001We're going to call the meeting to order. If we can all rise for the pledge of allegiance, please. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible. Liberty and justice for all. Welcome everyone. We're going to start with our Golden Apple Awards. Dr. Lans. Thank you very much, Madam President. I'm going to turn over to Miss Mir. Thank you, Dr. Lans. Our first Golden Apple recipient this evening is Miss Diane Sazar. Okay, come on up. Come on up, Diane. Most people are most uncomfortable right in the middle. So Diane is a dedicated PAR educator in our CI program at Clifford Smart Middle School. She was nominated by the Clifford HSmart science teacher, Heather Da, because Diane has been a
002champion for mainstreaming many of our students into general education classrooms. Heather mentioned this in her nomination. Diane puts time, thought, and so much effort into modifying assignments or creating visuals that will help our students in our science classroom to be successful. She continually challenges herself to make sure she understands new content so she can accurately assist in reviewing with students. I have loved working with Diane over the years because she knows how to collaborate. We are a team and have shared a vision of what the students need to be successful in the mainstream classroom. Diane is always willing to put in the time to create visuals or rework assessments that will benefit our students. She is always thinking of new ways to motivate and encourage our students to learn science concepts and how to demonstrate
003their knowledge through practice and assessments. Her dedication has a meaningful impact on not only student success, but also in creating an inclusive classroom environment. Dian's commitment, creativity, and heart make her an invaluable part of our school community. Thank you, Diane, for your unwavering dedication, your creativity, and your collaboration and support of our students and ensuring that every learner has the tool and the encouragement to thrive. Congratulations, [Applause] You're welcome. Thank you. [Applause] Huh? You want to turn over to me or just me go? You go. Okay, great. And now, Foundation for Excellence, our executive director, Mrs. Jackie Gerwin. Hi, everyone. Thank you for giving the FFE an opportunity to acknowledge some of the great people who have helped us over the past few years. We can't do the wonderful things we do without a great
004community. So, first I'd like to call up the team from O Construction. So, come on up. You can awkwardly stand in the middle as well. Perfect. And I'd also like to invite Mr. Seagler and Mrs. Craftton who are part of the foundation board to come up here as well. Also, stand in the middle where it's awkward. You're welcome. Um, we are presenting them with an award for the outstanding support and generosity. The award is exactly what it sounds like. It's to show appreciation to people who have gone above and beyond to support the staff and students here in Wald Lake through the FFE. A construction has been a partner in the district for over 30 years. I don't think there's a single building in here that you guys have not touched or remodeled or done
005something to. Um, while my experience with them is fairly limited, I did reach out to Dave Watkins who had this to say. Over my 35-y year career in the Wald Lake School District, I've had the opportunity to work with the George O company on many levels. They have consistently delivered quality results. Their projects are completed in a timely manner, and when challenges arise, they step up to resolve them efficiently and professionally. From field superintendent to project managers and office staff, the OC team is personable, responsive, and eager to help. Their ongoing charitable contributions to the district further demonstrate their deep commitment to our schools and their partnership in helping us be the best we can be. So, as Dave had mentioned, O gives back as much as they help us out to with our buildings.
006They have been the biggest sponsor of our golf scramble since the very first year in 2010. And this year they agreed to become our first presenting sponsor, a a new level that we developed this year. That was basically because in the past few years we've seen that more and more people are applying for our classroom grants and we can only fund about 50% of them. So we are working very hard to find more money to help with more grants and a has stepped up for that. I reached out to Mr. Ver Lindon to see if they would consider raising their sponsorship level and what we might be able to offer them to make it worthwhile. His response was that they just do it because they want to and there's they're not looking to get anything
007out of it. Um they just like to give back. He called me the next day said he had talked with the team and that they were in. So, these additional funds that they're donating can help provide many things to our classrooms like a classroom set of math manipulatives, a digital camera for a high school photography class, new soccer nets for middle school phys ed classes, junior kindergarten visits from the outdoor education center, and two xylophones for an elementary music room. Note, this is an and statement. It's not that they can provide one of those. the money they're submitting can provide all of those things to our district. So, while you might see their name on a fence and know that they're doing work on the outside of our schools, they are also helping inside of
008our schools. So, thank you to O for all of your support over the years. The FF appreciates everything you do for staff and students. Thank you. All right. So, next I would like to invite Nancy Vanluan up. She will also She will also be receiving an award for outstanding support and generosity. Nancy has been a fixture in the Wald Lake School District for many years. I think she may have closed some some of the buildings that O may not have worked on. Yeah. Um not sure, but she spent 30 years as a teacher at Twin Beach Elementary followed by 17 years on the school board where she was a strong advocate for teachers in our district. Nancy also joined the board of the Lakes Area Youth Assistance around 20 years ago where she continues to
009make a difference by assisting students and families with help finding resources for a variety of situations. NY's also, I just found out, a director on the Federal Credit Union board, the Wlake Schools Federal Credit Union. She's shown strong support for PTAs throughout the year where she attended council meetings and PTA events at various schools. That's essentially NY's resume and that's the stuff she could put in it. But there's so much she does that people don't know about. For example, in 2020 when the world was shutting down for COVID, the Keith Elementary PTA was having their annual book fair, which is a huge deal at Keith Elementary. Nancy went in and donated book to every student in that school. It made the kids happy, have something to read, and it helped make a successful book fair
010for Keith Elementary. She did the same thing again this year for Wixom Elementary. And in 2022, Nancy donated funds to all 19 PTAs in the district in memory of her mother, who was also a strong fighter for public education. NY's commitment to our district was further enhanced this year with a generous donation to the Foundation for Excellence. As a former teacher, she knows what classrooms need and that they can't always be met by current district funds. We are honored that Nancy gives us this money to help support our programs and support our teachers. She is a fighter for public education and I expect that she always will be. So, we are super lucky to have her in our corner. Thank you, Nancy, for everything you do for our staff and students and for the FFE.
011[Applause] All right, last but certainly not least, I would like to invite up Judy Avola. I'm going to say a couple things about Judy and then I'm going to let uh Don Burnernhard step up and say a couple things as well. So, Judy Avola will be receiving the Michael Burnernheart award tonight. Michael is a was a former FFE trustee and chairman who passed away about 10 years ago. While I never knew him, our board speaks about how passionate he was about helping our schools and how he never was in it for the glory. He just worked quietly behind the scenes to make the foundation a great organization. Judy is the same way. Though most people would not call Judy quiet, she She is definitely a person who gives back with no thought about what kind
012of recognition she will receive. Judy retired from Oldick Schools back in 2021 after 19 years of being the director of community relations and marketing. She has hardly sat idle in her retirement. And when she's not skiing and traveling, she's working hard at the hospitality house where she sits as president of the board. Or she's at the Wald Lake School's Federal Credit Union where she also sits on the board. or she's helping the FFE where she is a trustee on our board. Judy has regularly supported the FFE with her time, donations of gift card, raffle prizes, cash donations, putting together teams for our FF golf scramble, and purchasing tuition expedition raffle tickets. After many, many years of buying raffle tickets, this was Judy's lucky year. While most people would have been super happy to win, Judy's
013intention of buying tickets was just to support the foundation. So, she quickly moved it into a conversation on how she could use those funds to help others. She could have walked away with 6,000 $6,000 to splurge on a nice ski vacation, but we she was committed to making sure those funds were used to support someone's college journey. Judy asked me to help her find a graduating senior she could donate the $11,000 scholarship to. So, after some brief discussions, we set up a Google form and started advertising the opportunity to the seniors at each high school. Her goal was to find a way to give students opportunities that they might not have without those funds. In a quick two-eek turnaround, Judy sorted through 155 applications and chose one wonderful student who will appreciate these funds as
014she heads off to Central Michigan University this fall. So, Judy does none of this to get back to get anything back or receive any awards. She does this because she believes in supporting our community in any way that she can. She has made a difference to so many of our students and families here in Wald Lake and I suspect that she will keep doing that for many years to come. Judy, I know I speak for the entire FFE board when I say that we are honored to have you as one of our trustees. Thank you for everything you've done and continue to do for the families here in Wald Lake. I'm not sure we deserve you, but we are so glad to have you. So, and I would like to also let Don Burnernhart say
015a couple things. I'd like to say thank congratulations Judy. Um thank you Jackie for those words about my brother. This foundation was very important to him and um he was quiet but he worked hard and all he wanted to do is help people. So from what I just heard um from what you've done Judy he would be very very proud of that. So, thank you, Jackie. And, um, this foundation just needs to just keep on track and keep going because it's very important to Walt Lake. [Applause] Congratulations. We're moving on to our annual sports recognition. Dr. Lans, thank you very much, Mr. Scaling. Thank you, Dr. Lans. At this time, I'd like to introduce Mr. Brian Swinhart, Wald Lake Athletic Director. Thank you very much. Appreciate it. Uh, first I'd like to um start off
016by saying thank you first to the board number one for giving me this opportunity. Just finished my 15th year here in Wald Lake, my 25th as an athletic director and 35th in education. Very proud to be here. Um, proud to be in Wald Lake. I moved to here so my my kids and my family could go through the Wall Lake schools. Um, Dr. Lons and Mr. Scaling, thank you so much for all your support that we've had this year. I appreciate it. To our building administrators that are here tonight, to Sarah, Jessica, and Tony, um we have a great group of athletic administrators in in our district that have done a phenomenal job this year. Um so very appreciative of that. A quick thank you to our coaches. Our coaches are um spend more time
017with their teams than they do their own families over the course of a season. They give up a lot for our student athletes because of their passion, their love, their dedication for not only their athletes, but for their sport and our district. So, we really do appreciate everything the coaches have given. And finally, the parents. Um, and the same way the FFA raises funds and does things for to help support our student athletes, our parents and our booster clubs work tirelessly to provide additional things that um for our student athletes, our booster clubs and our parents with fundraisings and what they do that our our district, our athletic programs are built on the backs of our coaches and our parents that spend countless hours to help our student athletes. So tonight, as you see scrolling
018through here, we have our award winners for the district. Um it'll keep scrolling through as we present this what we have for our criteria for individuals. If an individual is all state or has made it to the state um uh is all state or made it to the state finals like in track, swimming, one of those sports, they receive the recognition. Also, if a team has made it past regionals, so if they win a regional, go on to a semifinal, quarterfinals, round to the state meet, they also have the recognition. And starting last year with the change in the format, we've also added, I think it's really important to honor our individual and our team uh student athlete um academic all state awards. So, we're we're going we're going through and adding that this year.
