001nothing nowhere now they're in the break for the NHL all start guys ready good evening it's 7 P.M February 1st and welcome to the wall Consolidated School District regular board meeting May we all stand please for the Pledge of Allegiance Pledge of Al to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for it stands God indivis andice so we have uh next on the agenda we have a Golden Apple award for this evening and I will turn that over to Dr ber thank you very much Mr President members of the board good evening uh we start tonight with Carol Barrett Carol come on up to the least comfortable spot in the room right there on the WL that way that way they could see on the live stream tonight's first golden
002apple recipient is Carol Barrett retired teacher and current guest teacher at Commerce Elementary School Carol was nominated by Barb Winters and Jenny farro because Carol has an inner drive to help all students in her care she is a consistent guest teacher at Commerce covering multiple grade levels and is prompt in her responsiveness to requests and professionalism Carol always arrives early for her guest teacher position reads through all plans to make sure she knows what is needed from her throughout the day she stays until all prep work or needs are accomplished Carol has also written substitute plans when necessary she also reads the lessons in the curriculum books and follows them to the letter Lori Sparks and Barb Morley Commerce elementary teachers supported Carol's nomination sharing Carol is a remarkable person who has dedicated countless hours
003to supporting our students and staff she has a passion for helping students whether it is teaching tutoring or mentoring she does it all with a sense of humor making everyone smile and laugh Carol does not guest teach for recognition or reward but for the love of the students and her passion for Learning and teaching Carol is an inspiration to us all and we are grateful for her service Carol thank you for all you've done and all you continue to do for the students and families of Commerce Elementary it is our honor to recognize you this evening thank you very much you if you wantan to just go and step right to the podium so they can all hear you I thank you so much I am so honored to be here tonight and grateful for
004the recognition of the golden apple I something that I never anticipated and I am feel so special and I have such a wonderful group of friends that have supported me and a family all the way through um I have been with Wald Lake schools for quite a few decades about 10 of them and I am very proud to continue to represent them and be part of the district I have been very fortunate to work with right alongside so many wonderful creative amazing helpful colleagues and to have a family at home that is also very supportive of my love of teaching I put them to work many many years doing things for me and continue to do it right now so I I just want to thank Barb and Jenny and all my friends that are
005back there Barb Morley and Blake Bernstein from Oakley Park where I've subbed for him too they all mean so much and they've been so helpful to me and my my golden apple will be something that's a symbol for being able to do what I love to do and I thank you for some adding some fuel to my passion thank you we did have we did have a second uh recognition tonight uh Debbie Moore uh from also from Commerce Elementary she's a custodian there Debbie is recognized tonight not only for her hard work and her contributions to the Commerce Community but also because she's willing to work extra shifts and do whatever it takes to keep the school clean and safe uh and so she's not with us tonight because she's at the office uh but
006my my team and I will be by to Commerce to congratulate her and to thank her for what she does for our community so that's it Mr President okay we'll move into public commentary um couple of little reminders if you weren't here last month uh on the wall we have a new countdown timer um so it's in plain view for anyone speaking so they will have a good indicator where they are in their topic time um just if you're not aware or have not take notice that the back of your um card now has some new guidelines on it um nothing Earth shattering but just be aware that it's there so uh without any further Ado we will move to number one Tim saw Miller good evening Tim Siller Commerce Township I'm a cisgender male
007using pronouns here him and his before I begin I would like to thank Shane 11 for holding a coffee hour last week Mike wise was also there and the three of us had a candid and I believe fruitful discussion and one other comment I asked this board to reconsider that school bus purchase if for no other reason but to have a public discussion that will inform parents and students as to why they don't deserve new buses since this is Black History Month I'd like to consider the distorted view of our nation's racial history that persists in education and Society at large in 2018 a survey of high school students found that only 7% named slavery is the cause of the American Civil War reconstruction was a period of time where black Americans began to assert
008great power but was also a time of strong backlash against it these are facts not commonly taught in most classes the critics of critical race Theory pervert that terminology in an attempt to ban black history black American history which is essentially the Banning of American History critics like moms for Liberty use the term CRT as a reason to stop the purchase of well-written and balanced history books as happened here last year and to accost School teachers and school boards to confront the teaching of accurate American history students must be taught historical truths before they leave high school perhaps then some of them will approach life with a more informed viewpoint students should experience discussions on the racial double standard for instance would the outcome be the same if Barack Obama had committed the same felonies
