001We're going to call the meeting to order. Please rise for the pledge of allegiance. And I'm sorry for a delay. I pledge algiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for it stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty andice for all. >> Thank you all for being here. Um, again, sorry for our slight delay. We're going to move on to Golden Apple awards. Dr. Lans. >> Thank you, Madam President. I'm happy to turn it over to Mr. Durkin. >> Thank you, Dr. Lans. Tonight, it is our honor to recognize Doug Goodwin, former pair professional at Pleasant Lake Elementary as our November Golden Apple recipient. Although Doug is no longer with us, his legacy lives on in the countless lives he touched. Doug was nominated by River Eubanks and
002Sarah Priso for his love of teaching and his joy in watching students reach their goals. He always showed up with a smile, brightening even the toughest days, bringing laughter to students and staff alike. Doug's dedication, kindness, and commitment to excellence touched everyone around him. He connected with students, staff, and families with genuine care, creating a supportive, inclusive environment that left a lasting impact. His curiosity, forward-thinking approach, and passion for education inspired those around him every day. It is with deep gratitude that we present this award to Doug's in Doug's memory to his wife, Cheryl Goodwin, who joins us tonight to accept the award on Doug's behalf. wherever you're really uncomfortable. >> I just want people to know that became second home working. staff joyer and he didn't need but he would have been deeply touched
003by this world and I deeply appreciate this. Thank you. >> We're going to move on to the bond update. Dr. Lans, >> thank you very much. I'm happy to turn it over to Mr. Kevin Donley from Plant Moran Realoint who will be updating our community on some work we did over the summer, some work we're doing now, and some work we're going to do in the future. Mr. Don, >> thank you Dr. Lans. Appreciate it. Kevin Donnelly, Plant Maran, Real Point. Happy to be here tonight. I think the last time we had gotten in front of the board was um back in the spring which is a very similar type update and we're going to continue to do those twice a year. Uh so as we're winding down 19 bond program like to give the
004board an update on that as well as where we're at with the 24 bond program. Uh just some of the uh touching points for the uh presentation where we're at with some of the activities with our engagement related to uh to the program and the team. the 19 bond project update, 24 update, um some other sinking fund projects that are in planning right now, and that's over at Wall Lake Western. And then any questions that the board may have. Um just some things that the team is uh working on behind the scenes. Um we've since uh I think the last update to the board completed the CM contracts, the AE contracts are all completed. uh project management plans internally have been completed. There's a lot of meetings going on behind the scenes as we're planning
005the 24 bond program out and Dr. Lans can attest to that. Uh various communication plans. Um one of the new uh documents that we're going to start rolling out quarterly um that is directly tied to the 24 bond program are dashboards which uh Dr. Lens and I can put on the website. we can share with the board as high level financial updates uh where things are going you know over the next six months for the bond program and just really all key information on one or two slides. So we're going to start issuing that uh bidden award recommendations are going to continue to move forward over the next few months. Uh design planning meetings ongoing behind the scenes. We've sold series one and two and we had a major move this past summer that we
006helped coordinate over at Gesler. Uh the ebuilder um project management implementation system that we're going to be utilizing for 2024 is now live up and running. Um so as we're continuing to award 24 projects, we're going to be utilizing ebuilder um in collaboration with the project team in the district. All accounting procedures, governance, um workflows have been established uh working on some owner direct opportunities that uh Dr. Lans and I are going to be discussing uh over the next few years. um work with any of the financial um assistance and planning with cash flows, things of that nature. And then we always continue and and I think the board can relate to it having gone through a bond program or two that the schedule, the program, the budget is always evolving. Um so we continue
007to work on that. uh coordinating and um and procuring any required professional services. Now that we're wrapping down wrapping up 19 um a lot of the support services will now be um uh procured and brought under contract over the next few months. Uh that's geotechnical surveying, commissioning, security, just really the stuff that helps support construction. uh some of the 19 projects that were were wrapped up and and I can say that u we have completed and closing out right now all of the major um projects for 19 uh there is a a surplus that we're going to be utilizing for miscellaneous projects and at the district's discretion how we spend those down but there was a savings uh the projects that we recently completed over this past summer included Wall Lake Northern Improvements remodeling uh
008we did the same thing which was phase two over at Wald Lake Western. Uh we did the Wall Lake Northern baseball and softball improvements, which is new turf, uh new fencing, new amenities, and that's actually wrapping up as we speak. Uh mechanical upgrades over at Central, maintenance and transportation improvements, ongoing security projects are are always happening uh within the district. Uh we're actually getting ready to install the new pool scoreboards uh scoreboards starting next week. and just some other stuff. Um, some repairs we had to do over at Metobrook and then furniture, fixtures, and equipment to support the projects. So, that really is what concludes the 19 program. Just some progress photos. The first grouping is from Northern. A lot of the interior finishes turned out great. Uh, Wald Lake weather Wald Lake Western phase
009two. A lot of the collaboration areas. as I walk through the building and you see a lot of those kids utilizing uh those spaces which is great. Uh this is now since outdated. A lot of progress has been happening over at the Northern Baseball and softball. Just some general um infrastructure repairs um and upgrades over I should say at the transportation for mechanical equipment, some interior renovations. And now we get into 24 24 bond projects. And I think the board has already I know the board has already seen the first major project out of the gate which is Wixom. Uh we're actively working behind the scenes right now. Um ramping up to mobilization and construction. We have a groundbreaking uh upcoming here not too far down the road. And that first project um realized a
010pretty significant savings in the market which is great. It's a good way to start. We're going to have some wins and losses along the way. It's good to start with a win. We bid Geyser actually today, so that'll be coming in front of the board um here in December. Um kind of a parallel path with the Northern High School improvements. A lot of wrapping up designs and actively bidding work right now. Uh Western High School phase three, which will be going to the board January of 26. And then we're going to talk a little bit more about these improvements, but the Western High School athletic improvements, which will also be coming to the board in January. I've kept this in here um for the last couple presentations. This is kind of easy for the public
011and the community to see online of uh which projects are going, what years, and and I don't think they are concerned as much about which series, but more more what years the work's going to happen. Uh same thing through series three and series 4 um projects and bonds which will be sold in 2028. Um again just a real high level summary per building. If you ever wonder, you know, what are we doing over at Wall Lake Elementary, you know, high level bullet points of the scope that's going to occur at each building. We're going to continue to keep this online. Same thing with all the high schools and some of the uh miscellaneous buildings in the district. Um very similar to Wald Lake Northern, which we handled as a sinking fund project, we're doing similar
012improvements over at Western for the uh new baseball um softball fields. And in addition to that over at Western, we're going to be doing new resurfacing of the uh tennis courts, which is needed. Um, those projects are actively in design like I mentioned a few slides ago and it's going to be going to the board here in January. So, I tried to be as informative as I could and as brief as I could, but obviously if there's any questions that the board has, I'm happy to answer them. >> Thank you, Mrs. West. >> Thank you. Um, I have a couple of questions. Um, first, you said that we have a we have a little bit of a savings. Um, but how much do we have in savings that we from our projects that you're planning
013for this year? >> So, I I think there's a a good point to clarify here that for our 2019 bond, there were a number of projects that we had to take off of that bond because of inflation costing more than what we had budgeted for the original projects. Correct. >> So, although we have money that is unallocated, we're going back to the projects that we crossed off that may not have been picked up in 2024 to fulfill that original commitment. >> Okay. And that I to give a number right now I I don't think would be appropriate because we're still closing out three or four major projects of 2019, but once we've closed out all of the projects are on the books right now, I'll be happy to update the board and the public. >>
014Okay. Thank you. Yeah, because I was kind of thinking that if we had projects that were not completed that I would make sure that we >> reallocate that appropriately. Um I know the early childhood center and said that need new asphalt. It's a brand new building. How bad was it and why is there is there anything in the contract that we could say like it you know was it poorly done? >> Yeah. What what we've done and I appreciate Mr. Donnelly doing it is it's it's a brief summary. We're not really adding we're not replacing current. We're adding new because there was a design in the receiving area that made it very difficult for semi-truckss to turn around. And so that's what that is. It's it's adding new, not replacing current. Now, we did have
015a problem with uh two of the slabs of cement in the walkway up shifted, which happens. You can't always count account count account count for everything. And so, Mr. John and his team over the summer were happy as they redid Metobrook. We talked about the curbing there. They pulled those out and put new ones in. But no, the the parking lot is fine. >> Yep. >> Any other questions, Mr. Smith? >> Yeah. Uh when will the dashboards be online again? >> Yep. We have the final version and Mr. Derkin's team is working on that. I would anticipate Go ahead, Mr. Durkin. >> The most recent dashboard is currently on. >> Okay. Okay. Great. >> Presentation, we can certainly upload that wherever we need. >> Okay. And then just for the board and the community's knowledge,
016the the dashboard that we talked about and that the board has seen in draft form that talks about expenditures and timelines, that'll be updated pretty much quarterly because to do it, it takes a good amount of effort to do that. To do it more than that would be taking people off of what they're doing on a daily basis. >> All right. And then uh follow up with that. Is there a anticipated move year, date, month, something for ESC to Gistler? >> There is. There will be a couple of factors that have to be included in that. Right now, we're trying to determine where the new warehouse will go and if that will be included within the current footprint of Gistler or if it will be a standalone building. And that could impact when we move
017out of this building based on when that is ready because now we could move like the office could move over there and we anticipate we would be able to do that and Mr. Dley correct me if I'm I'm wrong but I believe that is January 27 we believe. >> Uh you're correct. >> Yep. December 26th. January 27. But we will still maintain this building for probably another year because this is where our fiber optics are going into. And as the community may remember, as part of this bond, we're redoing all the fiber optic cable in the entire district. And we'll now own all of that cable ourselves. And so we cannot decommission this building until that's ready to go. And finally, I think it's pretty easy. Just flip a switch and you're done, I guess.
