now where we need to make a decision on the 31A. And just as a point of reference, currently we have opted in to accept that money. So if we take no action as a district, then the money will come to us along with all of the requirements that come with it. So what I need from the board is a motion to in essence either accept the money. Another possible motion, don't accept the money or a third possible motion, accept the money only if privilege is removed. Now you
201heard today that that's probably not going to happen. So I I would not necessarily and there could be a fourth or fifth motion. I'm not those are just the three that come to top of my mind right now. >> I would not recommend to the board including anything having it determined on whether privilege is removed or not because I believe that that is a non-issue. I I don't believe that will happen in the next whatever 12 holiday and with half the days being holiday days. I find it unlikely that we'll receive any additional substantive information from the court. >> So that's my request of the board. Okay. >> Okay. I'm going to let somebody just pick one of the motions and then we'll have discussion and see where it goes from there. >> Dr. Zelner,
202>> I move that the board of education direct the superintendent to accept funding pursuant to section 31A of the state school aid act of 2025. >> Okay. Discussion. Mr. Seagler. I find it difficult to turn down $1.7 million. I do have personally some very strong reservations because I really find it difficult to understand how we are going to do this without a guarantee on the back end and that's what I kept on asking with the attorney. Uh I know in talking to the majority of the districts uh that I was with last night in Oakland County, they have all, you know, they have voted to accept. And several of them have said, you know, we we know if something happens, we are going to have to call a special meeting just to discuss this and
203move forward with it. uh with the court cases with what's happened yesterday in the court cases I don't believe we are going to see anything come back on this I think uh unfortunately it's there I you know I'm going to vote in favor of it even though personally deep in my heart I have some very strong reservations on this and uh I do believe that this is opening up Pandora's box as we move forward. And I think uh you know we are responsible to our district. So I have to do what is best for the district at this time. But I really truly feel that there's something on the back side of this that is going to make me cringe. >> Mr. Lipet. >> Thank you, Madam President. Yeah, I I struggle with this tre
204as I'm sure we all are struggling with this. It's uh it's a deal with the devil. If if you don't mind my saying that metaphorically, uh I intend to vote against this. Uh I am not comfortable putting the district in the face of Mark's uh Mr. Sigler's Pandora's box. I don't think this is a good move. In fact, I think that uh I suspect that the insurance companies are desperately hoping we accept this money and they are not selling it to us. This is they are buying with us right now. This is an opportunity for them to use this as I see it to escape liability. And I don't believe we are in my opinion um serving our district the best way we can and our students and staff uh by accepting this money. I
205would rather continue our posture with our budgeted money as it is uh and not accept this money under the terms that they have shown and that is where I stand. >> Anybody else have something they want to say? Yep. Dr. Zelner. >> Yeah, I just uh thank you Mrs. Camp. Um, I also want to say for the record that it is a very hard thing to ask all of us to wave that privilege. On the other hand, we have a privilege and responsibility to keep our schools safe and to make sure that they have the mental health supports that they need. $1.7 million is not nothing. And in observing what has happened around our county with the violence in Oxford, what we're talking about is waving a privilege in an independent investigation that is that
206is run by the state or the governor. The thought that things would come out in that investigation that wouldn't come out in the normal course of an investigation to me is is a is a negligible risk. It's not nothing, but it is it is a gamble in some ways. But if we are anticipating what it might be like if something horrible were to happen here, our community is going to want answers anyway. And some answers will come out anyway, having watched what has happened in this county. And to me, it makes more sense to that a prevention is worth a pound of cure. And that if we can prevent something horrible happening because we have the mental health and behavioral staff that we need that we have in hardened, I don't love that term, but
207because we have put some money towards helping our schools have better infrastructure around safety and security that we would be better off in the long run. I agree with the interity that it makes no sense to me that it would be 50 years down the line that they would be saying we've waved our privilege. This would be connected to the money. I think on its face that makes sense to me and uh we're basically weighing risks here and to me the risk is higher to look into the faces of our community and say no, we don't want $1.7 million for mental health and for the safety of our schools because we're worried about something down the line. uh in terms of answers they would want anyway. So that's partially I was originally with you. I
208was absolutely not. We can't wave privilege. That's an crazy thing to ask uh anybody to do. Uh but after looking at the court cases and hearing from the attorney and talking to our friends around the county, I've really um come to to switch that reluctantly because of that wave privilege. And yet I think it's more important uh to invest the money for our schools. >> Yes, of course. >> Yeah, I I totally respect that, Dr. Zelner, and I I hear you loud and clear. And from my seat, were this a one forone exchange, in other words, one year against 1.7, you know, 1.7 million exchange for the the privilege, um, and we could assume it was a one-year encapsulated risk. I'd be all there. I I'd be right with you. It's the unknown. It's the
209fact that they may extract from this an endless liability. And that's that's my no right there. >> Mrs. West, >> thank you. President Kaplan, um this was a really hard one that I felt like, you know, we all struggled with uh because there's a lot of unclear wording in this. Um, but one thing I really found was that I think um, with an investigation, if there was to be a pray that there isn't, but um, if there was to be an incident that a lot of times an investigation would bring forth a lot of information to light anyways. So, I think that the transparency aspect of it um, as far as, you know, the citizens are going to want, you know, it's going to be there and they they want to have the information. Um,