009as Donald Trump or would the outcome be the same if the crowd who stormed the capital on January 6th were black we can all make pretty good guesses as to those outcomes students need to be aware of racial bias in laws and legal institutions and the disperate rates of incarceration the critics have determined those lessons to be CRT and given a scary connotation that fits their agenda attacking the teaching of factual American history by derisively calling it CRT is actually a clear example of what CRT is the exposure of systemic racism did you know that Florida Texas and California the three biggest textbook customers use the same publisher for history textbooks however the books in Florida and Texas are dumbed down when speaking about black American history compared to the books used in California systemic
010racism at work another example is the Montgomery Bus Boycott if they even study that students learn about Martin Luther King and Rosa Parks but do they learn about Mary Fair Burks or Joan Robinson or Bayard Rustin or other important and influential black figures of the time or of any time no they don't and why only in February this is true history with its blemishes why would we the of Truth wind up your comments thank you thank you for your comments and next up Kathy kubic hi I came here in December where you talk oh what we had to reset the Tim oh sorry thank you technology got us I don't ever make it to three minutes so it would be a shock if I did does does it start now oh I won't make it
011three minutes so it doesn't matter um I came here in December when you uh had a meeting on an icy day and you were in a meeting for about 15 minutes and you talked about you're going to go for a bond well I've been in the district for this is my 37th year of living in the area and you guys have had many many bonds and um I never understand because I worked for you and saw such waste and saw that you got a school such in good shape and then you'd tear it down I didn't ever understand that and then we also have the school that you tore down the building Mr Beria was not here when all this happened uh we tore this bit wonderful building down in uh Wald Lake and uh
012it just sits there the property uh what I've observed about the the the bonds is we just must have paid one off so there's a scramble to now replace one is what I'm guessing I could be wrong because I just trying to get the facts but we have a a bond that uh we did in 2019 that won't be paid off till 2049 we have another one that is going to be paid off in 2050 the another one that's going to be paid off in 2043 and another one that's 249 plus you have that uh sying fund so we have a lot of bonds so I don't understand you have put debt on children for they're if they're graduating they'll be paying for these for 20 or 30 years so I I don't understand why
013you need more money um that uh and I got these facts from your uh your money person I I just I I don't understand it uh and you're going to say oh but we need this we need that no I I also looked at the furniture you're buying from for these places when we had uh when twin Beach was going to be tored down it closed we had an auction and cabinets that are over $1,000 that you're going to be buying we sold for $15 at an auction the perfect condition but they did and tables went for $5 that would cost a lot more money so this is what bothers me is the waste I see and I think that you should consider that you putting this debt on the taxpayers I have never seen
014anybody at least Mr Z loves to say we vote for the bond because you were there I was there that night and he he agreed to vote for the bond it's like do you ever think of the taxpayer and the people coming up that's what I wanted to talk about and I and that's not what makes education great a pretty building that doesn't entice a child to grow and I don't think it does I think it's a good teacher good pairs good people in the school that that want to teach them to to yearn for education to uh I don't know to have curiosity to learn Lear so I just and the hunger to learn and I I don't know I can't stop you I hope the taxpayers will stop you on this Bond I
015just wanted to give you my point of view and try to teach patriotism to me patriotism is so important love of country that's something that is not taught enough thank you very much thank you for your comments uh next up Nancy van Leen did you get it fixed okay well we had to kind of partake in scrapping our high technology here we're GNA go low technology can I go I'm here to speak in favor of item number nine on the agenda the bond issue I think bonds are a critical thing in this District I have been here over 50 years as a res resident and longer as an employee and one of the things that helps in education is a facility that works and furniture that works and buildings that are up to code and
016so it is a critical thing it's my understanding that this Bond will not create more on the taxpayer at this point um but oh sorry Mrs kubit um bonds are something that we have relied on in the wlik community has been as and the education Community has been wonderful in supporting our bonds our citizenry has been um exemplary I think in seeing the need understanding what happens when you downsize as we're having to do now you don't just eliminate you have to rebuild restructure reconfigure and and I it's my understanding that that that's what this Bond will do so I as a longtime resident and a member of the Wald Lake Community I certainly support this thank you thank you for your comments um Melissa Paul really Mr seagler oh is it not going to