019You see through our awards, another exciting year that we've had um great success for the Wald League programs. You'll see as you look through the thing, you'll see state champions, you'll see district champions, you'll see um a lot of great um success that we've had. Um a credit to our student athletes for their hard work. I don't know if you're aware, but we I mean, I'm sure you know, we have one of the largest athletic programs in the state of Michigan. Um we offer just about everything. That was one of the most exciting things I had about coming here to Wald Lake. The off rooms we have like bringing on uh boys volleyball, doing our unified sports that we started a few years ago and growing the unified sports to add bowling this year. That
020was a huge success. We currently have over 500 coaches that are working in our athletic programs right now with volunteers, 250 teams. We have nearly 3,300 events that we run every year and over 3,000 athletes. And all these athletes represent our district and the coaches we do because I feel like athletics is the front porch of any dis any any um the athletics is the front porch for any district. So as we go through and talk in honor today um we'll have uh we'll start off with our um we'll start off with Western. So Sarah, if you can start coming up and we're going to honor our um honor athletes this year. Each um assistant principal will talk briefly about their athletes and their programs. So, we'll get started with Sarah. Good evening everyone. My
021name is Sarah Face Meer. I'm one of the assistant principles, also the building athletic director. This been my seventh year here um in Wald Lake schools, all at Wald Lake Western in the same position. Um thank you for the opportunity to speak tonight. I'm proud to represent Wald Lake Western High School as we highlight the dedication, talent, and accomplishments of our student athletes. This school year has been filled with outstanding performances as you can see both individually and as teams across a wide range of sports. Tonight I have the privilege of recognizing the hard work, perseverance, and sportsmanship that our athletes have demonstrated throughout the year. So we're going to start with our football program which is coached uh by Corey Sro. Uh we have a team award for first team academic all state. We
022have individual awards for Troy Temple who was first team all state and dream team. We have individual Donovan Triplet first team all state. Liam Vaughn, first team all state. Fernando Gonzalez, academic allstate. Nick Hakee, academic allstate. Lucas Price, academic allstate. Shane Rashner, academic allstate. Fared Sagman, academic all-state. Joshua Walther, academic allstate. Liam vaugh, academic all state. And Drew Woodahowski, academic all state. And that is for our football program. Our hockey team, which is um unified as of this year. So we have a couple Western athletes who received awards. For individual, we have Cody Gallon for academic all-state, Harry Gillery, academic all-state, Dylan Anderson, academic all state. We also have a unified uh women's hockey ice hockey team. And we have Ariana Okonnell who received all state second team. Uh her coach had a comment here
023and says, "A Ariana is a tremendous leader and an outstanding goalie. She allowed our team to contend in every game and always works to be a better person, player, and athlete every day. Moving on to our softball team, we have um we have um Ava Damowski. She is receiving academic all-state and Brena Hixon also academic all state. That is coached by Dan Okonnell whose uh daughter Ariana Okonnell we just mentioned. Um, for diving we have Carly Rashner who received um MHSAA state diving qualifier. Her coach Casey Gunsville says Carly qualified for the 2024 state championship in diving held at Holland Aquat Aquatic Center after getting 144th place at regionals held at Novi High School. She came in 19th place at states. for track and field. For uh the boys, we have Dave Auger as the
024coach and we have Troy Temple who received both team and individual awards for track and field. Um we have the 4x 100 relay all state. We have um a qualifier for the 2025. We have the 4x 200 relay all state for qualifi um 20 25 100 meter dash 10.77 and the high jump 63. And coach Auger says Troy is one of those kids where his natural ability speaks for itself. The most raw athletic kid I've ever coached. You will be missed. We have Kase Leg who also received um awards in the 4x100 state qualifier. 4x 200 state qualifier, 110 hurdles, 300 meter hurdles, and also the school record holder. Kase is proof that hard work pays off and shows that the effort you put in will be the results you strive for. Kase is going
025to do special things at the next level. He will be running um at the collegiate level next year. We have uh Rodney Ensley who is receiving the 4x100 state qualifier. uh 2024 Allstate 4x200 state qualifier, 2024 Allstate 200 meter qualifier, 400 meter qualifier, and new school record 400 meter dash. And his coach says Rodney can flat out fly. He's only a junior. So he um he we had high hopes. He was up against um a couple seniors in the state um and he ended up coming in second. So right behind a senior. So we're looking forward to seeing what he does next year. Um, we also have uh Kira uh Hav who is for the women's track and field by who's coached by Avi Alanu. Um, and she is receiving the awards for 4x 100
026meter. She's a school record holder, the 100 meter school record holder for 17.17 and she's also an MHSAA state qualifier. Okay, moving on to uh cheer coached by Amber Stocks and Michelle Frey who've been with us for quite some time. Um they made it back to states this year and they placed fourth in the state. Um after winning the district title, finishing third at regionals and finally finishing fourth in the state. Um they had the MHSA state qualifier. Um they received um these markings from for individuals as well. We have Avery Campbell who received academic allate. Zaye Cox, academic all state. Mariana Gonzalez, academic all state. Lillian Jack, academic all state. Karina Sakulvski, academic all state. Ella Spice, academic allate. Elizabeth Davis, academic allate. And Emily Boddin, academic allate. Um we have um for Emily,
027she also has um some comments here from coach saying, "Emily has been a member of the cheer program for four years and an all three round cheerleader. She now gets to add all state athlete to her long list of accolades as she transitions to her next chapter at college. Zalee Cox, individual allstate uh Zale is a three-year athlete who is an all threeround cheerleader that gets to leave her legacy at Western as an all-state athlete. Mariana Gonzalez, also individual allstate. Mariana is a sophomore, is a member of the cheer program for the past two years, and is an all three round cheerleader with a drive and passion that is contagious. Audrey Bretmeer. Audrey is a sophomore and has been a member of the cheer program the past two years and is an all three round
028cheerleader. She was always willing to do whatever it takes for the team. And then we have Ella Spice who received individual allstate. Ella is a sophomore and has been a member of the cheer program the past two years. She is a round three cheerleader with a work um work ethic that is unmatched. And lastly for the cheer team we have Hannah for individual all state. Hannah is a passionate junior who has been a member of the cheer program the past three years. She is an all three round cheerleader and a positive motivator for her teammates. Congratulations to our cheer team. And then we have baseball Zach Emmer and he is receiving individual academic all-state coach Peterson says Zach has been a warrior through and through. He has battled through injuries and demonstrated true leadership. I
029have no doubt he will continue to thrive in his studies and on the field at Kamazoo College. And last but not least, we have bowling for Matthew Jones who re was a state qualifier this year um which is an individual award. So congratulations to all of our warriors. Um, as we reflect on this incredible year, I want to thank our coaches, our families, our staff and community members, our board of education, um, who continue to support and uplift our student athletes. Their success is a reflection of that shared commitment. Congratulations again to all of our athletes. You've made Wald Lake Western proud, and we're excited to see what happens next year. Um, and we look forward to even more achievements to come. And at this time, I'd like to welcome Wald Lake Central's athletic director,
030Jessica Fischer. Thank you. Good evening everyone. I'm Jessica Fischer. I'm the assistant principal at Wald Lake Central and the athletic director. This was my second year here. It's been a great two years and I have uh lots to share with you today. All right. So, I'm very honored to be standing here before you all getting to recognize so many outstanding accomplishments of our Wall Lake Central athletes. Um, we're going to celebrate our all-state honors, our qualified state champions, our academic all-state recognitions, and our teams that P making it even past regionals. Their hard work, their dedication, their growth mindset, and their grit really is what makes them really successful athletes and they have great coaches leading the way. I also want to take a moment and highlight one other program before I get started. our
031unified sports program which brings together students with and without intellectual disabilities on the same teams for training and competition. Our unified teams have had an amazing year. They played at the Little Caesars Arena. They participated in a field day at Novi and today they traveled to Lancing for what was known as Capital Capital Day to showcase their program. So, they got to talk to state senators and representatives about why we should continue to fund the Special Olympics and bring these types of events to our schools. Um, the their achievements and all of our athletes achievements not only reflect athletic excellence, but also the values of inclusion, teamwork, and perseverance that we hold dear at Wald Lake Central and at Wald Lake schools. Thank you for your continued support of all of our athletes and our
032programs. So, the following students this year earned academic all state. Braden Sver for baseball, Jacob Wong for baseball, Marissa Carol water polo, Hannah Song for water polo, Shaye McCann in gymnastics, uh Miriam Peltto in gymnastics, and our Wall Lake Central softball team. They all achieved the academic all-state designation. The following students earned all state designation as well, which was Han Han Chun, first team all state, and Haley Mack for second team all state for hockey. We also had some state qualifiers this year. Bennett Minnelli in ski. Shaylee McCann was a state all-around for gymnastics. She also was the uh she broke the school record this year in track and field. Maryann PTO, she did it in vault for gymnastics. Connor Martin in bowling. Antonio Pullex in wrestling. Diego Becca and swim 100 butterfly and 100
033backstroke. The the next set of athletes were recognized this year for all region, all county, and all conference. Dylan Acres, track and field. Chase Long, track and field. And then the next two individuals became state champions and broke our school records. So Al uh Alexander Gerard for shot putut state champion and Giovani Charles became the state champion the high jump this school year and they're off to that next step nationals. Lastly and really excited um I want to congratulate and wish the best of luck to our boys volleyball team. They just they won regionals. They won their quarterfinal championship and now they'll be playing tomorrow in Hudsonville at 3 PM for the final four. So, let's go Vikings. And then hopefully they're playing on Saturday and we take the win. Thanks for having me here
034today. Next, I'm going to introduce Tony, the assistant principal and athletic director for Northern. Good evening everyone, members of the board, members of the cabinet, and everyone in the audience and those at home. I am Tony McNamera, assistant principal and athletic director at Wald Lake Northern and have proudly served as athletic director this past year. Many of you know Chuck Froing, who served in that role for many years in this district. Um, and I have taken on some pretty big shoes to fill at Wald Lake Northern. Um, but have done so with extreme gratitude. um what my athletes at Northern and our athletes at Northern have been able to accomplish this year is truly remarkable and it's a pleasure to be able to uh to speak about some of those accomplishments tonight. I would also
035like to um give a shout out as well. Good luck to boys volleyball at Central. Um but our northern uh softball team will be competing at the regional event this Saturday as well. So good luck to that team. Um I have many athletes close to 41 I believe that I'm going to be recognizing here. uh as well as some academic all team as well as uh some relays and and different state qualifiers just as um Sarah and Jess did for their respective schools. Um at Wald Northern as well, we have uh just about 1,000 um of our students who participate in sports. And to give you some perspective, we have just about 1,430 students in the school. So we have a huge turnout for our athletic programs. Um and that includes unified sports as well
036as all gened sports. Um and again the the participation that I get to be a part of or that I see and that our students are a part of um is just you know tonight is a obviously a a special event. Um but big thanks to every single athlete and many thanks to all of the families at Wald Lake Northern that have dedicated their time to our athletic programs. uh because without it uh truly Waldig Northern it it is truly a special place because of our athletic program. So I'm going to start with our cross country both boys and girls here tonight. Um I get to recognize three of our cross country athletes. Finn Gamarath who is um earning a all region, all conference and all county honors as well as being a state finals
037qualifier. Ally Gallagher who was a state follows uh state uh finals qualifier. and Emily Alt as well for our northern uh cross uh girls cross country team who was a state qualifier. Congratulations to the three of them. Uh moving on to our northern swim and dive, we had uh many of our athletes from the northern swim and dive coached by uh coach IE and coach Williams and coach uh Gunsfiller. We have Josie Beni who earned a state qualifier in the 100 fly 500 free and 200 free relay. Brooke Marriott, who was uh also a 200 free, 500 free, and 200 free relay state qualifier. Uh Molly Zuska, who was a qualifier for the 200 free, 500 free, and 200 free relay. And Victoria Houston, who was also a state qualifier for the 200 free relay.
038Uh also, our coaches had this to say, and that was that they broke a school record. uh you won't see it necessarily anywhere on a record book, but they were the first one in Northern history to be an underclassman uh 200 free relay uh qualifier in the state level. So, we are very excited to see what those four can do as they continue as uh swim and dive in our swim and dive program. Uh continuing on for some other individual recognition of swim and dive, we have Laya Akrich who earned academic allstate and academic all-American. Tessa Keane, who was academic all-state and academic all-American, Emily Masset, who was academic all-state and academic all-American, and Grace Molski, who was academic all-state and academic all-American. Uh many of these girls are seniors as well, Tessa, Emily, and
039Grace. Good luck to all of you as you continue on uh at your respective schools. and each one of those girls um and uh and Laya as well, but my seniors especially uh we got to recognize many of their honors, academic honors um not only at graduation but at their senior night. And these girls are are rewarded uh heavily for all of their efforts. So congratulations to the four of them. Moving on to our girls and boys basketball teams, uh we have Amal Eunis, also a senior who earned academic allstate and all state uh team first award. She also broke one of our school records uh for the any basketball player in Northern history, breaking a thousand points in four years, but not only that, earning 1,158 points in all four years of her play.
040It is truly a remarkable feat. Um and beyond that, she's a remarkable remarkable girl. So, it could not happen to someone who's worked harder. and Josh uh Peas who is the uh head coach could not agree more that this is someone who has been a staple and the heart and soul of that program. Uh she will be sorely missed but she gets to continue to play her respective sport at uh Rochester University next year. So good luck to Amal next year and thank you Amal for all that you did for us. Um also the team uh earned academic allstate earning a GPA of 3.758 um or higher which again a remarkable feat in and of itself. And then our boys basketball team as well earned team academic all state. Um you and I'll continue on
041here but want to uh to pause just to say I always tell my my students you know there's a reason it's called a student athlete. You are all athletic students but you are a student athlete. So to be able to stand up here and and just you know say all of these academic all uh these academic awards. Thank you uh Mr. Swinhart the board and the cabinet for including this as a part of the program because truly again they're student athletes for a reason. starting with the student and then athlete second. Um, but continuing on here, we have Michaela Ratliff from our girls hockey team who earned all state first team. Congratulations to Michaela. Uh, as well as Kennedy McCquory as a freshman earning all state freshman team. I got to see both these girls
042play. Can't wait to see what they do next year. Uh, we have some more uh, swim and dive for our boys program. We have Aiden CFaber who was a senior who earned a state qualifier in the 100 backstroke as well as being academic all-state and all-American. Kyle Hollberger who was a state qualifier for the 200 inter mural. And Daniel Olsen uh Daniel Olsen who was one of our seniors academic allstate and academic all-American was also part of our um and and some of our other athletes were part of our Wald Lake Consolidated School District student athlete leadership program. Uh maybe Mr. Swinhart has mentioned that at previous board meetings, but if he has not, it is a program that we have built here. Um, thank you to Mr. Swinhart and and, uh, Sarah and Jess
043as well. Um, but a program that not only fosters but but allows our students, uh, our student athletes, about 60 of them, 20 from each school to act as leaders and go through a leadership course, uh, with the direction of myself, Mr. Swinhart, Sarah, and Jess. And Daniel was one of those um members of that student athlete leadership in its uh in its inception year. And we look forward to see what we do uh continue with that program as well. Uh continuing on with the Northern Boys uh uh swim and dive. We have academic all state for Blake Bur. Congratulations to Blake. And that is all for our swim and dive. We're going to continue on with Northern bowling. Now, uh the bowling team had some great success this year. We had Cody Androbius who
044was a state qualifier as well as and a senior. Uh Hunter Clary who was a junior and is a state qualifier this year for bowling. Jacob Goldberg who was a senior uh who is a senior state qualifier. Colin Ruskin, also a state qualifier and a senior. And Asher Salama uh again for bowling state qualifier and a senior. So again, a lot of success there. Congratulations to those guys. Moving on to our boys track and field uh and girls track and field. We have two recognitions here. Um some major ones. The uh relay team, the 4x 800 of Finn Gamth, Sam Fairchild, Chase Griffith, and Nate Bruss earned all conference, all region, and all county and were state final qualifiers. Uh, Coach McNeel and I were actually just talking earlier about this team and they were
045such an underdog and to see them shine a and continue on and build that trust with each other um on the track and and be able to accomplish what they accomplished at that level uh missed the state by 1.6 seconds. So very very close and it's tight-knit when you're talking track and field or you know it's very tight um when you're talking track and field but uh yeah to miss it by 1.6 they were right there. So, in my heart, they are state earners, but obviously on paper, state qualifiers. Congratulations to those four. Uh, Anna Weinberger as well for our girls track and field had a really big year and she's a junior. Uh, so next year we're going to see what she can do as she continues in the track and field program. She
046is a school record holder now. So, her name will go up on the wall as a pole Valter at 11 ft. So, congratulations to Anna in that. She also placed third in regionals and was also a state qualifier for the pole vault. Congratulations to Anna and uh and can't wait to see what she does next year. Moving on to our softball program. Again, recognized them already, but good luck to them this weekend as they take on um either Grand Blink or Howell in the regionals. We have Lauren Wilkins who earned academic all-state as a senior and the team itself also earned um academic allstate. That is the 14th year in a row that the softball team has earned academic all state. So, congratulations to them. They're coached by Coach Woodard and I believe now for
04714 years. So, congratulations to coach and uh and all those accolades. We have a couple golfers, uh some of our boys golfers, Alex Lis and Logan Fitz, both juniors. So, again, got another year. They're going to be competing tomorrow and Saturday in the uh state finals. So, good luck to those boys, but they are state finals qualifiers. So, TM high, let them fly, boys. Let's see what you guys can do. Alex Definis, uh, moving on to our baseball team. Uh, Alex Definis, who is a senior, earned academic allstate. Brandon Jones, junior, who earned academic all-state. Carson Batty, senior, who earned academic all-state. Luke Mi, junior academic allstate. And Matthew David, senior, who earned academic all-state. Um, also take a pause. Matthew David also earned and Grace Molski, I should shout out her too. As I
048said earlier, um earned our scholar athlete award, the Marine, the USMC, United States Marine Corps scholar athlete award as seniors this year, which is a huge recognition. So, congratulations to Matthew um and to Grace for that. Uh moving on to our water polo team. Uh this is a United team, but we had some Northern representatives here as academic all-staters. Samantha Sup as a sophomore earned academic all-state for the Cobras. Adisa Dbra, senior, earned academic all-state. Grace Molski, senior, academic all-state. Meredith Weekes, sophomore, um, also earned academic all state. And then finally, our one state champ, James Moore. Congratulations. Our wrestler earned seventh place um, as he wrestled at Ford Field this year, and he is a junior. So again, he'll be taking uh, he he's got big shoes to fill in his senior year. We'll
049see if he can make it again to the States and earn maybe even a higher higher place. Again, a huge congratulations to each of those teams, each of those individuals and the coaches. It does not go without um so much hard work and effort from every single person, from the families, from the coaches, from the athletes, and again, all 1,000 or so at Northern um that are a part of our athletics team. It brings me great pride to serve as your athletic director because of what you guys do and the hard work um that all of you put out there. So, thank you for allowing me to serve as your athletic director. It is truly an honor and uh and I look forward to the continued success for Northern Athletics next year. Thank you, Mr.