210and so I think that it's almost imperative that we do this for transparency to our taxpayers. >> Mr. Smith, do you want to say something before I do? >> Yes, Mr. Cap. Sorry, I I was a no to begin with. Uh, I I don't know. It's very difficult decision. I have follow-up questions. Uh if for instance we said no um it would be pulled from the general fund what you're stating to offset that loss. >> Well, we'd have to make a choice. Yes. >> We'd have to make the choice to either continue what we're doing >> and to only way we could do that would be to fund it through the general fund. So yes, we'd be let's say we continued everything. That would be $1.7 million out of the general fund that is not
211currently budgeted to come out of the general fund. Or we could discontinue the programs that are being funded by it and then there would be zero effect to the general fund directly. It would just impact services that we're providing. >> Gotcha. would we be able to um reach out to other resources that already provide that I that I I firsthand knowledge that there are other agencies that are uh within our district that we could lean on more or is that >> I believe that we're close to the maximum ability that other resources have to support us. >> Okay. >> Because they we're not typically the only school district that they're supporting. And so I I think and I appreciate our partners and the support that they've brought along with us. I don't I don't think
212that that would allow us to continue a lot of the services because the services are in a different level of confidentiality with our school employee versus a in essence third party vendor and the relationships that we're building over time when we don't necessarily have that same person year in and year out that's not our employee. >> Okay. And these funds again are one time, one year. Well, >> as of now, >> to to be fair, it would be difficult for us to spend the 1.7 by August 30th of 2026. It would be more likely that it would be spent by August 30th of 2027. Because as we're budgeting, we're budgeting this not not as a one-year expense. When we received the money the first time, we had carryover money that we then used that money
213and then did the carryover. So it wouldn't impact us as dramatically in this fiscal year. It impacts us severely next fiscal year. So to be clear to Mr. Lip's point and is this is not a one-year liability. Let's just assume that they say once you spend the money this this is gone. This is an 18month uh area of liability to the district. So back for just for clarification for the suggest suggested motion number two >> is that so it's you're accepting it >> only if waving of privilege is not required so we don't know that that's just your >> well from what the attorney said and from >> in fair I've also provided the board with other attorney's opinions nobody believes that given the court's decision right now that is going to be removed moved
214at any time via a court action. Now, as he as our attorney said, no one can predict the future. Anything could happen tomorrow. The federal court judge could come tomorrow and and make a ruling, right? I I find that incredibly unlikely, but it is possible. >> All right, one last one. >> If we approve it, I the date deadline is December 30th, right? >> Um and things change with appeals or whatever, >> we come back. That's always an option that we could call a special meeting. >> And I just want to I think I'm correct in this. We don't know what the legislature will do next year when they're doing their budget and we have no idea if it will be the same thing year after year once they see how much money they may
215have saved or, you know, with all the people that opted out. And so we don't know where it's going to be, you know, for one year, one term type of thing. Um, we just don't we don't know that. Um, and for my perspective on this, um, I'm going to use the attorney's words. It sucks. Um, I think this is a very crazy thing that we're being asked to do. I totally agree with Dr. Zelner and Mrs. West when they say I have no issue and worry about us not being transparent and showing the community what's happening and god forbid please listen closely. We're not asking for anything to happen. um that we don't want anything to be happening in our district and I think from my perspective we're very transparent when things happen and I
216think that we would be very transparent in this type of a situation and everything would be exposed as it should be if something went wrong or something didn't go wrong I think it would be exposed my waning and my concern is we're so focused on mass casualty as I asked the attorney it's what's mass casualty and then how does that affect a student that you know has a mental health issue. how much of that information is shared publicly and that's you know where my concern is um with that and I'm not saying that the information wouldn't get out there anyway because it probably will be and I'm sure you know you're a neighbor you're a neighbor you know you know what's going on with that boy you know a girl you know what's happening you
217know so the gossip and the information gets out anyway in any kind of situation but as a mental health professional that's my biggest concern turn. Um but and but is never a good word, but I'm saying it again. Um the 1.7 will be helpful for our district at this point in time. And I don't see Wald Lake schools having any issue with the transparency and being able to handle any type of investigation with any type of a situation. But it sucks. It totally sucks. So, and I find it like distasteful honestly that we're even discussing this and that this has been put on our feet and you know it's here we're going to give you money but now you got to do this for us and we want your information and that gives me a
218very very horrible taste in my mouth but I will be a vote of a yes to accept the money at this moment in time. Any other discussion? Okay. Well, we're going to call for the vote. Um, would you guys like to read the motion one more time so you know what you're voting on? Are >> you all good with it? >> Read one more time. >> All right. I move that the board of education direct the superintendent to accept funding pursuant to section 31A of the state school aid act of 2025. >> Okay. All those in favor? I >> I >> opposed. Nay. >> Motion carries 51. With that being said, we are going to adjourn at 10:03. I want to reiterate to everybody out there, please be careful. I have no idea what the
219weather is doing since we've been in here for three hours. Um, but be very careful driving. I don't want to don't want a mash casualty event after we just said yes. So,