018But it might be slightly more difficult than that. But that that will be the final thing that has to happen before we can turn over this building for sale or whatever we decide to do it. But people may vacate it before then. tech services may remain here just because that's where that head end room will be. >> Any other questions? >> Thank you very much, Mr. Danley. We appreciate it. >> Thank you. Appreciate the time. >> And M. Johny, thank you for taking time away from your company retreat. I know that that's important for companies to have the time to bond and we appreciate you making the sacrifice to be here. >> No problem. Don't tell him, but I'd rather be here. >> Okay, we're moving on to the district assessment. Dr. Lans. >> Thank
019you, Madam President. As our community knows that we typically do our assessment review in the month of of November. Unfortunately, Mrs. Kansky was called away. So, the B team will be presenting today. That's me. So, I I will do the best job I can to read the slides and and you're welcome to ask me whatever questions you like. I will tell you that 90% of the time my answer will be that's a fantastic question. and I have an expert that will be able to answer that and so that the community would be able to hear the answer to any questions you may have. We will postpone those answers until December when Mrs. Gwensky can be here to answer those questions. But feel free to ask them if you like or you can ask me in
020an email and then we can have Mrs. Gwensky read those on that day also. So no matter what we'll be able to answer the questions publicly as we would like our public to know. So I'm going to taking the right way. >> Nope. >> Wonder bar. Okay. So the purpose of today is to understand the data points and as you know we again we do this every year. We we will be reviewing our I Ready data and our MSTEP data. The purpose of the data that we collect is to inform our MYIP goals which have been the same for the past three years I believe but certainly last year and this year which is enable all students to increase their proficiency in reading and comprehensionformational text. Wald Lake will also implement a multi-tier systems of
021support MTSS that will support the needs of all students. It's important to know that these my goals are not necessarily Walt Lake specific. The MTSS goal is a statewide goal and Oakland schools helps us significantly with our reading and comprehending offormational text. How do we determine these were some areas that we would like to look at? This is a little difficult to see and I apologize for that. But if you see the red areas, those are the areas that we need improvement. Again, this is a review for the members of the board and the community as these have been the same areas that we started addressing in 2022. And that's how as you see the areas in the red, we decided that vocabulary and informationational text would be our focus. What makes vocabulary difficult? Here's
022a passage. I won't read this to you. I will give you the inappropriate amount of wait time for you to read it yourself and then you will in your head say, "Well, what would the author's claim be? How does the author structure this passage? And how does she signal the text structure?" These are normal questions that we would ask in a classroom. And as a matter of fact, we were at let's see where were we today? We're at Wixom and there were many of the teachers were talking about claims and evidence of support and that's at the elementary level. I didn't learn about that till I was in high school and it's you can argue whether I learned that at all or not. So this is a passage and now I'm going to use a
023term that I cannot define but I I'm sure it's appropriate is the next passage has the same Lexile score of this passage which anyone can correct me if I'm wrong but that means it's relative to the same readability score. Okay, so look at this one. That's the same readability score, the same questions that we're asking. And which one of these is easier for you to answer those questions for? Now, if you this happens to be your background, this might be a very easy question for you to answer. For me, it was a little bit challenging. And so, this is where we're challenging our students. I had a chance to sit with a student today who was learning about kimono dragons. I mean, that's fantastic. And the the language that was in there was definitely challenging
024that student to get a better understanding of the vocabulary of the context of finding evidence of supporting the claim that student was going to make. It was actually the the nature of the book was who would win in a fight, a kimono dragon or a cobra. So now we're also getting into higher level think comparing, contrasting, etc. And so those would be the prompting questions that you could ask yourself as we explain why do we focus onformational text? Why do we focus on vocabulary? Because all of us are exposed to different types of reading knowledge oops knowledge throughout our lives. And so now we get into the data. And so we took a look at where did we start with I Ready in 2022 and then we fast forward through June of 24 and June
025of 25. And you can see that K8, our vocabulary continues to move in the right direction. Would it be great if we had zero red, which our two grade levels are below behind? Absolutely. Remember that this these are all students that are tested. We we don't there there's no self and and sort and select. All of our students are tested in for I Ready as related to our goal. If we just look K through five, we can see that we've seen steady improvement over the 2022 to 2025. We've cut our students that are two grade levels or below in half. That that's great. I'm very proud of that work. I can't wait for us to continue to move that to a lower number. And then we look at grades six through eight. We see a
026a still a decrease, not as significant of a decrease. There's really a couple reasons for that. And any of you that have ever had a middle school child, you'll understand. The first reason is is it yes, which is why I would not want to teach in middle school. That's a whole other conversation. That they often do not take the test as seriously as our elementary students do. And when we look at the SAT as our high school students do, th those are much higher stakes for that than a middle school child. Now, all of our middle school principles and teachers work very hard and put together systems in place to help incentivize our students to take the set the test as seriously as possible. That being said, that level of this is going to be
027a great word, seriosity, you can look that up, would be the same, right? It just they weren't more or less serious in 2022 than they are in 2025, except for the fact that they've been doing I Ready year after year after year after year and there becomes a level of fatigue that comes with that and you'll see that it's a little bit different in MSTEP and a little bit we're not showing the PSAT or SAT data today, but it' be different than that. So when you switch the testing environment or you switch the test itself, you can often increase results just because it's a new experience for our kids to have. So then we look at text comprehension. You can see again we continue to decline in the red area and we continue to increase
028in the green which is fantastic. That's K through eight. And then here's K through five. You again see a significant decrease in the two grade levels below. And then our middle school, we're still decreasing. We we held a little bit steady from last year to this year in the red. In the yellow, we decreased, which is what we want to see. And we still saw an increase in the green. And the community may remember the last board meeting, we talked about my goals. My goals are directly related to how our students are doing in the myip goals that we're talking about today. Now to jump to MSTEP, you'll see that we don't list the other school districts. If you'd like to look that up, you're welcome to my school data. It's all out there. But
029for our purposes, it's really about where do we compare to ourselves, where do we compare to the county, and where do we compare to the state. You will some of you may remember that we've had people mention that our students are not as proficient as other students. Okay, that that is true. Our students are not as proficient as other students. What they've gone on to say is that our students are not even meeting the state average of proficiency. You can see that is not true. We are above the state average of proficiency. And we, spoiler alert, we'll be above the state average of proficiency in all the slides I'll show you today. So, if anyone were to say to you, Wald Lake is below the state average of proficiency, that would not be accurate in