017come up there yeah it's it's failed us today okay do you know what happened one week before last board meeting a principal in Iowa who risked his life to protect students during a school shooting was shot multiple times principal Dan marberger was among three staff and four students who were injured January 4th when a student opened fire on the first day back after winter break in the small community of Perry Iowa the shooter also had with him an improvised explosive device sixth grader Amir age 11 was killed by three gunshot wounds Amir whose family knew him as smiley was a whirlwind of cheerful activity he dashed out of his home that Thursday morning eager to see his friends on the first day back his mom Erica said he loved soccer played the tuba and sang
018in choir he was so well loved and he loved everyone she said do you know what happened three days after last month's board meeting that beloved principal died after 10 days in the hospital in a statement from the Perry Community School District Dan was a tremendous leader in our school district and loved a loving husband father grandfather our school Community is heartbroken by his death for nearly three decades Dan was ingrained in every aspect of our school district environment and we are feeling the immense loss of a devoted and caring colleague Governor Kim Reynolds ordered all Flags in Iowa be lowered to have staff that Sunday principal Mar Berger's daughter Claire said her father was known to be a gentle giant an amazing dad and a person he does anything for us kids in including
019driving 7 hours round trip on school nights to catch my college games stayed long enough to slip me a 20 tell me I played well give me a hug and head out she said in a post at the last wal board meeting the first thing I noticed were all the cars in the parking lot all those teachers with their families getting their teacher of the Year Awards what remarkable teachers this district has the second thing I noticed when I walked in was the professional security officer you have to protect yourselves standing guard with gun bolstered what saddens me is that while you said how much you value these teachers receiving their Awards and all the Wall Lake teachers the majority of this board and superintendent refuse to protect them like you protect yourselves with a
020security guard the third thing I noticed at the last board meeting was the agenda I looked to see what the next thing would be that you were going to vote on to continue using up last year's $1.4 million school security Grant and sure enough I knew it would be something like this more than $150,000 worth of classroom signs you say you don't use grant money for hiring but I can give you examples when you did exactly that during the past few years 30 second now you have another million dollar school plus school security grant for 2024 protect what you say you value and prioritize security guards in every school this year so that what happened in Iowa does not have to happen here thank you for your comments uh Rodney Hopkins uh good evening everyone
021I'm just trying to get clarity of the transportation policy that were revised in June of 20123 uh me and my family moved to uh Wixom uh three years ago so we getting still established and everything I have a son that goes to Wixom Elementary and he received a violation for a bus p um ticket for unauthorized use or get off authorized stock which was not the case the case was my wife had made arrangements with the school and with Transportation say he would be picked up at a different stop because we were out of town and then um unoun to him administrator at school afternoon called him to the office and says oh you need to get off at the stop you got picked up in the morning and gave him a pass he got
022back on the bus did as he told a young man he's 9 years old he got off a stop the bus driver then notified my wife Monday that he would get a ticket and we try to explain that this was oversight because it was a mixup with the administrator of the school no far own thought he were getting off and he had a bus pass now in the policy in the transportation says number 14 it says that any stops a student do needs to make arrangement with the school and he had a best pass and I do have that so I'm just curious what is the appeal process I know they have appeal process for suspension but this is a letter of warning that he received for something that he had no control of and
023we did talk to the bus transportation manager and he was not have no Grace or Mercy towards it so I just like to know what can we do so my son feel like he did something wrong he did not we have the bus pass with everything and he did not intentionally do to violate the rules so thank you that's all I want to know thank you for your comments and uh Miss Corey Hensley good evening cabinet members and Board of Education my name is Corey Hensley and I'm president of the special services parent advisory committee here in wal Lake I've stood at this Podium before asking you to pay attention to the developments of the adult transitions program I hear I am here again this evening seeking your support to ensure that the ATP is
024a state-of-the-art program drawing families into the district and more importantly that it is housed in a permanent location a you can begin this process by voting to approve the school Improvement Bond proposition if approved the citizens committee for campaigning which is comprised of parents including hopefully myself can begin talking about and promoting the bond to be voted on at a special election which will be held on May 7th 2024 this Bond my understanding is not expected also to raise taxes for residents not only that we can begin our work with Dr bernia to determine future needs of the ATP program and conceptualize a final program location we don't want to delay any further the work that should have started with the 2019 Bond so again please show your support for the ATP and right or