050Swinhart. Thank you, Tom. Thank you again. And just in conclusion, so a few months ago, I was up at Oakland schools. I had a meeting with uh Dr. Delgado, Mr. Gutman about um I was going over some stuff and then I hear this voice come around the corner. It's Bill Chatfield. Yeah. I see all looking smile and Bill comes in and he says, it's like the joke. He goes, "Brian," he goes, "I hear that participation in athletics leads to future success." Because that's one of the things I'd say over and over again, which I and I had to correct him. And I I don't believe that's true. What I do believe is true is that successful participation in athletics leagues of future success. That means you have coaches, parents, athletic directors, everybody on the same
051page pushing to work hard, pushing to to have teamwork, doing all the things you need to do and teaching kids how to do that. And that's part of like our leadership program that we started this year. It was a year-long program. Three in-person meetings. We did Zoom meetings with college coaches, college athletes. Um we did a lot of different things and it was really successful. But part of that is getting back to the theme of if you want the kids, you have to teach them how to be successful and I really believe that. So um I am very appreciative for athletics. I've lived athletics my whole life. I believe in what it does for kids and I just want to thank you for allowing. It's the best bang in the buck. the best bang for
052the buck in public education right now for what we have. So, thank you again for your time. Appreciate it. Thank you. And congratulations to amazing athletes. We're moving on to textbook recommendation. Dr. Lans, you're over there. Mrs. Cohensky. Thank you, Dr. Lans. Uh, as you know, the current English language development, formerly known as ESL. Uh, secondary grades 6 through 12 textbook resources are now over 10 years old. Uh, they have outofdate content. They don't have enough crosscurricular connections as we want to make sure that our secondary students have. And it's limited in the supplemental and adaptable resources for our students. It also doesn't fully align with the WEDA state assessment uh which is sort of the um MSTEP version but for students uh who are learning uh English as another language. Um and so we
053uh it also is not aligned with our uh current Michigan standards. So the committees met throughout this year. They reviewed and piloted several different resources and a summary document was included in a board bulletin to you uh last week. But based on those results, the committee's recommendation is to purchase National Geographic Lyft and Great Writing Series. It says 2020 through 2025 because I do believe that a couple of those resources were revised uh throughout that time, but not all of them. So, some of them are from 2020, some of them up through 2025. The total cost is from the general fund at $31,684.40, 40 cents which includes teacher materials, student books, some digital resources, and it meets all the criteria that was outlined in that textbook review. This process is endorsed by administration and a
054motion for approval of that textbook adoption will be presented at an upcoming board meeting. Um, I anticipate that you'll have most of summer if you would like to to get together uh come into the ESC and review those materials. Um, but we would like to try and get those ordered early in August so that they're here to start the the school year. So, thank you very much. Thank you. Next, in our close session prior to this meeting, we did our superintendent evaluation. Um, we discussed Dr. L's evaluation in a closed session and I move to accept the evaluation designation of effective for Dr. lawns for the 2024 2025 superintendent evaluation cycle. Support. All those in favor? I opposed. Motion carries. 70. Thank you. Now we're moving on to public commentary. So, thank you all for
055coming 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, and concerns. We will not 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 a an eye on the timer on the wall, which is over here. Um, if you come close to your time, Mrs. Crafton will let you know you're coming close, and that's for you to begin to wrap up your comments. We ask that all speakers remain professional and refrain from any personal attacks. We're going to start with Mitchell Ray Watkins. I'm Mitch Watkins, Wald Central, class of 1994. Um, good evening board members and community. I
056want to speak tonight as someone who deeply believes in the power of public education and in the mission that Waldick probably proudly states every kid every day. But I also want to speak honestly about the growing disconnect between that motto and the lived experiences of many of our students and staff. There's a growing frustration among Paris special educators and classroom teachers who are trying their best to support students with complex needs. students who need more than what the general education setting alone can offer. These are students with autism, students who are non-verbal, students with sensory and behavioral needs, sorry, that require targeted special instruction. The special education team gathers the data. They follow the process. They work collectively together to make informed student centered decisions. But too often those carefully considered recommendations, particularly when it
057comes to changing a placement, are denied by administration without explanation. Under Michigan law and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, educational placement is a team decision, not a unilateral one. When one person makes a decision that ignores a consensus and expertise of a multidisciplinary team, that's not just frustrating, it's potentially illegal. And it undermines everything the district stands for. The truth is inclusion is not simply placing a student in a general education classroom and hoping support staff can make it work. Real inclusion is providing every child with a free and appropriate public education in an environment that truly meets their individual needs. For some students, that might be in a general education with support. For others, the least restrictive environment in a specialized program like an ASD classroom where their unique learning and communication needs
058can be met. When those placements are denied, not for the lack of data, not for the lack of professional consensus, but seemingly for convenience, it's the students who suffer. It's the teachers crying out for help and support who are left to struggle. and it's a support staff, many of whom feel they are failing despite giving everything they have, who are left disheartened. We are not just calling, we are not just failing these students. We are failing their families, their teachers, and the very community this district serves. I'm not here to assign blame. I know that the work is hard and the system is complex. 30 seconds remaining. But I am here to ask for change, for transparency, for accountability, and for a renewed commitment to truly saying every kid every day, even when it's not
059convenient. And in my opinion, when uh they were honoring the children up here with awards that they won, for a board member to not be paying attention on their phone and playing with their fingernails is very disrespectful. Thank you for your time and for listening. Thank you, Hannah Misari. Hannah Msari. Hope I said the last name correct. Mazri. Mazri. Excuse me. Good evening board members and other faculty. I'm here today to talk to you about the Wald Lake Western's international balora program. To begin, I'd like to speak about my friend Elodie. She's in the crowd right now. And December 6th, 2022, Elodie did a shadow visit at Western to see if she'd like to pursue the IB program we offer. By the end of the day, she decided she'd like to come to a school
060completely out of district to follow a higher education. Starting freshman year, Elodie has been driving 10 miles to school every morning from South Line and Wald Lake. After doing the math, for one full year, Elodie spent around $480 coming to and from Western on gas. In total, that was about 3,600 miles. Elder family could be using this money on groceries, family trips, necessities, etc. but instead she's using this she's she's spending this money on commuting to and from Wald Lake Western. Like so many of us do, Eldie cares about her education deeply and makes constant financial sacrifices daily that not many of us think about. Secondly, there's a lot of students here tonight who are in the same boat. For example, there's a ninth grader I know who was accepted and fully ready to commit
061to the international academy, but instead she was intrigued by Western's IB diploma program and chose to come here. One other point I'd like to make is the importance of creative and language classes that we offered in the IB program. Um there were several creative classes that allowed students to excel at their artistic passions while the language classes helped students develop communi communication skills, cultural awareness and the ability to think critically in different language related and cult cultural contexts. These opportunities these are opportunities that will not be as available without the IB programs that Western used to offer. Obviously, this program has influenced a handful of students to come to our school as the program was continuing to grow and now we've been let down by the sudden and uncalled for decision to bring it to
062an end. I hope everything that is said tonight will help play a part in your decision for the future of the IB program at Western. Thank you so much for your time. Thank you, Jason Craft. Good evening, board. Good evening, everyone. Um, my name is Jason Craft. Uh, I'm the father of two kids uh in Waldick District. Uh, I wanted to just bring something to uh everyone's attention uh specifically around transparency. Um, last month, uh, a kid in my son's class said he was going to bring his father's gun to school and shoot my son and some friends. I found out about it at his 10th birthday party. I was not notified by the district. I was not notified by the school. I was not notified by the principal. I was not notified by the
063teacher. This is not something that should be happening. If a situation like this arises, all parents in a classroom deserve a right to know. we deserve a right to emotionally and physically support our children in a situation like that. Now, what ended up happening was um they they talked to a teacher in the situation and they were able to articulate exactly what had happened. The teacher then reported to the principal as it's supposed to happen and the situation was dealt with. There were guns found in that house. They were secured. They were locked. We'll see what happens moving forward. But again, I go back to the transparency. Kids should feel safe at school. They should not be afraid to report certain situations. And most importantly, we should allow the parents to be parents. If there's
064a situation that arises like this, again, I had to wait two days and find out again at my son's 10th birthday party when the kids were talking about it like it was nothing. Oh, yeah. Wasn't it crazy that he threatened to kill us with his father's gun? I was completely taken back. So again, I hope that the school will revisit the policies in regards to if a situation is to arise as serious as this because 20 miles away, we know what happened at Oxford. I don't want to see that happen in our district. And if a situation like this happens, an email should be going out immediately. Calls should be going out immediately to all parents in the classroom so they can handle it the way that they see fit. So, I just wanted to
065say thank you for your time and I hope that you guys will look into this policy because there's no reason why a situation like this should be swept under the rug and it makes me wonder what else is being swept under the rug. Thank you. Thank you, Chloe Powers. Good evening, members of the board. My name is Clay Powers and I just want to discuss some stuff about the IB program. As a current student at Wald Lake Western and someone who's about to begin the program, I just want to share how important that opportunity is. Not just for me, but for so many students who are ready to take their learning to the next level. I didn't choose the IB program because it was the easiest. I chose it because I wanted to grow, not
066just academically, but as a thinker, a communicator, and as a person. IB isn't just about getting harder classes or more homework. It's about becoming someone who understands the world, who ask questions that matter, and who's prepared to make a difference. The moment I decided to join IB, I felt excited and empowered. I saw a path that could help me build confidence, develop my voice, and connect what I learned in school to real life challenges. I've talked to countless IB students who all told me the same thing. The program pushed them in the best ways possible and made them stronger, more organized, and more open-minded. And I want that experience, and I think I deserve that. But taking IB away now, just as I'm about to begin, is like having this door shut in my face
067right as I reach for the handle. And I know I'm not alone. There are so many of us who want to be challenged, who want to think deeper, and who need this program to unlock our full potential, not only as students, but also as people. IB represents the kind of education that prepares us for life, not just for tests. It makes Wald Western stand out and unique. And if we lose that, we lose more than just a set of classes. We lose opportunity, a future we've already to believe in, and inspiration. Please don't take that away from us. My future and so many others rest on the decision that you guys make. Thank you for your time. [Applause] Thank you, Erica Brennan for Mera. Erica, when you go to speak, will you explain why you're
068speaking? Hello. I'm here tonight speaking on behalf of the parents of a kindergartener in this district. The mom is here tonight. She's over there. She's not comfortable coming up to the podium because she does not speak English very well. This is her letter and I'm going to read it as she has written it. My son has a diagnosis of autism which was documented before he entered school. He is non-verbal and currently placed in a general education classroom with support. At the beginning of the year, he did not have support. Due to the lack of help in the classroom, his teacher had no other option but to allow him to wander the classroom, play with puzzles and blocks in the back of the room while his peers were spending their days learning kindergarten curriculum. This year,
069both his special education team and his kindergarten teacher have recommended twice that he be placed in an ASD classroom to better support his learning and development. Both times that recommendation was denied by the administration. To this day, his special education team and I have not been provided with any reason for the denial, despite repeated attempts to get answers. As his mom, I'm not only frustrated, I'm deeply concerned. Michigan law is clear. Placement decisions must be made by the IEP team, not unilaterally by administration. If the professionals who work with my son every day are recommending a change in placement, it should be given serious condition. And if denied, there should be a clear, timely explanation. Instead, I've received silence. I've left messages. I've asked questions and no one from administration has returned my calls or
070emails. This isn't just a communication issue. It feels like a system failure. It feels like my son's needs are not being prioritized. And most of all, it feels like empathy and transparency are missing from this process. I'm here tonight not just for my son, but for every child and every parent who may face a similar situation. We need a system that listens to its educators, follows the laws, and keeps parents informed. Thank you for your time. Thank you. That's brastrom. Good evening. My name is Vessna Becktum and I'm the proud parent of a first and fourth grader at Commerce Elementary. I'm also a proud stepmom of two graduates from Wald Lake Northern High School. My first grader absolutely adores her teachers. Since junior kindergarten in Mrs. Bastuba's class, she's been saying she wants to be
071a teacher when she grows up, something we've always found inspiring and heartwarming. Unfortunately, this school year has brought challenges that have affected her deeply. Since the very first week of school, there have been ongoing disruptions in her classroom caused by one specific student. These disruptions have escalated to the point where the entire class has had to be evacuated multiple times due to physical and emotional outbursts. The same student has repeatedly targeted my daughter, calling her stupid and idiot, ripping up a paper she was reading aloud to the class, throwing Play-Doh at her, kicking her, and pinching her. She's witnessed classmates being punched, stabbed with pencils, and has heard threats made toward her teacher and one of her good friends. We've raised our concerns several times with both her teacher and the principal. And let me
072be absolutely clear, we think her teacher is outstanding. She has shown incredible patience, professionalism, and care, doing her best under very difficult circumstances to keep the classroom safe and focused on learning. While we fully support inclusive education and recognize that every child has unique needs and challenges, what's happening in my daughter's classroom is not sustainable. The repeated disruptions are affecting not only her education, but also her emotional well-being and that of her classmates. At this point, it feels as though my daughter's right to a free and appropriate education is being compromised. We understand that the school year is nearly over, but we're here tonight, all of us over there, because we need to know what will be done to ensure our kids have a safe, respectful, and supportive learning environment in second grade and beyond.