030the information I'm presenting today in the aggregate. Does that make sense? Okay. So you see we're a little bit below the county average and I apologize the the numbers are hard to read and all this will be up on the website obviously for people to see. I'm not going to get nerd out on you but there's a level of statistical difference and I would say to you that these are probably not meeting the significant relevant number for statistical difference. That being said we always want to be above the county. That's always something we work towards. And then if you look at three through eight, here's our math. We just switched that time. So now we're a little bit above the county and still above the state. And actually, I'm going to go back just for
031one second. I apologize. If we look at the purple, board members have asked, "What do districts around us use for their curriculum?" And so, anything that's in purple is a curriculum that is either the same as ours or not significantly different. Typically what you would find in the districts that are on the chart far left, those are the districts that are getting $16,000 a student. That's typically what you would find there. So, does money solve all the world's problems? Absolutely not. Does it help? It absolutely does. Okay. And then math, you'll see there's the county h is much more independent in the math programs that they use where we're we're much more grouped together in the ELA programs that we use. And here's science. That's fantastic. So now we we've really jumped ahead of the
032county and the state and we switched our science curriculum at the elementary level, I believe, two years ago and I I think believe we're seeing the the benefit of that and the dividends of that. and social studies, we're we're above the county and and right in that that top third mix still and continually to be above the state average. Going to MSTEP data, the four-year trend. So here's here's something that's interesting that didn't get a lot of news coverage is that between 2324 and the Michigan Department of Education changed this the cut score to make it more difficult to be proficient. And so it's important to know that you're no longer comparing apples to apples from 23 24 22 23 and 2122. Those three years had the same cut score. Now and I I don't
033have a problem with you raising the bar. That's fine. I I have no issue with that. I just want people to see that as as we see a decline from last year, a slight decline, it in some ways probably should have been expected given that it was a much harder goal to achieve now, but we're still well above the state and above the county in our 3 to 5 year. And you the ELA, you see that again above the state, above the county. This is grades six through eight. And then three through five in math. You see that we're we're pretty leveled off from last year, but we're still above the county and still above the state. And we're going to six through eight now. We got a little I I believe it's a little
034bit it's we're about 4% lower than we were last year. Again, no statistical difference in that. Still not where we want to be, though. We want to continue to see a climb as we go through our process. So, how are we addressing our needs? Coaching. We have coaches that work with our teachers, our specialists, and our principles. And I'm going to pause for a second because we're not unique in a lot of these things. Many districts are doing the same things that we're doing. Some of it has to do with the quantity that we have. So, for example, I mentioned the districts that are getting $16,000 a student. They might have a literacy coach and a math coach in every elementary school full-time, right? And that's just what they do. They might have the same
035thing at their middle schools and their high schools. We do not have the resources to do that. And so again, money doesn't solve the problem, but it gives you at least other opportunities for solutions to implement to see what happens. There are partner schools with teacher college. That goes back to what were those colors of of schools that had the same curriculum that we do. That would be the we're in the same spot as they are. We do classroom labs are for observations teachers and principles and Mrs. Quansky and her team have expanded that this year and it's great to hear I've not had a chance to hear the debrief myself but I had a chance to talk to a teacher that was involved in it and one of the most beneficial things I believe
036you can have as a teacher is to have one of your colleagues come into your class watch what you do for an hour and then we sub them out for the the rest of the day and those groups can talk about what they saw in the morning and it's not about Mrs. Kathine, this is what you did wrong. It's about, wow, this is amazing. Help me understand why did you do it this way versus I was doing it this way. And we're not just doing this at the elementary level. We're doing this throughout all levels of the district. And so I believe that there's when it's done with efficacy. That's a high rate of return for what we do. We have literacy leaders. We have six from each elementary school and they meet as a
037team to talk about literacy and then they go back to their building to talk about what we've talked about at the district level. This started last year. uh Mrs. Clansk and her team were meeting with our new teachers to talk about how are things going, what's working well with you in the curriculum, what do you what's a challenge for you with your pedigogy? And and that goes back to we talk about retention. We know that money is a factor, but we know that money is not the only factor on why people work where they work. And so part of it is do they feel supported? Part of it is do they feel that they have the resources to be successful? This is an example of how we provide those additional resources and support that some
038other school districts don't do. And I'm not judging them. I'm just saying this is something that's been a priority for us. We have great partnership with Oakland schools. We're very lucky to have them involved in the training that we do. And they they come in and they work with our staff. And it's always nice, as I talked about having another teacher come into your building. It's nice to have someone that goes to 28 other districts and 100 different schools to come in and say, "Okay, wow, this is really great. Can I take what you're doing here and can we talk about that in other buildings and other districts and then here's some things that other people are doing. have you thought about this? And again, since we especially in ELA, we have a lot of
039common curriculum amongst the county that's really powerful and helpful to our teachers, our early childhood center and junior kindergarten are focusing on phenomic awareness. And then the Michigan dyslexia handbook, we've started a book study on that. It, as you know, Michigan passed the law related to to dyslexia. This is one of the many ways we're approaching that topic to help implement that into our school system and to help our students that have dyslexia. And I think yep, there we go. With that, I'd be happy to probably not answer any questions, but I'm happy to hear them >> or like I said, >> anybody got anything for Dr. L? >> If you'd rather email them, that's fine. And again, Mrs. Query, read the question. It's whatever is convenient for the board. >> Go ahead, Mrs. West.
040Um it was more of an observation. Sure. >> Um than a question. But I noticed that the math for the math program, the top districts were not using the same curriculum as we are. >> Um and the concern I have is that we don't even have 50% proficiency in our district, let alone the county or the state. Um and that's really concerning. Um so I would definitely like to see like is it the curriculum? You know, I think our teachers are amazing. So, I don't necessarily, you know, put it on our teachers, but I have to wonder is are we using the right curriculum to help our students learn better? >> So, I appreciate you brought that up because I didn't mention it. And if Mrs. Klansky is watching right now, she's yelling at me.