025wrong by voting yes on agenda number nine when presented this evening by board president Peterson thank you thank you for your comments and uh that concludes all of our public commentary tonight and we'll move to administrative commentary and I'll turn it over to Dr Bern uh we'll start toight to my right with Dr Lans nothing at this time thank you Dr ber Mrs gansky yes thank you Dr Beria um I just wanted to report to uh the board and to the public that yesterday we had a very successful professional development afternoon with all of our teachers um prek through 12 so um we had a variety of offerings around the district for them I know that the high school was specifically looking at some uh climate and culture uh work within their buildings talking about
026building relationships with students and the importance of that the importance of them feeling uh feeling like they have a trusted adult uh that they can go to in their in their buildings um I know at middle school we talked a lot about the neuroscience and brain research around teaching and learning and at the elementary there were a variety of offerings for them in Choice sessions so uh got great feedback yesterday from our professional learning sessions and I'm very thankful to folks from uh within our district and our staff that presented that supported that work um I also wanted to say that uh each year since um the pandemic uh I had been scheduled to report to the board in February of each year regarding some data um I have been in touch with Dr Beria
027and we have that scheduled for March 7th uh the law did change last summer and so we weren't required to report in February but I will be preparing a um very specific report on data for the board on March 7th so I look forward to doing that M Mir nothing today Dr ber Mr chadfield thank you Dr bernia I just wanted to report I had an opportunity to visit our construction sites today and um things are progressing nicely the team buildings are well underway uh the the central team building is is enclosed with walls going up the northern team building uh is covered uh with flooring uh having been poured this week Western's a little bit behind of course cuz they got a late start but uh those those uh facilities are shaping up nicely
028and toured Western high schools Edition today and it is uh coming along amazingly well things uh there as far along in some areas as tile and the restrooms paint uh ceilings going in so looking forward to in the near future hopefully being able to schedule a preliminary visit for those would be interested Mr Russo this even J ber m this is ommer nothing this evening Dr ber uh for me this evening I since we've come back from uh the start of 2024 you know today or yesterday felt a little bit like January 87th um just you know it was a long month and so I wanted to take my time tonight to complement the cabinet um they're up early they stay up late and and we've been working a lot uh to analyze the impact
029of legislation to plan professional development to respond to safety security concerns to meet with parents uh in the ATP program and otherwise or to drive the roads very early in the morning or work on the budget uh and so I just am so grateful to them for their hard work and and very appreciative of that and then I I roll towards the board um tonight's a big meeting for the Wald Lake Consolidated Schools Board of Education uh as you will consider two things that are massive steps uh with respect to the future of the district uh and so I I really do appreciate and and want to say that I'm very proud of our board and the the level of homework and thoughtfulness that have gone into uh both the both the bond proposal that
030you'll consider tonight but also strategic planning uh and I'm very very very very proud of the the time the energy and the effort that you've put in and the careful consideration that you're making to the future of our district thank you okay well move uh on to uh board commentary and I will direct to Mrs Fernandez thank you Mr Peterson I just wanted to let some folks know an update from the policy committee um who's been meeting diligently and you'll see some of those things come before us today for a vote uh but for those who may not uh notice in some of our postings that committee continues to meet at least a couple of times a month and uh we're working our way through additional updates and things that uh are important and um
031so we'll keep at it and thank you uh for having that on the docket tonight Mrs kasag Grande y just a few quick things um so the State of the State from um Michigan our our governor spoke and while we didn't hear a lot about education I thought that Dr Bern's comments to the board were were pretty valid um a couple of things that were mentioned uh one thing we just want to look at is where that money is coming from um so just a a reminder that people keep saying there's not a lot that might happen um at the state because of the um the state house and the um representatives and the Senate being u a little bit in a in a lag and not having you know the same uh Democrat in
032both areas so long and the short of it is is that one thing we want to look at is where that money is coming from whenever anything comes from education and what I I would like all of us to just be diligent about is looking at the state aid fund and seeing what's coming out and is that being used for K through 12 or is that being used for something else there's been billions of dollars that have been pulled out for other things um and that's just one thing we want to keep an eye on um also uh northern's musical is this weekend um we all got a me a message from U Northern of and I am planning to attend but any of you who don't know it's um nice work if you can