073Wall Lake Schools has a duty of care to protect its students from foreseeable harm and to create an environment where every child can thrive. That includes my daughter and that includes all of our children. We respectfully urge you to evaluate what additional support systems or interventions are needed for this student to succeed without compromising the educational experience of the rest of the class. With the right resources and attention, we believe a more positive outcome is possible for everyone involved. We are here to ask you to provide us a specific plan for how you will provide resources left to the second grade classrooms at Commerce Elementary. Our children deserve to know that their learning environment will be safe, supported, and set up for success. My greatest hope is that my daughter's love for learning and teaching
074will continue to grow, just as it did in Mrs. Bastuba's class. But for that to happen, she needs to feel safe both physically and emotionally every day she walks into school. Thank you for your time. Thank you. I think it says Dustine June. Did I get that correct? Dustin. Dustin. Okay, it's a little different spelling. Oh, thank you. Good evening. Uh my name is Dustin June. I'm the parent of two children at Keith Elementary School with the third expected to join in the fall. I'm also a volunteer coach with Wild Lake Community Education. Before I deal detail the incident that I'm here to speak about, I'm hoping this school board believes uh student safety should come first and returning students home every day is a priority. On May 8th of this year, my child that's
075in the fourth grade was assaulted at Keith Elementary School and his life and the lives of other students were threatened by a student who said he was going to bring a gun to school and shoot them. My child's only crime, including this school and uh playground, including this student in playground activities. The incident with this student is not an isolated one. West Bloomfield police have verified there are multiple firearms in the home of in the home owned by the student's father. Further details can be found in my letter to the school board from May 19th. My child is afraid to go to school and asked daily if the student threatened his life will be at school. No child should fear going to school because they think they're going to get shot. This incident falls under
076a level three violation of the Wall Lake Schools code of conduct and should be considered a gross misdemeanor under the Michigan Revised School Code. This school board is granted discretionary power under the laws of the state of Michigan to expel students. I'm asking this school board to take safety first and expel the student who made threats against my child and others. to do otherwise would be putting the safety of of Keith Elementary students at risk and it wouldn't be doing any favors to the student who made the threats. As history has shown, this will only embolden the student making the threats as he progresses to middle school and high school to act on those threats if there is no intervention. There are many programs available to the students threatening violence such as prevent to protect
077and the school board and administration should be encouraging the family of that student to participate. By the time an offending student brings a gun or a knife to school, it is too late. That student will use it to harm others or themselves. Let's not help Bald Lake schools become the next Coline or Oxford High School. Let's prevent a tragedy before it happens. Thank you for your time. Thank you, Danielle Bowman. Good evening. Uh my name is Danielle Bohannan. Um and I am a concerned parent that has two students at Commerce Elementary currently and I've had three through the district. Um one is now currently at IIA West for the IB diploma. So shout out for the IB. Um but I am here today with concerns with my daughter's first grade class. Um our daughter has
078been in class this year with a student that since the beginning of the year has caused excessive disruptions in the learning environment has had out emotional outbursts where students have had to evacuate the classroom. Items have been thrown. Our daughter was hit in the head with a pencil box. Um they're not allowed to have metal water bottles in the classroom anymore. um items. I'm sorry. Students have been stabbed with pencils. Threats have been made to bring a knife to cut up the teacher. Threats to kill students, which resulted in a police report, verbal assaults um daily of my daughter being called stupid. Um sticking up the middle finger repeatedly, classroom supplies, worksheets, computers are destroyed. Um these are just some of the incidents that we know about that my daughter has told me. um not
079because the school is my daughter um loves going to school, especially her teacher. Um but it is been a very difficult year to watch her self-esteem dwindle and for her to tell me she's scared to go to school. Um we have been very vocal in bringing the concerns to both the principal and teacher throughout the year and do believe that they have been doing their very best to manage the situation and follow the outlined protocols by the district. Unfortunately, we feel like the current protocols have been ineffective in the situation and we are leaving these other children and the teacher in the classroom with an environment that is dangerous to their physical and mental health as well as disruptive to their learning. So, we are here now um to because we feel like this has
080escalated to the point that it is more than the school is able to handle with the resources that they have been provided and we want to bring it to your attention because we believe that it is hindering all students right to a free and appropriate education. We want to continue to express our concerns and we urge you to look at the current protocol and put a safety plan in place for next year so that these warning signs are not ignored and we are not waiting for something more serious to occur before we take action. Also, we want to advocate for more resources to be available through um sensor rooms or at minimum providing extra paras um to support these classrooms, these teachers and the learning environment. Please consider making a change 30 seconds left. so
081that these second graders um soon to be second graders at Commerce can um come to school feeling safe and supported and ready to learn. Thank you, Jennifer Russell. Good evening. My name is Jennifer Russell and I am the parent of two children in the Wald Lake district. I'm here to discuss a potentially systemwide problem, bullying. It has recently come to my attention that my youngest son, 10 and in fourth grade, has been bullied by a couple of classmates on a regular basis. He has been shoved into a fence. He has been made fun of for his voice, for his height. He has been told he is not smart. He also has invisible disabilities that become quite obvious when he is pushed. that finally came to an apex two weeks ago when he was given a
082suspension for something that could have entirely been avoided had he been given his accommodations by his parapro. I reached out to the other parents in the school and on social media and I'm told it is a real problem in the schools and it generally follows the same pattern. The bullied child gets pushed too far, lashes out and then gets the punishment meed out to them. I've had 20 parents either comment on my query or reach out to me personally who have shared similar stories. It seems as if we pretend there is no problem. We don't have to deal with it. I get it. Nobody likes a tattletail, right? Except in many of these cases, our children are raising their voices to the adults who are supposed to protect them only to have their concerns disregarded
083until they must take on this issue themselves, escalating the situation. This does not create an environment conducive to learning. The disregard of children is a nationwide problem that we will not solve here. We have a top- down adultoentrist way of teaching that is not an environment in which all children learn best, especially those with the learning and attention differences. I wholly understand there is curriculum to teach to a large class. But not having a more democratic way to empower our children to speak up for themselves and their needs, contribute to the bullying cycle, and certainly harms the relationship between the teacher and learner. We need to collaborate to find a better way. This brings me to now. In my son's case, we were told an investigation was conducted, but no bullying was found. Except these
084investigations mean nothing if it's a conflict of interest for a school to investigate itself instead of having an independent third party make it safe for children to speak up without fear of retribution or reprisal by the very adults who've not been listening in the first place. When a parent needs to engage in the IEP process to ensure their child has access to FAPE, it's already difficult. Even with additional safeguards in place, it's isolating to be on the other side of the table if those on the team aren't playing by the rules. It's a tale of two schools. I have another child in the district who also has invisible disabilities. The school principal, Seth Tabo, and his staff stepped up to partner with us to best accommodate our child, and he's graduating on Tuesday. I never
085thought that would happen. In my fourth grader school, many of the IEP safeguards have not been followed, and I have received nothing but push back and obuscation to bring this and other matters to mediation. So here we are in an adversarial position, something we never wanted. I respectfully ask the school board to actively look at best practices, conduct a deep investigation of the system that are failing to protect our children, and implement policy that integrates a culture of respect, honesty, care, engagement with one another. Thank you. Thank you, Ron Lipet. Thank you, Madam President. Ron Lipett, Commerce Township. Uh my wife, Denise, and I have three daughters, including our youngest, who is a junior at Wald Northern. Uh allow me to offer my congratulations to the senior class of 2025 who graduated this past weekend.
086Uh for me, it's been a thrill to see uh our district's social media feed uh with shining faces of uh 918 graduates uh and their plans for the future. We're excited for your achievements, graduates, and we're looking forward to your impact on the world. Uh it's also a moment to reflect on the updated data which tells a story of its own. Uh for example, last year 53% of public high school graduates enrolled in college within six months of their graduation. 53%. Yes, it sounds good, but this represents a 9-point drop from 62% we saw in 2019. So, how do we explain that? There are some in our community who would use this as an opportunity to challenge uh the state of public education itself uh or perhaps our ability to prepare students effectively. But the
087data points us in a different direction. What is it? Why are fewer grads attending college? Put simply, college affordability has become the obstacle, particularly since the pandemic. Painfully, the cost of college has more than doubled since 2000. So, if a college degree is our goal, the numbers are going the wrong way. But thankfully, Wald Lake Schools continues to provide students and grads with options. As an example, our career and technical education program and its partnership with Oakland schools is flourishing. Fact is more than 50% of public school grads have taken at least one CTE class during their time in high school and this number is expected to increase. Community college is gaining momentum thanks to the community college guarantee along with Michigan Reconnect. These are both programs that would make community college free or more
088easily affordable to Michigan residents. And the armed forces GI Bill continues to cover 100% of tuition for instate public college as well as ROC which offers full scholarships in exchange for your commitment to the military. Point being the traditional high school to college path is admirable but there are many paths to success once our students time at Wald Lake schools is complete. Lastly, I had the opportunity to attend the shining stars award at Wald Central on May 22nd. Uh, I just want to recognize all of the incredible individuals who support 30 seconds remaining. All the incredible individuals who support the special needs community within Wald Lake schools. You may not hear it every day, but allow me to say it here publicly. You are all heroes. Thank you. Thank you, Tim Sawmiller. Good evening. Tim
089Smiller, Commerce Township, using pronouns he, him, and his. Ray Bradbury, the author of Fahrenheit 451, had a great quote. You don't have to burn books to destroy a culture. You just have to get people to stop reading them. On September 11th, 2001, religious fanatics who wouldn't even let women be educated flew jet planes into the twin towers of the World Trade Center and into the Pentagon. Since then, our nation has once again had to fight religious fascism abroad. But I never thought we'd have to fight it here in the United States of America. I grew up in poor circumstances, the only child of a single mother. Reading books educated me and allowed me to escape those lowincome circumstances. My mother instilled true Christian values in me and trusted the teachers and li librarians to let
090me read what I needed to read. As a parent, I wanted my children exposed to different ideas and different viewpoints so they too could learn to think credibly and not be force-fed somebody else's opinion. And I want the same for my grandchildren. We have all been exposed to different opinions. That makes us better. It makes us stronger. Adversity has made me stronger. I never wanted my children to be told what they can and cannot read. And I don't want that for my grandchildren either. I have no intention of standing idly by while religious fanatics and these Moms for Liberty types cultists impose fascism on my country. I urge you to think about what a book ban means and use transparency when considering one. Speaking of transparency, about 10 books were removed from school libraries a
091couple of years ago for review. One was reviewed and returned. The others, I believe, are still in limbo. That is no different than a book ban. I urge you to return these books to the libraries ASAP. Thank you. Happy Pride Month. Remember Junth and together we can end gun violence. Thank you, Kristen Kamut. Good evening. My name is Kristen Kamut. I am a mother of a first grader at Commerce Elementary. My daughter Christa is a student of your schools that has been physically assaulted, mentally traumatized by threats not only to her best friend but to her incredible teacher, falling behind academically due to disruptions taken out of her classroom for periods of time due to cla the classroom not being safe and destroyed. She also is scared and afraid to be there. With repeated emails,
092personal messages to the teacher and the principal, emails to you guys on this board, we have gotten little resolution. The intensity of the problems continues to grow. At the beginning, at the very beginning of this school, my child had to witness her classroom be destroyed, water bottles thrown, her personal belongings destroyed, and much more. As school as the school year went on, problems continued to happen weekly, if not daily. In March, my daughter came home sharing that this student was calling her names, scratching her, coloring on her clothing. After spring break, things got more intense. My daughter came home with marks on her spine due to him kicking him her in the back. An investigation was open by our principal, but I have no information on what came out of that. For months now, my
093daughter has come home expressing how scared she is to be in class and in school. The only thing that keeps her going is her amazing teacher who has made her feel as comfortable as she can. I am asking for you to look into this and help my child have a safe environment for next year. We had a plan. We need a plan, a better plan than what is happening. We need clear transparency and a detailed plan for next year. I hope that by next school year, if not sooner, you can provide us with a detailed plan. These kids deserve a safe environment and an education as well. Thank you for your time and I hope that we get a response. Thank you. Thank you, Macy. Good evening board members. Thank you for giving me the
094opportunity to speak this evening. My name is Macy Tisha and I'm a proud parent at Commerce Elementary. I currently have three children at the school. My daughter Belle in first grade, a kindergartner and a fourth grader and one more soon to be Cougar. Our family has always had a deep appreciation for this school and the dedicated teachers and staff who work so hard to give our children a strong foundation. I'm here tonight because I have serious concerns about the learning environment in Bel's first grade classroom, particularly with regard to the ongoing challenges in Mrs. Birmingham's class. Over the course of this school year, one student has consistently disrupted the classroom, creating an unsafe and unstable environment. There have been repeated incidents involving verbal and physical threats, not just distractions, but serious behavior that jeopardizes the
095well-being and emotional safety of the entire classroom. Too many times it's included physical violence that the student has acted on, which has involved shoving my daughter to the floor. And additionally, the student has also verbally threatened to kill my daughter, which led to a police report being filed on our end. Despite the repeated concerns raised by parents and the tremendous efforts of Mrs. Birmingham to manage the situation with professionalism and care, we have seen little to no decisive action from the administration. This inaction has left not only our children vulnerable, but has placed an unfair burden on a teacher who does everything in her power to support the students. Every child is entitled to a free and appropriate education in an environment that fosters safety, support, and the ability to focus. That includes my daughter
096Belle and her classmates. When one student's behavior continually prevents other students from learning and feeling safe, we are not just dealing with a classroom management issue. We are compromising the rights of our students. We are not here to place blame. understand the challenges that are involved in these situations, but we are here to ask for support, accountability, transparency, and above all action. We respectfully urge the administration and the board to take this matter seriously, to communicate clearly with families, and to ensure that steps are taken to support both the child in crisis and the rest of the classroom. We as parents are exhausted of sending our kids to school daily wondering of what the troubled student will do next and holding our breast that it's not going to be towards our student or towards our
097child. It's not fair. They're six and seven years old. Thank you for listening and thank you for your commitment to making our school a safe and nurturing place for every child. And I would like a follow-up for my commentary. Thank you. Thank you. Likewise, Mike Wise Commerce Township. A few months back, the new secretary of education and worldwide wrestling promoter, Linda McMahon, gave public schools 10 days to cut their equity programs or lose funding. public school SEP superintendents across the nation were required to sign a cert certification declaring that they were not violating federal civil rights law by supposedly acknowledging that civil rights issues still exist. They cite title six of the civil rights acts which promotes discrimination based on race, color, national origin and programs receiving federal funding and argue that offering targeted support
098to marginalized students is somehow discriminatory. This is legally incoherent. The logic would escape any intelligent individual. Conservatives think if we help English learners catch up, that's favoritism. If we give a disabled child a reading aid, we're denying someone else a chance to struggle with reading. If we train teachers to understand bias, we're indoctrinating them. But if we train them to ignore it, we're we're restoring neutrality. McMahon's convenient sudden concern for equal treatment seems to only apply when it's used to silence conversations about race, identity, and inequality. Would McMahon conservatives like public schools to stop offering translation services during parent teacher conferences? Fire bilingual support staff to avoid the appearance of special treatment, prefer public schools to just teach all content in English and hope for the best since acknowledging linguistic barriers now counts as discrimination.