041She's saying to remind everyone that we're only in the second year of our middle school math implementation. So, I would not recommend any changes related to our math implementation until we're at least five years into it. And so it's going to take time to roll that up. We can certainly reevaluate the elementary, but the middle school, I would not recommend any changes at this point. And the elementary feeds into the middle school. So typically, if you're going to change your math program, you start at the elementary and that's anywhere between a three to eight year process to go through the elementary to the middle school. Good. It's a good observation and I appreciate you mentioning it, >> Mr. Seagler. You know, as we talk about tests and test scores, uh you you struck upon two
042things that we've discussed in the past. That is test fatigue, test anxiety, and the student who just said, "I don't care. It doesn't make any difference on what I'm going to do in my grades and go, you know, I it really doesn't make any difference." How many mandated tests right now are we giving per year? So at the elementary level it would be one mandated test which is the MSTEP. Now we also do I Ready three to four times a year. So that that'd be the elementary level. The middle school level we would have the MSTEP and we would have the PSAT. So those would both be mandatory. And they're different by grade level. So I won't go into all of that, but that's part of it. And then in the high school we have
043the PSAT and the SAT also given. And I think you raised a really good point, Mr. is that all of us have had good and bad days, right? And it's important to remember that this test is a reflection of one to two hours of your life on a subject that for many of our students, it's still new for them to do the actual assessment online, which all these assessments are online. And if you I think about my learning and when I when I work on things, I still have a number of things that I print out and work off of paper, right? And so I realize I'm old and that perhaps our third graders feel differently about this, but it would be it was more challenging for me when I had to take a standardized
044test online than when I could do it paper and pencil. It it just was. So I'll grant again I probably learned a little bit differently, but that still is a challenge for our students to do it that way. So I appreciate you bringing that up. >> Yes, Mr. Speaker. Go ahead. And another thing is uh when I look at the tests and we've again we've talked about it is English learned language what students are required what students have exemptions and it's a very you know it's it's not a fair playing field in a lot of regards. >> Yep. And very few of our students are exempted from taking any of the tests and taking the SAT is a graduation requirement for us. We do have some students in our program classrooms that take an alternative
045test, but that is less than 1.5% of our student population. Maybe 1.8, but >> Mr. Lipet, >> thank you, Madam President. Uh, just a question might be for Mr. Kohansky, right? >> So far, I'm nailing it. >> I'm good. happy happy to put this in in uh email but uh I would also like to see data talking about the ongoing impact of COVID and how that is now I'm assuming trailing off with the incoming cl you know that with the youth and incoming classes particularly in early eds right so um is there data behind that that we can can look at that that touches the data we're seeing right now >> we can show you the data by grade level but I couldn't I wouldn't be comfortable tying it to any one particular time. >>
046Okay. >> So, if if you're saying if I right now, let's see. Cove, what was it? 2022 is when we were all back in school full-time. >> Is that right? >> Sounds right. Y >> So, 20 22 23 23 24 25 26. This would really be the second time that they've been taking MSTEP potentially if they were in kindergarten at that time. So we could compare fourth grade testing now to fourth grade testing before COVID. I would still caution us that that I don't >> my my concern >> I can show it to you for sure. >> My concern being and I can I'll again I can put this in an email to to Mr. Gohansky. My concern I I absolutely agree with Mrs. West that we should be looking at at curriculum but I
047don't want I don't want that data to be skewed >> by a an external force >> um which might make you know lead us to bad decision- making. So that's it. >> Yep. And that is a factor that we still need to consider. Even if you're in eighth grade now, you still experienced it, right? >> Mrs. Craftton, >> thank you so much for this presentation. Um I love that we're having a rich discussion about student outcomes. I'd love to see more of that um and continue these discussions. I think it's good for the public to see our data and that's why we're all here. Um, I wondered, and this might be, these might all be Miss Cohensky. Great. Let's roll with them. >> Um, I wondered if all of the cut scores changed or just
048in ELA. >> I believe it was just ELA, but I would have I will have her answer that question for you. >> Cool. And then, um, I loved seeing the strategies that were doing to respond to this. I wondered if in particular the classroom lab observations and the new teacher cohort were for all subjects or only for literacy. >> I'm going to pass on that one. >> Okay, I I I'll send them to you in an email. Thanks, >> Mrs. West. >> I do appreciate the fact that we are able to have these discussions. Um I think everybody has a lot of fabulous questions regarding this. Um because I that's why we're here. We're here to improve our district and give our students the best education that we can offer. Um, you mentioned that we
049now have virtual tests versus paper tests. I know for me, you know, um, old school, I like my paper tests and paper books, everything else. Um, I wonder how much that affects our students doing so much online versus on paper. Is there any offerings via paper? >> No, >> that's not our choice. >> Okay. So, is there anything out there at all on paper or at all? As far as state testing, no. >> Okay. >> And national testing? No. >> And how much have we seen a decrease in scores since we went virtual? >> Oh, since we tested virtually. >> Yes. I mean, since we started testing virtually, standardized tests. Have we seen a decrease in scores? >> I don't know. >> Continuously or is that >> So, >> I don't know when we started.
050>> This is the second year of doing it. I would say just looking at this in three three through five, we we're relatively flat, right? I mean, there are there's differences here, but I don't even know if they'd be statistically different. So, again, it may not be affecting our our young our students as much as it would all of us. But I still think for me that's a challenge. Other people have overcome it clearly, but no, I I would not say that that is a number one factor in whether our scores go up or down right now. >> Okay. I just know that from what I hear at home as a parent and the frustrations of you know you know how I teach my students like underline or highlight you know like okay like make
051sure you're looking for keywords and circle this or something they can't do that. So that's why I always you know >> well some actually some of the programs allow you to do that. >> Oh do they that's wonderful. >> So and again I'm glad my phone isn't here because I'm sure that Mr. Clansancy is blowing it up right now. And to talk about my vi our visit today when cabinet went to Wixom I I can share with you that 80% of the students were doing nothing with technology and they were they were reading books with pages they were writing on actual documents and then when they were doing their workshop model where the the teacher be working with small group there's usually one station in there where I ready is one of the things that
052you do and so when you're moving from reading a book to going to I to writing on your story. That's just one part of the classroom experience. So although we certainly believe in onetoone at the secondary level and we're almost onetoone at the elementary level, that is not the primary mode of instruction for our students. >> So at least not what I've seen when I've visited buildings. >> Okay. So with that in mind, if they are primarily doing things, you know, handwriting, you know, and reading it via paper, is that translating well virtually to our standardized test? >> No. And and that'd be a great dissertation for someone to do that on is probably out there. But I will say that that's one of the reasons why we make sure that we test our students
053using I Ready on the computer so that when they get to an MSTEP situation that's not the very first time that they have taken a virtual assessment and and I will say that we visited SMART I think last week or the week before when as we go up in grade level we do see an increase in technology but that's usually because the resources are becoming more and more a part of a technology- based resource rather than a book based resource. So oftentimes when we're seeing students on computers at our secondary buildings, it's not because that's where the teacher has developed their whole lesson. It's just part of their lesson is now digitized. And certainly as a parent, I like the fact that we're where our youngest child attends. The teachers do keep up their Google
054classroom. So I can go in there, I can see the assess the assignments, I can keep up with things. And so as we continue to move up in grade level, the use of technology does increase. Mr. Smith, >> just uh so I have clarification with the the the graph that was in purple with the curriculum. Is that they're utilizing I Ready? So it's >> No. >> So the curriculum is a curriculum. The I Ready. I'm just wondering if there's a way to show because again I asked earlier this year about I Ready and looking at that data if that's a because there are what three or four companies that you can choose from that how many of these maybe based on you know because I has a very specific how they ask questions and things
055like that how it brings you to a different level if you're not doing well. So I'm just wondering can't answer it right now but I'm just kind of curious how many of the neighboring >> utilize I Ready >> I can >> that's part of it like with the questions that are this guy this guy right here because I just have to know what school district that is. So it's one two three four five down they use I ready and they use the same uh curriculum that we do. Okay. So I Ready is somewhat prevalent in Oakland County but I we are not married to I Ready there. I believe there's an opportunity for us to look at some of the other options that are out there if for no other reason. One, it's good practice,
056right? And two, there could be a point of fatigue now where we've done I Ready for these number of years and now it's time to switch to a new system just to reset everybody into a new process. So, yes, you mentioned that. We appreciate that. That's something that we're starting to dig into. >> And Matt, I'm sorry I keep hitting the microphone. >> Anybody else? Thank you, Dr. Lans. Thank you, Rohansky. Okay, we're going to move on to public commentary. Um, going to give my spiel that I always give. You all know it, so you can read along with me. Thank you for coming tonight and for your interest in addressing the board. This is your opportunity to address us. The board will listen to your statements, questions, or concerns. We're not going to have
057a conversation. If follow-up is necessary, a member of the superintendent staff or a 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, which is over there. If you come close to your time, we will let you know that you're coming close and for you to begin to wrap up your comments. We ask that all speakers remain professional and refrain from personal attacks. And thank you for choosing to speak with us. And our first speaker, I'm probably gonna get this wrong. Ramirez Abdul Noir. Was I close? No. >> How are you guys? >> Um, my name is Ramis. Uh, people tend to add their Ramirez thinking of Hispanic culture, but you know, I'm not that cool yet. So, I want
058to address actually Miss West. I completely agree with her. That's not the reason I came here with your comments about virtual testing versus hard copy. I see many mistakes because they have especially in math they have to write it down on a piece of paper. By the time they write it down to break down the problem and solve it two equations parabolic equations, they miss it and and plus virtual test does not allow time management where they can flip back, they pass a question, come back. It's not as easy. You can do it but it's not as easy. Finally, I encourage everybody to read about executive functions and how computer aided education. It's affecting the brain development and eventually will affect Alzheimer which is will hit all of us probably. So anyway, the main reason
059I'm here today, I have a special needs child in the district plus a couple other kids and um I wanted to highlight a couple of things. Teachtown is a curriculum the special uh education has used we do not have access to at home. Now just before this meeting Miss Hassie informed me that actually there is a way. Great news but it's frustrating because it's been two years question especially special need parents we need the extra work with them at home because they don't they have attention deficit they don't sit down. So to me that's a correction and why was it if that was true why wasn't it shared with us upfront? Lesson learned. And then second is if it wasn't true is just recent. Why did anybody sign a contract and a license agreement without
060giving the parents of special needs the same access as neurotypical parents? So I'll leave it to that and I'll help to hear from somebody. The other thing is when I dug into Teachtown, we don't see evidences has worked last year or we don't see evidence is working this year. Um, and I dug like why is that? So I there's a lot of stuff on online. I can share with you just one summary paper by NIH. You guys can pass along. I can we'll be more than happy. And I'm sure there's always conflicting opinion. There's always conflicting opinion. But given it's NIH reviewed, I trust it a little bit more. There is no evidence out there for teach town. >> There's about 30 seconds left just for you to >> show that it's beneficial and it's
061only work done by them and even these case studies there's one case study that this paper site they took away seven students has attention and behavioral issue. So how good it is and it's marginally improvement. So what I'm trying to say is I'd ask the board to dig into this and is that the right tool and if every child is really unique, how can you teach time to teach all of them the same way, the same lesson? So we're really contradicting the assumption of special need children. I know I'm out of time, so I'll leave you. Maybe I'll see you next month. >> Thank you. Have a good night. >> Thank you very much. Our next speaker, Mr. Smiller. Tim Saul Miller. Good evening. Tim Saw Miller, Commerce Township, using pronouns he, him, and his.