033get it so if you like gerswin good thing to go to um the construction site that um Mr Chatfield was mentioning the different sites um and Dr ber you and I talked a little bit about this I ran into um Mr hka at the MLK event and he had said hey you know you should come by and you should take a look at it so you and I had kind of talked a little bit about maybe you know it might be nice if the board went and looked at Western and and saw what it looked like and then when it's finished we'll see it again um but just kind of wanted to put out there that Mr hka has put out an invitation for us to come see it thank you Mrs Ty yeah so
034I think um it's been really great the last um few months just talking about the strategic planning and and working um towards beginning that so just thank you Dr bernia for facilitating um g& D Associates to come um a couple weeks ago and present to us um I know I couldn't be here in person but I was able to um catch their presentation um Mo most of their presentation via the live stream so um so just excited to get started working on that Miss Leven thank you Mr Peterson um very far away um I had a good uh week this week I started my Monday morning meeting with Dr Beria at our Early Childhood Center um I uh was given a tour by uh director Sarah Davy um and it's an amazing facility um if
035you have not been there I highly recommend uh going they have an open house coming up um it's more for prospective families than just curious residents but I suppose anybody could go um it's a great facility and it's really great the work that they're doing there the thoughtfulness that's gone into planning that building um you know every kid that we interacted with was happy to see us every staff member was engaged uh some didn't even acknowledge that we were in the room because they were so focused on the kids and uh it was just a great thing to see great way to start the week so um you know very proud of of that facility um and anybody who's in the local Wald Lake Area this weekend um if you head to the actual Lake
036Wald Lake you'll see uh a Polar Plunge happening that I'll be participating in as part of my day job unfortunately we won't be jumping into the lake because there's no ice but um we'll be jumping into something cold so um I don't know Deputy gin I don't know if you're going to be there no she's not going to be there but uh it'll be a lot of fun so if you're in the area from like 9:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. on uh on Saturday stop by the actual lake at the Tikki bar and you'll see some fun stuff going on thank you Mr seagler pigging uh piggybacking on what Mrs con Grand they said the state school aid fund uh we do have to watch that we are still losing a massive amount of money
037to the colleges and institutions of Higher Learning which are charging tuitions and can make money whereas Public Schools cannot uh and maybe someday we'll be lucky enough to get some of the proceeds that we have lost back or a percentage of them to help Finance public education and I'll throw a couple comments say myself uh again go back to MLK day um horrible weather day but it was very warm inside and we had a good turnout and uh when I went to couple Unified sports basketball games over the last week um if you haven't done one of these uh please um I did western last week I think they played Belleville and uh the rescheduled central western game last night at Central um very very fun um I encourage you to take that opportunity when
038and if it's presented to you um on the other side I just want to kind of make a general comment as we move later into strategic planning and of course the bond issue I just want to kind of remind everybody it's been kind of a long Winding Road here so this started a year ago January when we initiated the first the facility studies within the district to kind of get a health check on where we are and where we can be going and uh that progressed throughout the year um culminating probably around November but at that time I think it was defined the board uh uh had multiple meetings and that simultaneously based on the facility study committee which is one of the the same but not the same um that's a organization of uh
039individuals through throughout the district that um looked at the findings that plant Moran provided the district um over that period of time and looked at options going forward so the bond was a an outgrowth of that and so is the strategic planning so they're kind of running simultaneously they tend to sound a little confusing at times um even I get a little Tongue Tied on one versus the other so right now tonight we'll talk a little bit more about where uh we're going with the Strategic plan um and and also we'll try to maybe bring a little bit more to attention on the bond um the the byproduct of how the bond came about is really based on that facility study and the details that were provided to the board as uh initial recommendations uh
040P if we don't do a bond this is what happens if we do a bond this is what happens so we'll try to do more to elaborate on that if not tonight uh in the immediate future and I have see Dr ber noding his head with me so we will do a very uh kind of bang up job to try to to get at that so that being said we'll move on to the consent agenda for tonight um in the consent agenda are approval of minutes from January 4th special meeting um January 11th special meeting minutes uh January 11th regular meeting uh minutes uh personal uh Personnel recommendations and new hires uh retirements Financial reports uh dispersements in the amount of 19,1 18849 uh balance sheet and statement of revenues and expenditures un audited and