099Doug McMahon, conservatives want people uh want public schools to start removing rec uh accommodations, ADA restrooms, wheelchair ramps, and such to avoid offending the able-bodied majority of public school students, cancel occupational therapy together so no one feels left out. If a public school student with a learning disability receives extended time on a test, should we now give everyone extended time, even if they don't need it, just to keep the playing field sufficiently flat and unthinking? McMahon's idiotic letter paints equity as a threat. It is not. Equity is the answer to past decades of failure. Equity ensures all students have a fair shot. It's what makes it possible for a child with a speech impediment to present at a science fair. It It's what helps the non-verbal kindergartener use an AAC device that helps students with
100speech impairments communicate. It's what gives the newcomer from Ukraine help with English as a second language support they need so they are not left behind. The majority of people in the Wall Lake School District are not interested in gutting equity programs for children in exchange for conservative political approval or in abandoning legal, ethical, and educational responsibilities satisfy the conservative fear of facts. They are interested in schools that are that where no teacher is punished for caring too much, where no child is invisible, where no child is left behind. We need to fight this in the courts, press, community, and in Congress. Walllike schools will be remembered as the one that stood its ground not for conservative politics and conservative schoolboard members but for kids every student every day. Thank you, Erica Brennan. My name is
101Erica Brennan. I have two children in the district and I have been a committed volunteer in our elementary school for the past eight years. I've worked along teachers alongside teachers, principles, and the administration in the district. I hope you can walk away with a different perspective and the possibility for change. I encourage you to keep an open mind while hearing what I have to say. I know that this is a complicated and controversial topic. I believe in our community and I know we can and will do better for our students with special needs. Our special education system is showing serious cracks. I want to acknowledge the complexity of special education. I understand there are staffing shortages, scheduling constraints, and a system that's stretched thin. I understand the increasing student needs have created a tough environment.
102But what I'm seeing and what many parents, teachers, and staff are experiencing is a system that's not functioning the best way it could. Teachers are burning out. They're being asked to take on more responsibilities with the time or tools to do it. Parapros, many without adequate training or experience, are being placed in roles that they're not prepared for. And special education resource staff are often pulled away from their case loads to fill gaps, leaving IEP and 504 goals unmet. Students are transitioning from indist preschool special ed special education programs into general education kindergarten without the support they need. To be fair, maybe when they left preschool, they didn't need that support. But even still, when those needs became immediately obvious, especially for our students with autism who may exhibit aggressive or unpredictable behavior, it can
103still take weeks for meaningful support to be put in place. During that time, the students not receiving inappropriate education. The classroom becomes increasingly stressed, as you can see tonight, and it places a strain on everyone, students, teachers, families. These are real issues. Another concern is how our district seems to be handling the least restrictive environment. Sometimes that environment is not general education with a parapro. In fact, for some of our students, especially those with autism, that setup can actually be more restrictive. When a student's assigned to a one-on-one parah who hasn't been trained and ends up doing everything for them, that child doesn't learn basic skills or build independence. They don't get the opportunity to try to choose to grow. That's not inclusion. That's containment. Our st our students deserve better. 30 seconds remaining. Let
104me be clear. I know your work is hard and I want you to understand that I'm truly not here to point fingers. I understand there are challenges on both sides. I know staffing is tight. I have empathy for both sides, the administration and those in the building doing the work. But I know that when teams take the time to gather data, develop plans, and look for solutions, committees grow and become better. Some ideas to consider. Improved training for pair of professionals and clearer expectations that is not put on the responsibility of the teacher. Dedicated time for teachers to collaborate during the school day with special education. Thank you, Lauren. June. Thank you. My name is Lauren June. My four-year-old is registered to join Keith Elementary in the junior kindergarten program in the fall. His older
105brothers are current third and fourth grade students at Keith Elementary. In addition to caring for my own children, I am an active PTA member at Keith Elementary. I am the current Reflections chair, current garden club chair, and the founder of our new Keith Community Helpers program, and now the newly elected VP of operations for the 2020 2025 to 2026 school year. Let me be clear when I say I care for all of the students and teachers at Keith Elementary. They're my daily thoughts, actions, and considerations. Their safety and well-being is the utmost importance to me. My job here today is to advocate advocate for my own son, the entire student body and teaching staff at Keith Elementary, but I'm also here to advocate for the special needs student and my son's classroom who threatened to
106bring a gun to school and kill him and his friends. While there is still an ongoing investigation, I am here to urge everyone on this board to look at this threat and not only realize that it's not the it's not the first time this child has made a threat to this degree, he has also made threats to teachers with an S. But we as parents have not received any reassuring words from the school and district admin um of ensuring safety of our child or the rest of the student body. Because of these constrained privacy laws, we have had very few updates as to if or when this student will return to school. My son still nervously asks me each day if that child will be at school. He's scared of him and he doesn't feel
107safe. No one wants that for their child and no one wants to and no parent wants to have to make a choice to remove their children from the very school district they move to the area for because safety is not taken seriously. According to the school district code of conduct, this a level three violation of threatening to use a weapon um to on another person to cause injury should line up with the discipline procedure to recommend for expulsion requiring board action. Knowing the district also has to abide by the Marsh laws put in place for this special needs student. I am also asking you to use your discretion and advocate for the mental health and well-being of this special needs student. If this threat isn't taken seriously and this child returns, he very well may
108continue to fixate on this and make arrangements to execute his plan one day, putting the entire Wald Lake Consolidated School District at risk to be the next school shooting story headline. Safety is not something to gamble. Seconds remaining or assume someone's too young to act out or understand what they are saying. The words he chose, I'm going to bring a gun to school and kill you, shows premeditation in a fourth grade student and also an option for him to to choose if he wants to. We can't take this risk for our kids and we will continue to stand up for what's right, not only for the safety of our own child, but what's right for this special needs student to get the help he needs. Thank you. Thank you, Christine Titus. Good evening. I feel
109like my comments this evening are trivial compared to what you've heard so far, but um as being an educator in our district um and a parent in our district, I do empathize with what you've heard this evening and hope that you will truly listen to those that have spoken. But I'm going to go ahead with my comments anyway. As we end another school year, I just want to give thanks to all those I've worked with this year at all levels. We just ended testing season a few weeks ago at the elementary level. That means MSTEP and I Ready. And I'd like to publicly acknowledge and thank all of my colleagues in my building, Hickory Woods, for making the process relatively seamless. I especially want to give a shout out to the fifth graders, the students
110and their teachers who not only have to take four MSTEP tests, but then go right into their I Ready diagnostics. As a former fifth grade teacher, I know what they go through to make sure these students are prepared. One of my fifth grade colleagues is here tonight and she and her team worked their butts off to help get this done. So, thank you. Um, since this is the last meeting of the school year, I wish you all a great and relaxing summer. Thank you. [Applause] Thank you, Ryan Blackne. Good evening everyone. Board Dr. Committee members, thank you for the opportunity to speak on behalf of the IB diploma program. 20 years ago, I was part of the original team that brought uh this to the board and it was approved. And today uh although I'm
111retired, I still advocating for the program for and and I understand that budgets are difficult things and that uh things are tight, but budgets really are a reflection of our values and who we are. And so I'm asking the board to reflect and to think about the idea of what's really important. What are our priorities? And the big thing about the diploma program that's so important is the idea of perspective. perspective that is not only you know out there but the fact that it's it it really reflects on the ideas of all the sides and it's it's it it helps to understand the viewpoints of all sides and then really reflect on the the fact that there They're all important to listen to and not to to uh to basically lose the fact that we
112sometimes just basically throw away different perspectives and not really um understand them or respect them. You know, it's a respecting perspective. So, as we as you think about what you're going to do with this program, I want you to think about perspective for a moment. I want to show you something that uh that reflects perspective and the the the the uh the perspective is global and you know the fact that here in America uh we put America first and there's nothing wrong with America first but you know over the last 80 years we've been committed to something that was beyond ourselves beyond just these shores and it was a global perspective. Um, my father who fought in World War II uh came home and uh he 30 seconds remaining. He before he died he showed
113me this and this is perspective. This he tore away from a Japanese soldier as he killed him. And what does that say? It shows a lack of perspective that people have to go to war that they have to kill each other in order to solve problems that could be solved by understanding perspective. This is why the the I program please wrap up your comments. So I want you to think about as you think about cutting this program this the importance of perspective. Thank you so much. Thank you. Katie Kger. Good evening. My name is Katie Kger and I am the mom of two soon to be three in the fall little ladies attending Commerce Elementary. We've had nothing but great interactions with all of the staff at Commerce and have always been grateful for the
114community and partnership at the school. That said, I'm here to share the experiences of my first grader and to ask for your support in establishing a safe and supportive learning environment for all students in the grade and school at large. In October of 2023, six weeks into her kindergarten year, I was told by my four-year-old, as I have a waiver kid, that a friend got mad and students had to run out of her classroom. At the time, I was not aware of classroom evacuation protocols and had no understanding of what was occurring in her classroom. After meeting with school leadership, a more formal, albeit limited, baseline of communication was established. For instances where students were evacuated from the classroom and learning time was interrupted. While there were instances of quote big emotions throughout last year,
115the situation seemed to be regulated and stable following appropriate support being provided. Her first grade year, however, has been markedly more dysfunctional since the start of the school year. Our first grade students, mind you, five, six, and seveny olds, have experienced the following. Regular disruption of classroom spaces, some of which that has led to evacuations. Physical actions that led to the class being issued school approved water bottles. Objects being thrown, including instances of them hitting other students. A student repeatedly stabbing through the lids of Play-Doh containers with a sharp object. verbal, specific, and disturbing threats of violence directed at both fellow students and their teacher. A student repeatedly stabbing into a schoolisssued laptop until it no longer functioned. This kid also recently put his hands on a fellow classmates on a fellow classmate in the
116presence of our kids. I could go on, but I'll ask you, the school board and leadership, what would your quality of life be if you were experiencing this dysregulation regularly? Would you feel safe? Would you be able to focus on your work at hand? How is it that we are asking our five, six, and sevenyear-old students to learn and thrive in this environment? I've come to ask for a specific written plan for how the district will provide resources to next year's second grade at Commerce Elementary and ensure a safe and supportive learning environment for all students. In addition, I ask you review the code of conduct for an assessment of whether adequate protocol is in place to address the severity and repetition of the behavior described. Thank you for your time. Thank you, Noah Springer.