062I commend anyone for living a faith-based life. However, schoolboard decisions based on one's faith is disqualifying. Apparently, this reminder needs to be made again. Wald Lake schools are public schools. They are secular, not religious. One's faith should not be a factor in public schoolboard decisions. It's essentially unconstitutional. As members of the school board, you are entrusted with the monumental responsibility of shaping our children's educational landscape. I stand before you today to advocate for retaining our commitment to a secular inclusive educational environment, emphasizing its importance for all students. A secular approach to education ensures that all students, regardless of their background, beliefs, or identity, feel safe, respected, and included. Secularism in education promotes critical thinking, diversity, and objective learning, allowing children to develop their beliefs independently rather than under the the influence of specific religious ideologies.
063Furthermore, our society is richly diverse. According to the US Census Bureau, nearly 25% of Americans identify with a religion other than Christianity, and a significant portion identifies as secular or atheist. The secular education approach embraces this diversity, offering a curriculum that reflects a wide range of perspectives and experiences. In a secular school environment, students learn not just about different religions and beliefs, but also about coexistence, empathy, and respect for others. Emphasizing a secular approach is not only ethically sound, but legally necessary. The first amendment of the US Constitution prohibits the establishment of religion by governmental entities, which includes public school boards. We must remember that introducing a religious framework in decision-making could not only alienate a significant portion of our student population, but can also lead to legal challenges and potential repercussions. We must advocate
064for a system that protects our students rights to learn in an environment free from religious bias. Let us uphold the values of respect and inclusivity, ensuring our schools are places where every child can thrive. Let us not venture into a terrain that could jeopardize the foundation of public education. A foundation built on principles of yes, diversity, equity, and inclusion. I call upon you to reaffirm your commitment to a secular educational approach, empowering not just a few, but all students to flourish in a shared, supportive community. Thank you. >> Thank you. Next, Gabby Thiaga. Hello, my name is Gabby Thiaga. At this point, since the board seems more comfortable talking about the district school plays than enforcing Title 9, maybe we should make one of our own. Let's call it the meeting based on true events.
065Because what is happening here is no longer governance. It's performance. Scene one opens with me still here. April 2024, May, June, August, October. today showing up, asking the same questions, getting the same answers, which is nothing. The cast changes sometimes, but the script never does. Not one member has been Oh, skip that part. There are no lines to quote here because no one has ever answered. I've asked I've stood here many times and nothing. No discussion, no acknowledgement, no accountability. Silence has become this district's favorite script. But silence is complacency. Complacency tells our girls their rights are conditional. Complacency tells the boys in this district, "Take whatever you want from them because it doesn't matter." In 1972, Title 9 became law and the girls finally gained a right that was theirs and only theirs. By
066the 90s and 2000s, around the time Mark Seagler joined this board, girls grew up never knowing anything different. Equality felt as natural as breathing. And now in 2025, the daughters of those girls are learning that their rights are conditional, that the feelings of boys take precedence over the rights of girls. Every play has its characters. The veteran board member, 30 years in, still unmoved by Title 9. The policy expert can quote district rules, but can't enforce federal law. The observer, nods empathetically, but never votes differently. And the public, me, the voice that keeps showing up, keeps speaking, and keeps being ignored. So, if this is theater, fine. Let's sell tickets. Let's hang posters that say based on true events. At least then we'll be honest about what this has become. But if you want to
067rewrite the ending, start by enforcing federal law that protects every girl in this district, Title 9. And while you're at it, speak up. Say out loud for every student, every parent, every girl in this district that Title N matters, that you stand by our girls, and that their rights are not up for debate. Thank you. >> Thank you. We're going to move on to administrative commentary. Dr. Lans. >> Thank you, Madam President. Dr. Hamco. >> Thank you, Dr. Lans. I had the opportunity to attend the Wald Lake competitive band competition. It was a really exciting experience. The uh Wald Lake band for the second year in a row got first place in the state of Michigan. So, it was awesome. Congratulations to Grant Prader, Michael Wolf. Um the parents were really uh you know excited
068and and fun to uh you know hang out with and spend some time with at the end. And congratulations to the students. They were very courageous. They were on point. They were so fun to watch. And so congratulations and I am so proud of the competitive band. >> Thank you. And I saw a number of people crossing things off. That'll be on you. So Mrs. OM >> thank you Dr. Lans. Um just a couple initiatives in ter terms of student services. Again the the final student count has been submitted to the state. Um we appreciate all of the work that that team has put into that as well as all the support and the secretarial staff out in the buildings to make sure that that as accurate as possible. That data will be subject to
069audit of course. So we'll be waiting for some final numbers but in the interim we'll be analyzing the data and and looking to see how that may impact impact the budget and what our current assumptions are. our benefits team which is really comprised of Donna McVey and certainly with the support from the HR team and from from our payroll team has been hosting some new employee sessions knew that that that's new for 25 26 that's been attend very well attended they're talking about things of you know as far as their health benefits as well as retirement just trying to get them a little an opportunity to be better educated on the benefits that they receive she's also been doing had a co-hosted with Mesa on an open enrollment for our teachers again to explain the
070changes and the benefits, their options that are out there. And she also recorded had that recorded so that could be a resource for those that could not attend. And last thing that we're looking at for in that particular area which was um one of the strategic plan initiatives is also reviewing options to create a more streamlined approach for our support staff to sign up for benefits. Again, just looking at the other alternatives that we have from we have currently. So, we're really trying to hit hard and trying to help our employees understand their benefits as well as giving them some opportunities to become educated about them. So, really appreciate Donna and that's a shout out to her as well as the HR team and the payroll team as well as for all those types of
071sessions that they're providing. >> Thank you, Mrs. O, Mr. Durkin. >> Thank you, Dr. Lans. And what a wonderful subway segue speaking of the district strategic plan. Uh the strategic plan is now available on the district website. The online dashboard and accompanying vision document provide a clear look at our goals, progress, and important work happening across the district as we continue to serve every child every day. Recently, staff members from across the district collaborated to create a series of short videos focused on that plan. These videos highlight efforts already underway to achieve the goals and tasks associated with year one of implementation and are now available on that same web page. I'd like to extend my sincere thanks to all those staff who participate participated in the de development of these videos and for sharing
072the incredible work that takes place in our classrooms and departments each day. I'd also like to extend my sincere appreciation to Stephanie Doppkkey, Jason Lewis, and Pam Cole for their outstanding work recording, producing, and editing these videos for the community's benefit. >> Thank you very much, sir. Mr. Scaling. >> Thank you, Dr. L. Just want to uh give a shout out and and much appreciation to Carrie Martin and her staff. They are finishing up week five of fifth grade uh camp at the outdoor education center. Uh a lot of time and energy goes into preparing for them fac hosting them, facilitating the fun and activities and the learning environment that they create there at that center. So uh they'll be wrapping up for the winter uh I believe this week. So u just wanted to
073thank her and her team for all their efforts and making such a wonderful experience for our fifth graders. Thank you, Mr. Scaling. I'm happy to share about a long-standing tradition we have at the SC, which is on Halloween, we have our Wald Lake Elementary fourth grade students come over and they do trick-or-treating. And to my surprise, there was a a mini Dr. Lans. I believe that picture is floating out there as Cohen Easterling. And I wouldn't be surprised if he will be applying for my job very soon. So, Cohen, you look way better than I do. So, thank you for coming over and trick-or-treating. And he also brought me a Mountain Dew. So, thank you for your Mountain Dew. That might buy you an extra snow day. >> Thank you, Mrs. >> He can invite
074friends if he wants. >> Thank you. We're going to move on to board commentary. We're going to start with Mr. Seagler. >> Thank you, Mrs. Kaplan. Um, first of all, I had the opportunity to go to some leadership training classes uh several weeks ago and participate with other board members throughout the state. A wonderful experience. Um, I do have information if anybody would like to see it on two of the classes that I thought were outstanding leadership overcoming obstacles and practical governments case studies and effective board leadership. uh very thoughtprovoking, very global and thought process of how we do things. Uh there's always room for uh education and improvement. The breakout sessions for the most part were phenomenal. And to interact with board members throughout the state was really refreshing because you find out that
075we all as schoolboard members, we all face the same challenges within our communities and that we are all working together to improve the student outcome and faculty outcome and societ improve society as a whole. So that was that was very good. uh there was another session that I had attended on governance and uh again you just it gives you a different appreciation when you're looking at things and a different understanding and I highly recommend that when we have the opportunities whether it be virtual or to attend the sessions that you know we take advantage of it because as a board we can always learn and uh we can always bring that back to the district and possibly put some of that to good use. So that's it. >> Thank you, Mrs. West. >> Thank you.