041investment scheduled um and then purchases under 50,000 uh 2019 Bond program Furnishings for the high school team buildings Western Northern and Central um in the amount of 38676 58 it's always an interesting where we get the cents mark That's from the 2019 Bond um Head Start director's report uh and uh so at this point do I have I have a motion Mr Peterson Mr SE I move that the Board of Education approve the consent agenda as presented supp we have a vote those in favor I those opposed motion passes 6 Z so we'll move on to uh bid Awards over 50,000 and I will bring in Dr ber on that I'll turn it over to Mr Chatfield thank you Dr ber the first bid recommendation is for the purchase and installation of all the interior
042and exterior signage for the Western High School Edition we recommend awarding this project to curb appeal Concepts in the amount of $63,750 this purchase will be funded from the 2019 Bond Mr Peterson do I have a motion Mr SC gring I move that the Board of Education approve the bid award for the 2019 Bond projects Western High School SCI AG from the 2019 bond fund and do we have any discussion I do um actually I going have put this together with a and a b um I asked Mr Chatfield do we have some feel for what the original Bond estimates were for these program projects and where they have come in at this point four probably four years later yeah all of these Pro you know we had an overall budget for the Western project
043all of these projects uh fit all of the western Awards uh fit within those budgets um we didn't have a specific line item for signage but it was built into equipment and furnishings and uh this purchase price uh fits well within that budget in regards to the other projects all of these projects are uh within the allotted either uh bond amount or sying fund allotment that we had to work with uh they all are within industry standards which frankly are a little higher uh these days and they were a couple of years ago the the northern uh Turf project we're spending about $100,000 more than we did for each of the fields at Western and Central a couple of years ago but that was expected so budget wise they um they fit within what we
044expected those pricing uh prices to be okay any other comments we'll move on take a vote please and those in favor I those oppose passes 60 yes I read it we'll move on to um item 8B which is a 2019 Bond project districtwide upgrades e rate and that is from the 2019 bond fund and do I have a motion um I move that the um you want me to do it is that okay I move that the Board of Education approve the bid award for the 2019 Bond projects districtwide Network upgrades e rate from the 2019 bond fund do we have any comments no discussion I do um Mr chapi can you please explain to me I do feel that this is in the electronic spectrum of something but what is eate so the rate
045program is a federally funded program overseen by the uh FCC uh that assist schools in obtaining affordable Broadband coverage for instructional purposes that is the intent of it we all pay for it with a search charge on our cell phone bills um it um districts are eligible for refunds of between 20 and 90% of eligible um Broadband related projects uh based on the um the rate the poverty rate within the community wal Lake schools has historically received rebates of 30 to 40% which is what we are expecting with this project as well right okay any other comments we move to a vote those in favor I those oppos 6 Z and we'll move on to bid award HC Mr chield thank you Dr Bur uh this recommendation is for the replacement of The Stadium turf
046at Northern High School we recommend awarding this project to astro turf Great Lakes in the amount of $561,500 Renovations for Northern High School chure from the sinking fund support do we have any comments Mr Peterson Mrs Cy um so I was aware of this but we did have some questions from board members and just for transparency to the public the question comes up sometimes is why are we you know doing just Northern and what about you know our other high schools and so I can speak to this or Mr chaffel if you want to speak to it just to kind of let the public know that I mean we kind of are on a rotation and we do watch those but you can probably say it better than I certainly the wal Lake Northern turf
047field was originally installed in 2002 in conjunction with the construction of Northern High School the fields at Central and Western were not installed until seever several years later the the lifespan the the original uh lifespan the expected lifespan on these systems was 8 to 10 years the Northern turf was replaced in 2011 the um the fields at Western and Central were originally installed in 2008 replaced again in 2019 so we are now the we're wrapping up year 13 with the northern Turf it is um it is in need of repair replacement uh many tears many rips it's the um the grass fibers have deteriorated so it is in need of replacement now but the fields at Western and Central are still in excellent condition and we would expect those to be in need of replacement
048in you know another 5 to six year time frame thank you do we have any other comments okay we'll move forward take a vote those in favor I I those opposed 6 Z and we'll move on to item 8D uh 2024 athletic Renovations North and North Northern and Central High School tennis courts this is via the syncing fund Mr chadfield thank you Dr Beria this recommendation is for the repair and resurfacing of the tennis courts at Central and Northern High Schools we recommend awarding this project to laser striping and Sport surfacing in the amount of 89,000 for central $82,900 for Northern for a total amount of $171,900 and as mentioned this will be a sinking fun project have Mr Peterson yes m c gry I move that the Board of Education approve the bid award