117Opportunity is the foundation of our community. Oakland County, Michigan, and the United States as a whole have served as beacons of opportunity for people across the world for centuries. But today, I'm here to speak about how this district is stripping opportunity from its students in its most imperative form, opportunity and education. As I said previously, I'm here to speak about that taking away of opportunity. I'm Noah Springer. I'm currently an IB diploma candidate, a junior at Wald Lake Western, speaking on behalf of the students at our school regarding this cancellation. We believe that this program is integral to the academic success at at Western and that it must be restored. The cancellation has left the dozens of students already committed to IB out to dry. It has forced many already communed students, including a few
118in the back already sitting here, to lose their chance at obtaining an IB diploma, whether it's at Western or elsewhere. It has left the 30% of students at Western scheduled to take IB classes, as well as our school's counselors and teachers, scrambled as they struggle just to seemingly add to the nearly $30 million surplus that our district has maintained over the last decade. But that's the thing. Stripping the IB program will not actually save money at our school. For each student that transfers out of Wald Lake Western to another IB school or a student that chooses to go somewhere else instead of coming into our district for IB, we will lose $13,000 each year for every student that chooses to do so. Beyond this, IB serves as a branch off of the cookie cutter school
119system that has plagued students for centuries. IB's focus on discussion and analysis create a learning environment that fosters genuine long-term critical thinking skills and tremendous growth for its students and the students that take its classes. But arguably the most important thing about IB is that it helps students find their voices. I can personally attest to many examples of some of the most quiet and reserved students becoming some of the best contributors in just a year of taking these classes. We live in a world where the voices of the future are often silenced because those in power are not willing to give it to those in need. IB teaches students the skills and the knowledge that it takes to amplify our voices and have a genuine effect on our 30 seconds left. On top of this,
120IB has helped people and students in a tremendous amount of fields, whether it's the military, as a lawyer, a doctor, even musicians. In the end, all signs point to continuing this program. We believe that it is vital to the academic success at Western. And we believe that above all else, if our priority is truly every child every day, that is not just the responsibility but the duty of this school board to restore that program. Thank [Applause] you. Thank you. We're going to move on to administrative commentary. Dr. Lans. Thank you, Madam President. Dr. Hamka. Good evening, everyone. A few weeks ago, we had the opportunity to celebrate our retirees. Uh we had at the time 56 retirees. Currently, we're up to 60 for about 1500 years of service, which is absolutely amazing. So, I want
121to thank uh all those who have who came to celebrate uh our retirees, our hardworking and dedicated staff, and we wish them the best of luck. Thank you. Thank you, Dr. Hama. Mrs. OM, thank you, Dr. Lans. Um, as we move into this final part of the school year, we're moving into the audit season for the business office. We had our first visit for the preliminary this week and had an opportunity to visit with our auditors and talk about the items as well as looking forward to the year end. We are also planning for the new year by um collaborating with HR to and with student services and it to entertain the secretary secretarial staff in August to provide a meaningful training to try to get them ready for the coming year. I know we
122don't necessarily want to think about that at this time but it will become become upon us very quickly. In add in addition during the summertime um and as well as wrapping up the year end we're also looking at refinement of our processes and procedures in payroll student services and as well as in our um uh business office to try to make things more streamlined and continuing the support that we provide for the schools to the best of our ability. Thank you very much Mir. Thank you Dr. Vans. um like to mention and recap that we had our annual shining stars awards ceremony that is put on by our Wald Lake parent advisory committee or our pack. This year there were 90 nominees and two winners that ranged from everyone across the district from business official
123office staff to students, transportation staff to early on staff. And so it was a beautiful event. We had a resource fair with community agencies and other partners the hour before so parents could come in and um get information. And so we're just really excited about honoring those people, those staff in the community that really support our students with exceptionalities each and every day. Thank you very much, Mrs. Keski. Thank you, Dr. Lance. Um I want to echo Mrs. Titus's comments tonight. Thank you to all of our teachers for getting through this testing season. It's certainly not easy for those in K8. Uh they not only give the MSTEP test, uh which we're required to do during the state window, but we're also required to give the I Ready diagnostic as part of the uh legislation
124that was passed several years ago. So those are two really heavy tests. I know our fifth graders are exhausted. I think our fifth grade teachers are as well. So I do appreciate that. Um, I just want to uh give a shout out and thanks to uh stakeholders really all across the district. A number of uh um teacher leaders, our instructional specialists, our admin, um our special services staff, uh folks that have really been involved in giving lots of input over the last month or so on our professional development plan for 2526. And as you know, we're a really big district. We have a lot of big needs. Typically people come uh we start this process with a list of about 28 really important topics that we want to do professional learning on and then somehow
125we have to think about how we fit that into seven half days. So we do have to start to prioritize and think about how we how we work on that together. So um I'm thankful for the work from that team. We still have a a few more tweaks to make to that, but our professional learning uh for our teachers uh all teachers will be um finalized be uh before we all kind of break in June. Uh that will be shared with our staff when we get back in August. So, I just want to thank everybody. It's been a it's been a big lift across the team and the department um making sure that we get all voices heard when it looks at that professional learning calendar u making sure it aligns with our district goals.
126Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Derkin. Thank you, Dr. Lans. I just want to give a shout out to uh the community relations team. I have here the final learning of the school year. Uh it should be making its way to a mailbox near you starting tomorrow. It's going to be dropped off at the post office. Uh lots of great stuff in here, including celebrating our graduates and just some amazing stories. So, I want to appreciate the team for all their hard work. And then I I've just it occurred to me I started the school year with a request for homework in the summer uh for our back to school signs uh for our first day of school signs. So to wrap that up nicely, we have our last day of school signs this year. Uh
127there's actually some out on the table for those in attendance. We've been sharing it in the district update. It's available online and if you would like to take your last day pictures with your kiddos uh or any staff certainly listening uh that would like to uh send these to us, we'll make sure we share them on the district social media feeds. And uh thanks for a great year. Thank you, sir. Mr. Scaling. Thank you, Dr. L. I just wanted to uh give a special recognition to our our principles and teacher uh leaders who have planned a fantastic uh senior celebration activities uh through the end of the year. There's a lot of work that goes in to make those experiences uh memorable, enjoyable for all the seniors. So, I thank them for that. I also
128want to thank the uh high school administrative teams for graduation ceremonies. As a previous high school principal, I understand all the work and time and energy and dedication to making those very special experiences as well. and they were fantastic on Sunday. So, uh, kudos to our administrative teams and teacher leaders. Thank you, Clear. Mr. Scaling, since last we met a number of things I'd like to highlight. I share your comment on being a former high school principal, the challenges that come in with pulling off a successful graduation. I mentioned to our high school principles, actually all of our leadership uh about three weeks ago that as a high school principal, there's only three things you can't screw up. You can't screw up the master schedule because kids need to be in classes and teachers need
129to know what they're going to teach. You can't screw up prom because you can't redo that and you can't screw up graduation because everybody sees that. So, I'm happy to say that it was very successful. I have a lot of things I can say about it, but I'm guessing that a couple other people at the table will have some things to say about graduation. Uh, congratulations to the outdoor education center. Our Dublin campers were able to participate in archery and so archery has come back to our outdoor education center. We have a staff member, many of you may know, Mr. Patrick Dazinski who was selected as the district 4 band teacher of the year for the 2526 school year. That's fantastic. Uh earlier this week I had a chance to meet with our Galileo teachers
130and we have two different cohorts. So I met with the first year cohort and they shared their stories of what they accomplished this year. I it very impressed with what our what our Galileo teachers are able to do. Galileo is a program that is countywide might even be national but in our county the purpose of Galileo is to develop teacher leadership within the classroom and within your building. And so next year they'll take what they've learned this year, stick with their cohort of the Oakland County plus our own district and continue to expand their influence and their leadership throughout the district. So thank you for their sacrifice of time. Our very own Dan Durkin and his team have received a number of awards. Uh for the learning newsletter, he received an excellence level of award
131for a Wald Lake Northern alumni article talking about uh achieving a Guinness World Record. They received excellence award for our school of choice campaign video series. They received excellence award for our summer scavenger hunt. They received an honorable mention in the category of social media. And finally, they received an honorable mention for Michigan Day video. So Dan, congratulations to you and your team. I'd also like to congratulate our very own Mr. Nyall McTar for being the PTSA administrator of the year. I I'll have to talk to Jessica Fischer about this because she stole my thunder when it came to the boys uh volleyball team at Central, but congratulations to them. Uh continuing on with our performing arts areas, our Wald Lake Performing Arts Ensemble performed at the Michigan Alliance Performing Arts State Championships and claimed
132its 15th straight state championship. So, congratulations to them. And Madame President, I turn it back over to you. Thank you. Thank you. board commentary. We're going to start with Mrs. Leven. Thank you. Um, graduation this past weekend was wonderful. It's a long day, but a great day. Great way to wrap up the year. Uh, congratulations to all the graduating seniors and their parents who got them across the finish line. Um, my heart goes out to everybody who's got concerns about their kids. Um, the board can't comment uh about each individual situation, but just know that we hear you. Um, and just as a note to lighten the mood, I love your Huger Mom shirts. Um, starting that a long time ago. I never thought that would stick, so I'm glad that that did. Um, the
133superintendent evaluation process changed. Um, I'm not going to talk about the process we went through, but I just want the community to know that highly effective is no longer an option. So, by rating Dr. L's effective, that is the highest rating that that he can receive. So, I just want the community to be aware of that. Um the comments about the IB program are certainly not um comments that fall on deaf ears. Um the decisions about that are not board decisions. But it does make me wonder what can we do to make all of our learning better, right? Why should a small program or a certain amount of classes be the best? Why can't all of our classes be the best? So um you know, maybe just a challenge for for all of us as
134a board, as as administrators, as whatever our roles are, but how do we make everything better? Uh a rising tide lifts all ships. So, um, you know, certainly something to think about there. Um, and then, um, finally, the board may have seen and certainly maybe the community has seen that I have a request in to the administration to remove energy drinks from our schools. The energy drinks have um, torine in them, which is a known cancer-causing uh, accelerator, and uh, it's not necessary. Our kids don't need that stuff, and we certainly don't need to be the ones providing it. If parents want their kids to have energy drinks, they can send them from home. I also think that we need to remove all sodas from our schools. Um the diet stuff, the the sugar-free stuff,
135there's nothing healthy about that. Just because it says sugar-free and diet and just because the state or the FDA says it's okay, it's not okay. We don't need to be providing that kind of stuff to our students. So hopefully the board will join me in supporting that. I don't see any reason why that needs to be in our schools and I challenge anyone to challenge me on my opinion. Thanks, Mr. Smith. Thank you, Miss Cavlin. Uh thank you to those who spoke this evening and who have reached out and posted uh very constructive dialogues and topics as was stated as well as a fellow parent. Uh it does hurt to hear and does not fall on deaf ears as well. I applaud your advocacy this evening and our job now is of course to follow
136through and uh to actually look at those policies that you brought up. That is our role. Uh just a general uh few updates. First I want to say uh how much fun I had chaperon in the fifth grade Dublin trip to DIA with my son Andrew. Uh those were these are some of those amazing opportunities that we were provided and uh it's kind of bittersweet because it's his one of his last uh events if you will aside from next year or next week's graduation that I will be moving out of the elementary phase and into both being in uh CHS. Uh second I want to give an amazing shout out to Mr. Abbott and the CHS choir uh for their amazing performance last week. I'm happy again that my daughter can flourish in this amazing
137class and the structure that's at CHS. Uh I again I attended the retirement reception and I it was amazing to witness all of the amazing stories and impact from all of the teachers uh and the staff that we have and some of the amazing amount of years that is leaving but the impact that they made not only in students but fellow educators was a wonderful retirement reception to be a part of. Uh fourth I was blown away by of course by the graduation ceremonies. uh being a graduate myself of Wald Central, uh you know, it's kind of one one thing to be out there and now to actually see it again uh so many years later. Uh it's amazing to see that and just congrats to all those congradu graduating seniors and all the families
138and teachers who uh helped guide them through uh the 13 years of education and prepared them for their futures. Uh so go out and change the world. Uh fifth, as we head into the last week of school, I want to say thank you to all the staff, administrators, teachers, and students for all the amazing things that they've accomplished this year. Uh like I said, I will have two kids moving on to middle school next year. And uh it's just it's really exciting to see what we have moving forward with that. Um as we look ahead towards the summer, I also wanted to say watch out for the summer slide, as most parents can probably attest to for most of their kids. I know I can, that uh remember, we need to be modeling behavior as
139parents and caregivers. Uh I know that local libraries uh at least visited Dublin. I believe they visited all the schools and discussed their summer reading program. So here's a shout out to all the local libraries uh to really get uh your kids involved in that. It's amazing. I know they have a lot of great programs at Commerce, at White Lake, at West Acres, all the libraries that are around. Uh so my ask is to read with your kids this summer and of course beyond. Uh, as we know, America's literacy crisis is well documented and the reality is that books are never going to compete with YouTube. But it takes us and um to really advocate and make it a part of our routine. And so if we show that, then maybe our kids will have
140that love of learning and reading. And as a parent myself, I know rather than at night time, rather than doom scrolling at night about randomness, uh maybe get my own book and really get out there and start reading myself and read to your kids. I think that's the biggest thing is if you read to your kids, let's bring that back. I miss those moments when my my children were young and I could read to them goodn night moon or whatever it was numerous numerous times just having that interaction and that love of reading. Uh and finally I would uh I do believe it is uh maybe incumbent upon us to have further discussion uh with the IB program and I would request actually that uh we reconsider and restore the IB program. That is my