076Um I apologize. My printer decided not to work, so I'm going to use my phone because I like to keep my thoughts organized. Um so our year is in full swing and our first term is done. I know parent and teacher conferences are now underway. Uh middle school had their conferences, I believe yesterday. Um so I wish best wishes to all parents and teachers because they have very long days that teachers do um during these times. Um but just a reminder to parents with students particularly in secondary education um that if your child's struggling in a subject five minutes I know is not enough to address these issues. So please go ahead and contact your teacher and make a secondary appointments or you know to actually address the situation or situations um that are going
077on. um that way you can work through it and um work with your teacher. Um I know it's also beginning of concert and show se um so good luck to all the students who are performing out there um and for the lake marching band for taking home state championship title and going on to nationals. I know the robotics team is has a couple of things coming up as well. I look forward to, you know, hearing from them and hopefully they do well and uh I look forward to the Wixom groundbreaking on uh Tuesday. And then I wanted to address something that's going on um not necessarily in our district, but will affect our district statewide um regarding the state board of education's proposed health standards framework that is currently being pushed through between in um
078superintendent. Currently, we have a interim superintendent um Dr. Carnell the prop and I just want people to be aware of what's happening um so they know and um the proposed framework wants to add on the teaching of gender identity starting as early as sixth grade. For me it gravely I'm gravely concerned about it for a number of reasons. I believe the new standard creates a confusion regarding gender at a time that children are already struggling to understand the changes of their body during puberty. We all know puberty is not a fun time in our lives. So, I just want to be careful of like adding these in. Um, the brain is not fully formed until a person's in their mid20s. And I feel like suggesting to children with the majority of them being minors that
079this um they may potentially be a different gender than their biological gender is flawed as many of them have not accepted the changes in their body or are secure of themselves in the first place. Um during the oversight committee through the House of Representatives last Tuesday, Dr. Carell noted that people believe many things. And with that um in that matter, I thought that, you know, this is not science-based facts. And being that they're not facts, I caution it being taught under the guise of health education in the classroom. Um the idea of gender identity and being allowed to choose your gender I believe is a form of mental illness. Um those who believe they're not the gender they are born they are born with um have gender dysoria and just as we would treat any
080other illness um I believe we should treat that and like address the issues um instead of just um accepting the illness and moving on. And so I want I in normalizing it. So I want us to caution doing this. Um also I feel the new health standards violate the first amendment of the US constitution with a separation of church and state. Many faiths do not condone the concept of gender identity. Um and people have many different faiths within our community or no faith at all. And you know as that is their right. But by teaching this, I feel that many students are, you know, may contra, this teaching may contradict faith values that are taught at home. Um, and for those students who have families that do not practice a particular faith, it may contradict
081their family moral values. And so I want to caution about this potential um, this proposed framework being pushed into it. I also considered concerned that the new standards may violate MCL 380.1507B with regarding sex sex education instruction and curriculum requirements. The proposed new standards blur the lines between what parents can opt out of regarding sex education and what can be taught in other classes like English or science classes. So, it may not be that they can't opt out of something, but where do you when can we take somebody out for 10 minutes or something like that? I feel like that can be really confusing and may incur other challenges within a district. Um, one thing I do concur with Dr. Carell, the interarm superintendent is that I believe that we can find each find common
082ground that bullying those with a different perspective regarding gender identity or anything else for that matter is entirely inappropriate and all children deserve a free and fair education. If safety is the main concern, as Dr. Cornell suggested that this is one of the reasons to include it in the framework that adults need to address how to create safer environments for children especially those who feel they are unsafe and discipline those who are targeting and threatening others. Um as an education system we need to focus on true academics one that will help our students be ready for the future successful in whatever higher level of learning they choose and f and future occupation. I want us to focus on um who our students are and what their passions are. Art, music, sports, cars, faith, whatever. As
083who someone is attracted to is just a tiny bit of what that what makes up that person. So, let's build them up positively. No need to focus on sexuality, especially since the majority of our students are minors. Um, I'm not against updating our health standards because we have so many other challenges in our um that have come up since we've graduated as far as vaping, drugs, alcohol, you know, other concerns both, you know, online um threats. So, I think we need to address those things. So, there are parts I believe that we do need to update. Um, if you would like to voice your opinion regarding these standards, you can contact the state board of education and their information can be found um at michigan.govmde um about us and about us has a hyphen um
084slashstateboard and the state board also has a hyphen. Um and just so people are aware, the next meeting is Thursday, November 13th where they plan to vote on the health standard framework. Thank you, >> Dr. Zelmer. >> Thank you, Miss Kathlin. Um, first I want to also congratulate the Wall Lake Central Marching Band um on their first place. Uh, I loved my years being a central marcher and so it's wonderful to see them be so successful. Also, congratulations to the cast and crew of the Diary of Anne Frank at Wald Lake Northern. It was such a powerful reminder of how people coming together to do the right thing can really make such a difference in the world and also how the act of literacy in this case Anne Frank documenting her time there has had
085such a profound impact on so many generations since then. Uh, I really wanted to geek out on the discussion of digital versus paper tests. There has been research on this. We can get real in the weeds about this. You tend to see a small dip when you move to a digital format. However, I think that that ends up washing out after a while. And the assistive technology possibilities are pretty robust in these systems. And it's certainly worth digging into and raising for those who are curious about what's going on uh on I Ready and on the MSTEP. Although I will say I Ready is way way better than the MSTEP. Um we have underfunded testing regimes for the state. I think that we would all be interested in seeing some other data points uh beyond
086just the standardized testing in terms of uh just even anecdata from the classrooms hearing uh testimonials from the teachers and students of what they're learning um from that. I think the other thing in terms of to um also address these uh new health standards, just a reminder that there is still local control and we have our own um methods locally in order to interact with those health standards. And certainly every family has a right to opt their children out of anything that they might feel uncomfortable about. and we affirm those rights of parents. What is so incredible about being on the board and especially because this is a nonpartisan position is that we get to really practice democracy in a way that we can't really practice it in other spaces. And for me, democracy and
087being a citizen of this country means learning how to tolerate those who might have different opinions or have different ways of life without it having to impact my choices. And so that is how we always have to grapple as we're working in these democratic institutions and making sure that we're really supporting all the students that come to us and making sure that they're all accounted for. I do want to note that the suicide rate for students who identify as transgender or non-binary are incredibly high and that is not because it is a mental illness. that is because of the uh societal stigma uh against those children. Um at one point in my educational career, I was told that we couldn't even read stories with LGBTQ characters. And I just want to affirm for anyone who's