049for the 2024 athletic Renovations Northern and Central High School tennis courts from the syncing fund support thank you any any com uh comments we'll move on we'll take a vote those in favor all right those oppose 60 and the last last in this category is ad um it's a best as bestus abatement at Wall Lake Western High School and it will be taken from the 2019 bond fund Mr Chatfield thank you Dr Beria this recommendation is for the asbest removal and abatement work at Western High School to prepare for the Demolition and renovation work that is scheduled for this summer we recommend awarding this project to Quality Environmental Services in the amount of $300 $55,000 this will be a 2019 bond fund Project M Miss 11 I move that the Board of Education approve the
050bid award for ES best dis abatement at w Lake Western High School from the 2019 bond fund support do we have any comments I do so um Mr chapi is this covering all the potential asbes that might be or has been uncovered in the the Western facility uh yes in in the areas where we are doing work this summer so this Summer's projects involve the demolition of the ab and C Wings renovation to the D and G wings and um any asbest containing materials in those spaces well in the demolition areas they have to be removed entirely before we demolish the building and dispose of it and in the renovated areas they either have to be removed and demolished or frankly repaired uh to a point where they're not going to become Frable and cause
051um an uh air uh contamination do we have any other comments we take a vote please those in favor I those oppos 60 and we'll move on to the next item on our agenda which is uh resolution approval School Improvement bomb proposition and I will turn it over to Dr Bernie thank you very much Mr President as you mentioned during your commentary uh this has been a long process and a long time coming uh I want to again compliment the board as I said in my commentary about the thorough homework that you've done to get to this point uh our application was approved by the Michigan Department of Treasury and so you have my recommendation to call for a special election on May 7th 2024 Mr seagler support support do we have any comments M
052Levan so I apologize in advance but my comments uh tonight will be long um I believe that I owe it to the community to not just vote but to explain my vote and my process at arriving at my decision before anybody goes crazy I'll be voting yes I couldn't uh vote tonight without making sure that I did uh my homework I have looked at this from a lot of angles and I want to share what I have found but before I jump into that I want to thank Dr Beria and uh his team for all of the work that they've done um and the questions that they've answered um and the questions they've answered from the questions that they've answered so thank you all very much for the time that you've put into this um
053so first I was initially concerned in our board discussions months ago about the amount of the bond um that was being requested um whether you look at it as a number of Mills 4.05 or a number of dollars you know over $200 million I wanted to understand the bottom line implications for a household um everything is expensive these days and I understand asking people to pay for anything is a big responsibility of our board and one that I don't take lightly um to be sure I have recognized the need for a bond since the board started hearing about this a while ago so the option to do nothing and have the Mills roll back to 2.7 or 2.5 to me really wasn't an option um we need Capital funds to keep our large district and
054our many buildings uh in good working order so then it was a matter of exactly how much we ask for um as a board we explored some smaller numbers like 3.95 Ms instead of 4.05 or 3.75 at the end of the day the difference in dollars out of a pocket by an individual household was very small at say 3.75 versus 4.05 um and the board can only vote yes or no on things we don't get multiple choice options so if the options are yes or no I was okay moving forward with the yes um I will continue to challenge the um Administration to make sure that those tax dollars that we are awarded are being spent in the best way possible um but I do understand the ask so then the next piece um was
055about when we would ask for the bond um the the truth is this has been on the radar for a while as Mr Peterson mentioned um we could have gone after the bond uh last November but it felt rushed so the administration explored waiting and may was the last election opportunity before this wouldn't be able to be built as a no tax increase proposition now this is semantics um any tax that you pay when you don't technically have to pay a tax um isn't free it's technically a tax increase over zero but again I get it um if we don't ask for this in May or if this doesn't pass in May the current millage rate will roll back and the community will feel some tax relief and that relief is not nothing um as
056I know you know saving hundreds of dollars which is what it would be for an average household um can be significant and is significant in this current economy um but this is about more than tax savings without a bond we will have a hard time right sizing the district um without dipping into the general fund we'll have a hard time adding CTE programming or improving the fiber optic Network um without dipping into the general fund and every dollar that's taken out of the general fund um is you know that's spent on Capital Improvements is a dollar that can't be spent on teacher salaries and operational expenses so again the board doesn't get multiple choice votes for which date is preferred we just get to vote yes or no on a date so then I looked