141opinion. I don't know if it is favored by the rest, but I would like to restate that or at least talk to the team about what is best for the program and evaluate it appropriately. Those are my two cents. I don't know where we'll go with that, but that's my input on that. Uh, finally, just have a wonderful and safe summer everyone taking time for yourself, your families. Uh, get recharged and ready for the next year. And thank you to my fellow board members, administration, staff members, and to the cabinet for all the work you do for this district. Mrs. Grafton, first of all, thank you to all of the parents, uh, students, and community members that spoke tonight. Your voice is heard. Um, heart is a lot of feelings right now, and you've opened
142some eyes. So, thank you very much for taking the time and having the courage to speak from your wisdom and your lived experience. Um, I'd like to thank the PTSA council for a beautiful installation and awards celebration in particular. Um, they uh created two new awards this year. Um, I can't remember the names of them. Hillary Glazer was very clever. So clever I can't remember them, but one was to thank uh the creation of a PTA at our early childhood center. and the other was to honor the um dissolution I guess of the Geysesler uh PTA. And uh as a former Gesler Wolf parent and PTA member, it was a very touching thought to um end that era with with some recognition for our leadership. Um next, um I think a highlight of my board
143service for forever, um while I'm serving is going to the ATP graduation. Uh people had said it was really moving and uh it certainly is high up there on the list. Uh close second to commencement which is a long day. Uh but uh the privilege of getting to see all three high schools, how their cultures come out in the commencement ceremony and the um the way to see the student body um how they support each other uh was really really beautiful. Uh if you have a chance to listen to the featured speaker at the Wald Lake Central commencement, uh you will be blown away by the leadership of the future. It's worth a YouTube. I'm sure it's there. Um finally, this past week, I was able to attend a relatively new group uh at Wald
144Lake schools called the International Thespian Society. Think of this as NHS, but for the theater kids. Um so they had an induction where if you have been proven to be um a hard worker and you've been dedicated in your service to the theater community both on stage or off um with sustained rigor uh you get inducted similar to NHS. if you continue that involvement, you graduate with chords similar to NHS. And the district installed um 44 new members across the district and it was a really really inspiring moment. I look forward to what it can do in the future to serve the district um uh and raise the level of awareness of our performing arts department. Um finally, there's a survey out. um parents, community, uh please take the survey. It's really really important. It
145doesn't take that much time. The responses are really important and they are very instructive about the future. So take the time. It's important. And finally, I identify as an ally of the LGBTQ community. So happy Pride. Take care. This is West. So, the last couple weeks have been really exciting for staff and students um as we're wrapping up the school year with field trips, celebratory picnics, and field days. Um I'm wishing that everybody has a safe and restful summer with family and friends. I also had the opportunity to attend the ATP graduation of seven young men. Um and it was just most beautiful ceremony. Um, nobody warned me to bring Kleenex, and I wish I would have. Um, but I want to congratulate to all those young men that were graduating. And to quote Jacob,
146never give up. Uh, regarding our graduation ceremonies, I apologize to Central and Western for not being there as I had my own graduate, so I chose to be with my family. Um, but I'm proud of every single one, every single child who graduated. You did it. Um, I know it's not always easy for every single child. We have children who, you know, have high honors and, you know, school comes a little more naturally to them. They may still have to, they have to work hard still. Um, but that doesn't mean that children who, you know, some have to really struggle, they really struggle with their classes. And so, be proud of whatever you did, whatever, you know, you made it. And, um, you should be proud of what you did. And as you walk in
147your new path in life, whether it be further education, military, and joining the workforce, just give your best effort. And as you celebrate the accomplishment, do so safely and make good choices. Um, and I hate to wrap it up like with this, um, but we've had several emails lately regarding school safety, and we heard about it tonight. Um and this issue's been a concern presented to the board administration and a few of our schools. I'm greatly concerned regarding our current approach as it appears that the current interventions are not helpful in stopping the issues that appear to be repetitively occurring. So while I understand that some means of handling an issue may be determined via a student's IEP. I'm gravely concerned that a threat stated multiple times according to parents is not always openly communicated
148to families. I'm concerned for students who have become disengaged from learning to be moved to a safe environment to due to another child's emotional and sometimes violent outburst. And my heart also breaks for the child and their fa family that are suffering from being able to un from being unable to regulate themselves to be fun able to function appropriately in a general general education program. Um so I've asked this question of Dr. Lans. How does the district what threats are credible versus not incredible? Because I'm concerned that you know as they've stated that these kids are making these statements multiple times. When do we know like how do we know when it's not going to be credible and when it is? I don't want to get to the next point where we are the next
149Oxford or Coline or any of these other schools. Um what interventions are we providing to eliminate these disruptive and violent behaviors? And I'd like to see more transparency at a board level, allowing the board to determine what is next potentially as it feels the district hides behind two broadly interpreted privacy rules than giving us information we need. Maybe it doesn't have to do with policy. I'm not sure. Um maybe it does, but the information often gets filtered and where I don't feel like we're addressing this um situation properly of what may be a board issue. So I'd like to, you know, have more of a discussion regarding that. Uh, I'd like to see us look in safety and security a little more regarding the student code of conduct versus IDEA and MARS and how they
150interact with each other. Um, so I'd really like to see more of these protocols looked into. Thank you, Mrs. Fernandez. Thank you. By the time I do the sixth board commentary, there isn't much I can say that hasn't already been said. But I will tell you, I've I've thought a little bit. This is my third graduation this year, which means I've probably shaken 3,000 hands. Sweaty, clammy, happy, cold, whatever. Excited. They're all excited. And congratulations to all of them. A couple of just visual things because neither none I I didn't serve until after my kids had gone through school. So, I didn't have the distraction of worrying about my own kid graduating. I could just watch and observe across the rooms. And it's interesting to see in today's graduations that, you know, really nearly 30%
151of kids stand up with multiple chords and honors 4.0 and above. And you know what? I think that's great. I'm thrilled for that. But I also, you know, like I can't help but think that's a little fishy, right? Like what have we done? That 4.0, which is all the way straight through, is you know, there's just a lot of them. I heard today I heard tonight with the IB classes 30% of kids are taking classes at Winster and I love that program there. But you know visually when the kids graduate and stand up with their IB diplomas I think the first year I was here there were three of them or five of them right and so so in my own mind we've asked some questions. We've been getting more stats around IB. So I
152hope that people feel heard. We're you know we're asking about it. We're trying to understand it. There are costs involved with it. And I myself I'm just trying to reconcile in my own mind hearing and believing that there's 30% of kids taking classes 30% of kids are standing up with high honors and when it comes to who's graduating um you know officially from these programs it's a very it's a very small number and uh and so I don't exactly know what that means but I know that this board is committed to understanding better and we've been getting data from the administration and I appreciate that and so recognize um those those concerns. concerns. Congratulations teachers for making it through the year especially those who are obviously um you know challenged with uh extraordinary circumstances. Congratulations
153parents and you know I hope that you have a good productive summer um and that kids and parents and students and teachers alike get a chance to reset. Mr. Seagler, you're number five. I'm number six. Sorry. Uh again, you know, graduation, it's unbelievable. Uh you know, I've had the opportunity of participating in probably somewhere close to a 100 graduations in the district over my years, including adult transitions, um ATP, Western, Central, and Northern. So, each one of them brings its own character to the table. You have different emotions. Uh you have a lot of tears. You have children that you have known since they were born that you have had the pleasure of watching grow up and now you have the pleasure of giving them their diploma. Uh I was, you know, when I think
154back, I remember one student who basically lifted me up off the stage. He was so happy to be graduating. And then years later when he got married at his wedding ceremony, he walked up to me and I it was a setup and I didn't know and he lifted me up at his wedding ceremony. So, you know, you you take a lot of memories with you. So, congratulations to everyone involved. Uh to the parents and community members that spoke this evening, we heard you. Uh thank you very much for speaking. Uh it takes a lot of bravery to go to the podium and speak your mind. Uh, prior to being a board member, I was over there many times doing it. So, I understand what it what it takes to do it. To our staff that
155is retiring, it's probably the largest amount of staff in years retiring that I have ever had in my tenure on the board. Uh, I think you're looking at upwards of 1,700 years of of experience overall by the time you include everybody. I could be wrong, but it's I I believe it is the largest class of retirees I've seen and only can wish them well. Uh, you know, Dr. Lans and the board, thank you very much. I think this was a very good evaluation process this evening. Uh, I would like to thank my colleagues on the board for their input be and the truth and uh, expressions that we had because that's how we're going to move forward as a board. that's how we're going to move forward in the district. Uh things that I've been
156working on or been involved with over the last month, uh I've made two trips to Lancing to hear uh some of our representatives talk about the budget and talk about school funding. Uh our budget's going to be turned in the end of this month. We will probably be lucky if we hear back from Lancing and I'm going to say this guardedly. Sorry, Mr. Mr. Uh I'm the speculation is October. So, uh, we can make all the plans we want to right now, but, uh, I'm not I'm not sure what's going to happen and what's going to happen at the end because I know last year we at the end we were very disappointed by what we received and by what we heard on the final day and how we were basically sold out in a
157lot of areas. Uh, I have this ill feeling already now that this is going to be happening again this year for roads and other purposes. So, I will keep everybody posted as this happens. Uh, we're fortunate that even though they say they're going to be working full-time and lancing in July and August, I think they have a total of 13 days that they might meet if they can get a quorum up there. Uh the other thing that I think we will see a lot of action on is cell phone bills and movement uh there there seems to be a good consensus right now on what they would like to see on cell phone bills for the districts and for our students and they have made uh major changes to both of the proposals. I know
158I'm talking to Representative Tisdale. He has been very amanable to listening to school board members, uh, building administrators and superintendent. And, uh, I see I see good things happening with this moving forward. I don't I will say this. I don't think some parents will be happy with it, but understand that your child shouldn't be calling you in the event of an emergency. They should be listening to the teacher that is trying to lead them into a safe and protective environment and not calling mom and saying this is happening because that's not going to help them specifically get out of it. Uh and I'm speaking from the heart on that one. And Mr. Smith, I love the fact that you know as you are talking about your children moving out of middle school and I am
159sitting here last week when my grandson called me and said, "Papa, I need a suit for prom." And I said, "Oh, you're going to prom?" And I had I had to sit back for a second and say, "Oh, wait a minute. You are old enough to be going to prom." So, I wish everybody a great summer. Uh I know we still have some work to do over this month, but uh wishing everybody the best and look forward to what we will be facing in August and the start of the school year. Thank you. I want to say thank you to all of the speakers that came out today. We all appreciate all of your advocacy. We appreciate hearing what you have to say. So we thank you for standing up and being courageous to do
160so. um all the fantastic events, all the fantastic athletes, all the accolades and all the awards um that we heard about tonight and at graduations and at ATP. It it's amazing and it's a heartfelt, you know, community um of support and our students and our schools, you know, are really putting forth a bunch of very high, highly educated, you know, children and athletes and we appreciate that. And we thank all of the kids and all of the families and all of the parents for all of their hard work getting us to this point. Um we're just about at the finish line, so everyone just brace and hang on. We're almost there. Thank you to our wonderful staff for everything that they've done. Congratulations to all of our retirees and thank you for all of your
161time here in the district. Um I also want to personally thank all of the board members for graduation day. It is a 13-hour day for us. And I appreciate you all, you know, being there, being receptive, watching, and paying attention to five minutes to get ready um to go and all the enjoyment. It is a fantastic, exhausting for a couple days afterwards. Um especially if you're my age, takes a couple days to recover. Um but it is a fantastic and wonderful event. Um, so I look forward to all of your kids coming up and graduating through that. And we're going to move on to the consent agenda. See, on our consent agenda, we have the approval of the minutes for our proposed April 22nd, 2025 special um meeting with close session. May 1st, 2025 special
162meeting with close session. May 1st, 2025 regular meeting. Personnel recommendations, retirements, resignations, and layoffs. Our financial report for April 2025, dispersements in the amount of 17,975,915, balance sheet and statement of revenues and expenditures, unodudited and investment schedule, and our Head Start director's report. Miss Leaven Quaker, I move that the board of education approve the consent agenda as presented. All those in favor? I opposed. Motion carries 70 purchases over 50,000. Dr. Lans, Mr. Scaling. Thank you, Dr. Lans. Skyward Wald Lake student information system uh allows the district to access student data efficiently and securely is comprehensive features, provide the ability to track academic progress, attendance, activity, participation, and other critical student information. We ask for the approval of the purchase of the annual software license for Skyward totaling $144,556.38. Mr. Seagler. I move that the board
163of education approve the purchase of Skyward K12 Student Management Systems three-year commitment year one of three annual software license renewal for $144,56.38 from the general fund. Support discussion. Okay. All those in favor? I opposed. Motion carries 70. Just want to keep going. Yep. Keep going. Mrs. OM. Thank you, Dr. Lans. Uh, we're asking for the purchase of the district-wide copyers from Applied Innovation, which was done through a competitive bid or not a competitive bid, but from consortium bid that is supposed to be funded out of $1,140,000, $861.73 out of 2024 bond funds. Our copers are experiencing significant wear and as we know we like to keep our employees particularly our teachers when they go to those copiers we don't we want them to be efficient. We want them to be able to be operational and
164this does include the paper cut software that helps us um maintain this copier and understand the usage and place those copiers appropriately. In addition, we're asking that uh the board consider looking at the copiers that we have now so that we can look at those fleets, certainly use those copiers that are still potentially have some useful life, place them in various areas where maybe we have a deficiency and then also dispose of the any residual copers that may no longer have any useful life. Miss West, I move that the board of education approve the purchase of district districtwide copiers from Applied Innovation in an amount not to exceed 1,140,861.73 and declare copiers identified by district personnel as being obsolete be recycled or scrapped. Discussion. Miss Kaplan, I just want to say I appreciate uh the