088concerned about that that my entire career here at Wald Lake Schools I spent reading books with straight characters and it did not impact how I ended up living my life. um that what it did for me was make me feel erased and it also makes my children feel erased because they have a family um that is encompassed in the beautiful rainbow flag. And I just want to name that for anyone who has some concerns that certainly do whatever you need to do in your own spaces. But there are lots of different avenues to make sure that your personal beliefs are still respected while tolerating differences within all of our school spaces. And for me, the most important thing is that no child comes to school feeling like the only option is to die because their
089school isn't a safe place for them because of how they feel inside. Um, and so that's all I'll say about that. That is concludes my comments. >> Thank you, Mr. Lipet. >> Thank you, Madam President. Uh, so just to uh reinforce what's already been said about Wildlife Marching Band. Yeah, I I'm so sorry I missed you, Dr. Hanka, because I was down there also for this is my first first one of these. I was told I was going to be blown away and that was in fact the case. Holy cow. So, congrats to all that involved. Uh, Grant Prader, Michael Wolf were literally vibrating when I ran into them on the sidewalk walking into the building. They were so excited and they should have been. It's something that as a district we should be very
090proud of. uh the friends, parents, advocates, supporters, everyone involved in that process uh should all be applauded and uh good luck uh into uh the next step. Um do want to mention, you know, as we are all seeing in the news, issues with SNAP and and food uh awareness. I'll just say it that way. Uh be aware, one in eight children in Michigan are food insecure. And even though Wald Lake schools has uh and other school systems have solved their own school lunch uh issues uh again one and eight uh means that we have to have a responsibility to look out for food insecurity even within our own midst even within uh the Wald community. This does impact education. It does impact there's hard data uh to talk about its impact on young people's ability
091to learn uh no matter the curriculum or how great the teachers are. Uh and so I want uh to remind folks to be sensitive to this, to be looking for it, and to be understanding in uh how we can help to solve that under the current situation. Uh certainly uh food banks, uh forgotten harvest, other types of um uh helpful entities are there for that support. So I did want to remind that um Mr. Sigler and I did get a chance to go uh up to Traverse City for MASB leadership. Thank you very much for your stewardship, by the way. Um I will just say this. I I also agree that some of the courses were terrific. I've been thinking about them uh particularly for me. I I came away thinking about the AI and
092cell phone policy because this is um I had two different courses uh on both these issues. This is this isn't just coming. This is here and this is going to impact the future of us. Um and I I don't know not just with wildlife schools. I don't know that education as a whole has has fully realized uh what the the impact of this is going to be. So, uh, obviously more to come on that, but it was something. It was nice to see other districts kind of wandering around in the dark the same way, uh, the rest of us are. So, is that a is that a nice thing? I don't know. No, but it's a it's a thing that I that I was made aware of. So, uh, and then lastly, I listen, I
093I apologize for this absolutely awful half beard that I'm wearing right now. Uh, but it's not by accident. I did want to point out that this is November 6th. Uh it is the month of Movember for those of folks uh who don't know what that is. Uh and so I do apologize for the sorry state but I do want to share uh some stats with you and to the public that are important. Uh it continues the average life expectancy for men is still 5 years uh less than women 76 to 81 respectively. Uh 15 million Americans will be diagnosed with depression in 2025. When we think of health, it is not just uh physical health but this is also uh assorted with mental illness as well. Uh one in two men will be uh diagnosed
094with cancer in their lifetime and men are 24 this will surprise nobody by the way men are 24% less likely to visit a doctor. So uh why is all this? Well uh there is an overall lack of awareness and understanding on the issues of men's health. uh men uh do not uh openly discuss uh their health and how they're feeling perhaps as well as as women and uh anyone else on the spectrum. Uh there is reluctance to take action uh when men don't feel physically or mentally well. Uh men engage in riskier behaviors statistically than than women which threaten their health and there is stigma which remains around testicular cancer, prostate cancer and mental health. So uh I urge each of you this uh November uh particularly the men uh to see your doctor regularly
095to know that you are never alone uh with your ailments and that help is only a phone call away and that if you seek more information, please see your doctor or visit movevember.com uh for information and thoughts on how you yourself can raise awareness to the men in your life. Thank you very much, >> Mr. Smith. >> Thank you, Mrs. Kaplan. Uh it's been a heavy day for me. Uh sorry, a little under the weather still. Uh first I want to acknowledge uh the the teachers uh specifically again for conferences. Uh middle school conferences for me were yesterday. Uh five minutes, you're right, is not enough. It was quick, breezy, but uh having that that relationship, that rapport with um the teachers is so important and paramount to the su success of your own children.
096So, I really uh I want to acknowledge them and that many of the teachers that go above and beyond their call requirements. You know, recently we were just going through some some notes, doing some it's not even spring cleaning, just I don't life cleaning, whatever you want to say. Finding those special notes, letters, summer check-ins, uh follow-ups, those calls, anything that we saw just these wonderful, beautiful little um just things, these old files, these these testaments of what teachers do and what they provide to our students. It's amazing. And I just wanted to share that especially with all the um because many of them came from Dublin. Uh again that's near and dear to my heart. My kids are now out of Dublin. But seeing some of those old uh things from kindergarten, first grade,
097second grade. It's just amazing and beautiful to still see those. You're like, "Oh my gosh, there is a reason why we're holding on to these things and that my kids can look back at them as well." And so I just, you know, want to say, uh we were so honored and uh happy to be part of the Dublin community. Now we're part of the CHS community. So it will continue on. And I just want to give that that heartfelt thanks as we just had that that reminiscing moment that we just had recently. Uh thank you to the PTAs for all that they do. I did attend the Keith PTA meeting yesterday and uh they introduced uh Mrs. Gitler I believe. I I looked at her name and uh so it's nice to see just uh
098you know I've been to Dublin PTAs and now to to be to Keith. It's uh it's amazing the amazing work that the PTAs do and provide and just the business. It's just amazing. I was just blown away and it was just wonderful to be to join there and actually run across some old people that I I went to school with well as well and here we are still in the same community. Very strange to see now them as parents as well. Uh congrats to the marching band. Uh I want to give a special shout out to the the Spikers volleyball team and the wreck uh basketball team for my son and daughter. Uh they're starting their season and it's really uh fun to be a part of that. Uh congratulations to the White Lake Wolves
099flag team for making it to their championship game. So, they get to play in the Super Bowl on uh Sunday uh down in at country day, I believe, is where we're going to be at. So, it's been a amazing inaugural season uh for the football levels and all the cheer squads. And I'm looking forward to the future. Uh November is many things. There's also not just November, but uh one thing that many of us do not know that is actually they they make all these things for November, but it's actually national adoption month. Uh November is the time to raise awareness and celebrate adoption. uh was first recognized in 1995 and includes events like the annual national adoption day. Uh which the world adoption day is on November 9th which highlights the experience of those
100touched by adoption. Uh being someone who was adopted myself um this is something I feel firsthand and I know that many in our community are part of this community as well. There are many adopted families in there that through many different um things and I celebrate the care and love that you provide for your kids and for those families that we have. Um my gotcha day I believe is I think July 30th so when I was five. So I think uh thinking about that it's always uh near and dear to my heart and I wanted to shine a light on those children specifically who are waiting to be adopted and are at risk for aging out of the system and I just wanted to give some light to that. Uh thank you as well to