165district uh the diligent approach and thoughtful nature of making sure that every usable machine still gets repurposed in the right place and um this was a thorough process that I was very impressed by. Anybody else? Okay. All those in favor? I opposed. Motion carries. 70. Keep going. Mr. I say keep rolling. We have had a discussion with the maintenance department in regards to high needs equipment that they need to maintain our grounds. I did ask Mr. Watkins today about how many acres we actually maintain within the district and that's about 400 acres. And obviously having equipment that is operable efficiently and replacing some equipment that is well over 20 years old. It's time that these need to be replaced and provide some efficiency for our staff to be able to utilize. The majority of this
166equipment is pertaining to lawn equipment and beast mill. And again, it's the majority of it is based on a consortium bid. The amount is $171,000 171 17. You think I know numbers I'd be able to say. I think I've seen too many of them. 170 one one $100,58245 to come from the general fund. I think it's called number fatigue. Breathe. This is 11. I move that the board of education approve the purchase of operations department equipment identified by district personnel in an amount not to exceed $171,58245 from the general fund. Do not have number 15. Yeah, easy for you to say, right? Any discussion? All those in favor? I. All those opposed? Motion carry 70. Our Yes, ma'am. Keep it rolling. Our next item relates to our seventh grade math curriculum. Before I turn over
167to Mrs. Kansky, I just like to remind the board that uh in our sixth grade math journal book, this is a consumable book. So, this is rolling our sixth graders up to seventh grade. And we've have become aware that there are approximately six mentions of the prefix MX in this particular journal. And we know that some of our parents have concerns with that prefix. So we are notifying parents when we give the students these books to take home that they are welcome to remove those pages if they choose to do so. There will be no consequence for removing those pages and those pages will not be used if the content on that page needs to be still reinforced through homework or through a worksheet activity that we will produce our own worksheet for that one
168page to supplement that page. So it'll be parent choice as to whether they like those pages stay in there or not stay in there. Miss Gansy, I know you have some additional information. Yep. Thank you, Dr. Lans. Um, and actually it's uh two uh one that we were aware of in the sixth grade. There are four four. Thank you. Yes. In the seventh grade book. Um uh so the middle school math curriculum 7th grade teacher guides and professional development and online support from Anderson G. Atall CPM inspiring connections and CPM educational program 2024 in the amount of $163,218 from the general fund. Mrs. Kaplan. Mr. Seagler. I move that the board of education approve the purchase of middle school math curriculum, 7th grade teacher guides, professional development and online support. Anderson G at all CPM
169inspiring connection. CPM educational program 2024 for $162,218 from the general fund. Discussion. Miss Kaplan. Miss Leaven. So, while I appreciate um the administration's transparency about what's contained in the curriculum, as I stated, I think it was a couple meetings ago, um I'm going to be voting no on any curriculum that doesn't align with what I think needs to be in our curriculum. And it's not because I want to cause any harm to our administration, our students, or anything like that. It's a message we need to send to our publishers. And if we just keep approving things because they say, "Well, it's here. We'll just approve it." That's not teaching them anything. They're never going to change. So, I will be voting no. Mrs. West. Um, so again, I also appreciate the transparency here um for
170families um that do not want to, you know, include that with their family. Um, however, I was just curious, is this for one year or is this for three years of do you know? So, this is the new curriculum that will carry us forward. So, it's to purchase the seventh grade materials that will then take us forward. So, as we do those curriculum reviews and things, uh, typically it's every 10 plus years or so when we take a look back at content and curriculum. So, uh, last spring, sixth, seventh, and eighth grade, uh, resources were approved. Our rollout plan so as not to overwhelm our middle school staff and overwhelm the professional learning that has to take place. We started with sixth grade and then we're rolling up to the seventh grade implementation and the
171following year to roll up to eighth grade implementation. Okay. So, Ms. us to answer your question. These journals are for just the seventh grade year, right? Um Okay. And then is it possible to to request the publisher to edit the curriculum for with changes for the future? We did that and they are not willing to do that. They're not willing to do that. They are not. Okay. All right. Thank you. Any other discussion? Okay. All those in favor? I opposed. Motion carries. 61. Moving on to bid awards over 50,000. Back to Dr. Lens. Thank you very much. Wald Lake Consolidated School District and PMR project team recommend the purchasing of pool scoreboards for Wald Lake Central, Wildlife Northern, Walt Lake Western from Colorado timing system. The award recommendation is $193,222.84. This will be funded using
172the 2019 bonds. This is always a planned activity and it pretty much finishes up our pool renovation for our three pools. Although there will be some final work done at Wald Lake Northern because they were not in the last phase. Mr. Kaplan, Mr. Smith, I move that the board of education approved the purchase of pool scoreboards for Wald Lake Central, Wald Lake Northern, and Wald Lake Western High Schools from Colorado timing systems for a total of $193,222.84 from 2019 bond funds. Support. Discussion. All those in favor? I I opposed. Motion carries 70. Dr. L. Cafeteria tables at Glengary Elementary. Wald Consolidated Schools and PMR project team recommend the purchase of C cafeteria tables for Glengary Elementary from DUI Corporation. The total award recommendation is $64,811.96. This will be funded using the 2019 bond funds. Mrs.
173Fernandez. I move that the board of education approve the purchase of cafeteria tables for Glengary Elementary from DOE EI Corporation for a total of $64,811.96 from the 2019 bond funds support discussion. Miss Le um Dr. Lans I apologize for not asking this earlier not trying to trip anybody up. I'm curious how does Glengarry need it but not other schools? Because Glengar's were not replaced and other schools were. Okay. This is it just at the end of the bond fund. We have some contingency funds still available. So we're able to go through and purchase these tables which at the origination of the bond was not part of the budget. Got it. Any other discussion? Miss West. Just curious um since I have a child at Glengary, it would be appropriate for me to abstain or because
174this benefits the whole school, should I may allow to vote? Yeah, you may vote. Okay. Thank you. Thank you for asking though. It'll be a lot safer for your child to school at Glengary. Now, do you sit at the table? Does benefit you personally? I just I want to make sure it's out there that like I'm trying to be Nope. Nope. I appreciate that. Any other discussion? Okay. All those in favor? I opposed. Motion carries. 70. Dr. Lans. Back to you, Mr. Zmer. Uh, so the district seeks to establish a new two-year contract to provide proactive and responsive elevator maintenance services commencing July 1st, 2025. The new contract will help maintain operational efficiency, ensure compliance with safety regulations, and support the long-term reliability of district facilities. Administration recommends awarding the contract to the Lardner Elevator
175Company, an approximate cost of $40,000 per year, subject to annual adjustments. And as I'm not sure many of you aware, there are not a lot of elevator um companies out there. And so, but this particular one has proven, we have not had our traditional contract with this one. Um but they have come stepped in when we've needed them to do some uh maintenance as well as inspection so that we can make sure that our elevators are available to our public and our students and that they are safe. You may recall that previously we we talked about this that we we need to make sure that we have our contractors aligned with our elevators. So certain elevators only certain contractors work with other elevators only some contractors work with this is Fernandas. We're getting tired. I
176move that the board of education authorizes the assistant superintendent of business services to sign a two-year contract with the Lardner Elevator Company to provide maintenance services to the district with an approximate cost of $40,000 annually to be funded through the general fund support discussion. I'm just going to make the comment that I'm sure we all are waiting to hear. When you're in high school, do not buy an elevator, right? Do do not do that. For any of you that are listening, there is no such thing. So, it's on the record. So, high school is middle school. Oh, no. Well, I guess. Okay. Well, I'm just familiar with the high school elevator pass. So, don't do that. Okay. All those in favor? I opposed. Motion carries. 70. Dr. Lans. Happy to turn us over to Mr.
177Scaling. Thank you, Dr. Lans. Wald Lake Special Olympics Team is made up of athletes who have previously attended Wald Lake schools along with currently enrolled athletes in classrooms across the district. As a nonprofit organization under the umbrella of Special Olympics team, Wald Lake offers inclusive sports programs similar to the unified sports initiative within the district. The Wald Lake Special Olympics track and field team is requesting for the 24-2 season the program fees associated with facility usage be waved. Waving these fees would allow the program to redirect the funds toward future competitions, uniform equipment, scoreboards, athlete accommodations, and other necessary costs. Miss Leven, I move that the board of education approved the request to wave the facility usage fees for the Wald Lake Special Olympics team for the 2024 25 track and field season totaling $1,834.
178Support. Discussion. A friendly amendment. Wouldn't this be the 2526 year? guessing. I'm guessing unless we're waving last year's. No, we're not waving last year's, but I'm not sure that their years align with our years either. Okay. Okay. In spirit, I'm good. What's that, Mrs. Ber? I would say it's okay. So, if everyone's good, we'll correct that. Fine. Okay. Mery, make note of that. Thank you. Thank you. Um, I would like to say I truly appreciate and I love having all the Special Olympics um and the unified sports teams in our district. I think that's a fantastic thing and I truly appreciate it all and it's heartwarming heartwarming. I can speak. No, I can't really speak. Um, to hear all and see and listen to all of our athletes, all of our students is just it's
179just very, you know, heartfelt and I appreciate that. So, thank you. Any other discussion? All those in favor? I I opposed. Motion carries. 70. Dr. Lans. Mr. Scaling. You did so well the first time. You can go again. Thank you. Appreciate that. Uh the Wald Lake Braves uh youth football and cheer program is a community- based nonprofit organization based out of Commerce Township that maintains a strong relation strong partnership with Wald Lake Western High School. The brace program is respectfully requesting a continuation of the support with the 50% reduction in rental fees consistent with the rate granted during the 2425 school year. Miss Leven, I move that the board of education approve a 50% reduction in the athletic field rental fees for the 202526 school year for the Wildl Braves football and cheer program in
180accordance with board policy 7002 AR fee schedule school facilities. Discussion. All those in favor? I opposed. Motion carries. 70. Back to Dr. Lansin. I'm really enjoying hearing you, Mr. Scanning. So, if you could just do one more for us, that'd be great. Be happy to. Thank you, doctor. Uh, Michigan High School Athletic Association sponsors statewide tournament tournaments of various uh sports that we offer. uh to to retain membership. It is necessary for the board of education to annually adopt the resolution for its respective schools. The resolution states that the board of education hereby delegates the superintendent or his his or her designate the responsibility for the supervision and control of said activities and hereby accepts the constitutional bylaws of said association and adopts as its own the rules, regulations, interpretations as published in the current
181handbook as the governing code under which the said school shall conduct its programs of intercolastic athletics and agrees to prim primary enforcement of said rules, regulations, interpretations and qualifications. In addition, it is hereby agreed that schools which host or participate in the association meets and meets and tournaments shall follow and enforce all tournament policies, procedures, schedules. Mr. Kaplan, Mr. Seagler, I move that the board of education adopt the Michigan High School Athletic Association membership resolution as presented. Support. Discussion. All those in favor? I. Opposed? Motion carries. 70. Okay, we're moving on to our subcommittee updates. We're going to start with the bond subcommittee. Ellis, I'm I'm going to take that. Okay, Miss Craftton is going to discuss that. So, last week the bond subcommittee met. U members are Mr. Seagler, Miss Leven, and myself. Uh
182we met with Dr. Lans, uh Miss Bear, and uh the representative from Real um Plantaran Real Point. Um Miss Leven was was not available to attend. um due to a a conflict that she shared with us in advance. Um we disco uh we discussed through a presentation uh the updates on the 2019 the progress on the 2019 bond um getting close to wrapping up the projects there. Uh and then we discussed the priority projects for the 2526 academic year um that will be funded with the 2024 bond. um I'm very pleased by the um thorowness of Real Point um Plantaran Real Points. Um transparency, their presentation. Um they answered our questions with thoughtfulness and I this is my first year serving on the bond subcommittee, but I feel like I'm getting everything that uh all
183of the questions that I have had answered. We do expect them to have a presentation uh during uh the next meeting June 19th. Um we gave a little bit of feedback to the presentation and I I welcome uh board members to engage with it. I think you're going to be pleased to see the progress that's been made. Mr. Seagler, anything to add? uh you know part of the process also was relative to the cost savings uh that we are benefiting from by having somebody oversee the activities uh separate of what we were doing here within the board and I I am happy to see some of the return and savings that we have been afforded to this point look forward to more of that as we go through the bond and I was very happy
184to look at the timeline line uh and and minor tweaks already to the timeline as we're moving forward uh that again he will present at the next meeting. Thank you. Okay, we're going to move on to the um the policy subcommittee um that consists of Mrs. Fernandez, Mr. Smith, and myself. And we meet regularly um quite a bit. We work really a lot um on our policies. We have um finalized and it's you know I'm going to kind of combine here um finalized and are presented to the board are board operating procedures um that for your review for you to look at for you to go over make comments and we'll be voting on those um in our August meeting. So, you know, please comments, questions, concerns. Do that this month on the 19th. Well,
185you have it right here. Is it August? August. August. I'd love to do it this month. 19. That's my mistake. Okay, then we're fixing that date because I'm just reading the date. Yeah. Um, we're going to do it on June 19th at our next meeting. So if you have questions and concerns um and thoughts prior to that, please you know send it to the committee so that we can you know discuss and try to review. Go ahead. I noticed Miss Kaplan uh of those there is a two words are typed twice like about the about the in one of the sections and then one of the other things I think inadvertently we might have deleted in the code of conduct section because if you read it it doesn't flow there's like a section that should
186really be dropped down that just says the code of conduct is as follows or whatever. So, I don't know how the board would like to if I ch make that amendment. We can just make those changes. Okay. Okay. It's it's nothing uh substantial. It's just more of just adding that typo. Okay. Any other questions? Oh, yep. Go ahead, Mrs. Fernandez. I just wanted to say that um we've tackled this this set for reading um for quite some time now in a number of different meetings. Um, and we're all we will all be excited to move on. You know, we acknowledge and hear folks asking for us to look at policies that impact the comments that we hear regularly and other things and we do balance that with Miller Johnson updates um that uh that are
187advised for us. And so I think we will all on the bond subcommittee be excited to think about moving on to something else and something that feels like it's responsive to the multiple requests that we get to visit, revisit or articulate policies. Agreed. With that, we are adjourned at 9:39. I hope everyone has a great evening and I'm not going to say happy summer since we'll be back in a couple weeks.