101all those in the community who have served in the military as we honor them next week on November 11th. Uh I honor and celebrate all those who served and continue to serve this country. My father served in the Navy and I just wanted to I know there are many many uh people who I graduated with that actually went on to serve uh post 911 and actually right out of Grand Valley they just went and served. So I just wanted to say thank you for your service and hopefully we do some great remembrance uh and honor them next week. I believe many classes do do special ceremonies or something. Uh finally on November 13th it is World Kindness Day. Yet another thing in November which promotes the importance of being kind to others, oneself and to
102the world. World Kindness Day is an opportunity for children and adults worldwide to make a commitment to intentionally extend good to others and actions and words. So when you think about that, say a kind word, call a friend, help a neighbor, hug a loved one, volunteer. The fact that you brought up uh food banks, I think that's a wonderful opportunity or something that's out there. Help out a nonprofit. Those are just some few examples that I have uh out there. I had a lot more to say, but um I'm looking forward to next week as well to the Wixom groundbreaking. So, I will see you all then. Thank you, >> Mrs. Craftton. >> Thank you. Um, I am very committed to the performing arts as you all know and it's worth a few sentences on
103why these children in marching band, in theater, in choir, in orchestra, they they work their hands to the bone, learning how to work with other people and make things that they can't even imagine until the beauty comes to life. It is the way society could be in spite of the way it is today. That's a line from Hades Town. Believe the way the world could be in spite of the way it is. It's a source of optimism and just pure joy and love. So the simplify um platitudes to the performing arts simplifies to me my mere existence and why performing arts matters in our district. So with that, the diary of Anne Frank was incredible. The way that Wald Lake Northern handled such a sensitive topic, the fact that they were able to fill two
104casts with incredible performers, uh, and their dedication to historical accuracy was just spectacular. Hades Town is coming up on November 20th is opening night. It runs through the 23rd. It's a story of uh two Greek myths, Hades and Pphanany and Orpheus and Uritysy. It becomes intertwined together in uh New Orleans style jazz music, completely sung, no spoken word at all. Come to the show, your mind will be blown. The set is Broadway level. The performance, the performers are working so hard. It's only like 20 bucks for a ticket. Um, I should also say that the theme is theme woven throughout is around poverty and access to food and warmth. So, it is a quite timely discussion. Um, but to the point it's 20 bucks for like Broadway level show. Finally, It's a Wonderful Life, the
105radio play. It will be at Wald Lake Central in December. Haven't seen any rehearsals of that yet, but I'm sure it will be absolutely spectacular. Finally, I wanted to thank the district for investing again in the choir program at the middle school. Um, the public may not realize that for the last handful of years, three middle schools shared one teacher, and that was a very difficult job. Um, and this year with the consolidation of the middle schools, each middle school has their own choir teacher. And I got to see Banks is my adopted, one of my adopted schools. So, I got to see their uh, seventh grade choir perform their first concert. These are kids who most of them had not sung before. And in 10 weeks time, they sang threepart harmony and it sounded
106great. So, I can't wait to see with that investment how Wald Lakes performing arts program grows back to the um kind of statewide level that we were once at. Um, and I just was really thrilled to see the joy and the pride on our kids' faces that these seventh graders were making beautiful, beautiful music. So, thank you. That's all for today. >> Thank you. I'm going to be brief. I'm not going to be as prolific as the rest of my fellow board members or long-winded um spaces of time. Congratulations to all the performing performing arts, the marching bands. Um, I know all four fall sports. I do know Wild Lake Northern's cheer team and their dance team are heading to their states coming up within the next week or two. Um, so good luck to
107all of them. Um, and I'm sure that they will make us all very proud. Wild Lake Northern's marching band was also just accepted into performing in 2027 for the New Year's Eve um, march in Rome. So, congratulations to Wald Lake Northern's marching band. That's going to be a fantastic event for them. And with that, we're going to move on to our consent agenda. We have the approval of the minutes. Um, the proposed October 23rd, 2025 for special meeting, our new hires and resignations. Our financial report September 2025 dispersements in the amount of 22,265,671 balance sheet and statement of revenue revenues and expenditures unodudited investment schedule the head start director's report and that's it. Go ahead, Mr. Lipet. >> Uh Madam President, I move that the board of education approve the consent agenda as presented. >>
108All those in favor? I I >> opposed. Motion carries 70. We're moving on to purchases over 50,000. Dr. Lans. >> Thank you, Madam President. The administration is recommending the purchase of the United States History, Modern Times, McGra Hill, 2023. This book was presented at the October 9th board meeting, aligns with state national standards, integrates primary sources and diverse perspectives, and balances print and digital materials to support flexible, rigorous, and relevant history instruction. The purchase totals $107,000 will be paid from our general fund. >> Mrs. Kaplan, >> Mr. Stigler, >> I move that the board of education approve the purchase of US history high school textbook entitled United States Modern Times. McGraill 2023 in the amount of $107,000 from the general fund. >> Support >> discussion. All those in favor >> I opposed. Motion carries. 70.
109Dr. Lans. >> Mr. Scaling. >> Thank you, Dr. Lans. Administration is recom uh recommending an end of lease buyout of 4,000 Chromebooks for our elementary schools. These devices are already deployed to classrooms. They're in good physical and mechanical condition with strong battery health. Google has also made significant changes to end of life policy for Chromebooks, extending updated support for up to 10 years, providing additional security, performance, and stability for organizations that have deployed Chromebooks. The total cost of these devices will be $184,43182 and will be funded through the scing fund. >> Mrs. West. >> I move that the board of education approve the end of lease bio of Chromebooks for our elementary schools from HP Integrated Solutions totaling $184,431.82 from the syncing fund >> discussion. All those in favor? >> I opposed. Motion carries 70.
110Dr. Lans. >> Thank you very much, Madam President. Wald Lake Consolidated School District and PMR request requested foresight design to provide a design proposal for Wald Lake Western High School tennis courts, baseball and softball, varsity field improvements, including the resurfacing of the tennis courts and new turf, drainage, fencing, and back stops. Foresight design has historic historically designed the district's athletic improvements. The recommendation from the team is to enter into a standard form agreement with foresight design to assist with the design construction documents and construction administration for the amount totaling $55,700. As a point of reference, this is the same company that is working with us as we're completing the Wald Lake Northern Improvements. >> Mrs. Kaplan, >> Mrs. Crafted. >> I move that the board of education approve the superintendent to enter into a standard
111form of agreement with foresight design to provide athletic design services for the Wald Lake Western High School tennis courts, baseball, and softball field improvements totaling $55,700 from the sinking fund as presented by the project team. >> Support >> discussion. All those in favor? I >> opposed. Motion carries 70. >> Mr. Smith, >> I neglected to, you know, tell you that I was going to have you read this. >> Thank you. Thank you. >> Thank you, Mr. Smith. >> National Education Week, November 17th through 21st, 2025. Whereas public education is the backbone of our democracy, providing young people with the tools they need to maintain our nation's precious values of freedom, civility, and equality. And whereas by equipping young Americans with both practical skills and broader intellectual abilities, schools give them hope for and access to
112a productive future. And whereas public education employees, be they educators, substitute educators, administrators, custodians, bus drivers, secretarial, pareducators, food service professionals, skilled trades workers, or technical employees work tireously to serve our children and communities with care and professionalism. And whereas public schools are the foundations of neighborhoods and communities, bringing together adults and children, educators and volunteers, business leaders and elected officials in a common purpose. Therefore, be it further resolved that the members of the Wald Lake Schools Board of Education administration proclaim November 17th through the 21st, 2025 as the observance of National Education Week. >> Thank you. Moving on to board policy, administrative regulations update. Dr. Lans, >> Just a standard update. Okay. We're moving on to an adjournment at 8:32 p.m. So, thank you all for being here. We appreciate it. and we will
113see you next time. >> Thank you, Madam President.