057more into the implications of what a may vote really meant um especially in a year when there's already three elections and this would be a fourth election um and then we've got all the new laws on top of it early voting and and frankly a lot of unknowns so I was concerned about how the clerks from all of our municipalities would feel about our district um with this surprise sprung on them so I asked Dr Beria to at least give them a heads up uh which he did and I thank him for that as I think our municiple Partnerships are rather important um I know the clerks are still concerned they're not thrilled um as they should be since this is going to be a hard year for them but I'm glad they at least
058have a little bit of a heads up um Dr bernia also took the opportunity when he let them know about the bond to find out how much this is going to cost the truth is the clerks have no idea um we don't know um because this is a new environment um everything costs more today than it did during our last special election in 2019 and that didn't have nine days of early vot voting um and some Clerk's estimates have been small um you know $33,000 for a tiny little city um other clerks estimates have been very high some as high as $100,000 for just that one city and we touch I believe it's nine municipalities so on balance even if a special election costs us a couple hundred, that can be paid through the interest
059earned on the bond and really I look at it as an application fee if I put it in terms of a regular household if your household decided um that you wanted to go after a home equity line of credit $50,000 you might pay $150 application fee for that line of credit and you wouldn't bat an i it's just the bank's fee well if you look at what we're doing and the potential cost of this election you add a few zeros to $150 application fee or a $50,000 line of credit you're really not talking about a huge percentage of the loan or the bond in this case that you're going after so I recognize that this is a cost of doing business so I say all of this to assure everybody in the community that I've
060heard the questions I've heard the doubts and I have taken the time to look into all of the answers that I could I'm satisfied with those answers um as I said earlier I am going to vote tonight to support putting this Bond on the May ballot and ultimately that will leave the decision about passing the bond up to the voters thank you do we have any addition comments Mrs Fernandez thank you and I appreciate all the work that's gone into the bond I also recognize that bonds are critical means for funding many of the things that we need as a large District to have I have greatly appreciated shaina's digging into some of the questions that we all hear from the public I wanted to um just add a perspective on the process that we've
061gone through and um generally Express a bit of disappointment while it's tremendous amounts of effort and um it involves a lot of time that we've put in and particularly Dr Bernie and his staff have put in there have been a few items to me that are challenging um Shaya mentioned the amount and that we did consider some additional amounts and and um you know the the relative volume of impact that that made but at the time that we were asking for the amounts um you know we really didn't have adequate detail to support why we were asking for what uh ended up being you know kind of a replacement um that is maybe more easily marketed as a no increase fee to the public and uh so that to me was um was unsatisfying we
062came out of those conversations with some general agreement that we would have followup so that we could get comfortable um with the contents that were leading up to such an amount and you know timing has not been our friend in this um particular effort no matter how long it's taken and uh that uh followup and ability to to discuss how we were getting to the amount we were getting did not happen and uh you know there was some effort to do maybe some individual Outreach but to me um it's unsatisfying and disappointing not to be able to have the benefit of speaking as a board as a collective group uh in making such weighty um and important decisions on behalf of the the district um so from a process perspective you know the the discussion
063and engagement that we've had um despite the tons of effort that's been put in to getting us here has not been adequate um from my personal point of view I would like to see have seen more of that and I think in tonight's meeting you can see very clearly what happens after um we have approved bond funds I mean we've just gone through a list of seven today and you know there's uh a while we can only vote yes or no on the bond and putting it up you know getting it onto the ballot we can likewise only vote yes or no on these things as they come up and they're generally positioned as it's already in the bond it's already in the bond and so that U might leave a bad taste in folks
064M um in folks mouths if uh a person or individuals decide to vote no on these individual line items but quite truthfully you know that's where the scrutiny now will lie in the future is on individual items that come forward that we maybe could have discussed a little bit more um if we had been able to do that uh uh in advance what I'd like to do on this process bit is just to ask our president Mr Peterson and others who might be making commentary to kind of go on the record supporting oversight and scrutiny as we move forward um with a bond because I think that's important and uh it uh will Merit a little bit more than yes and no line item votes for the next in perpetuity um so you know I
065think that would be a positive thing for us to do uh and uh I would ask that we consider having a subcommittee or some structure in place that will um will ensure that there is enough scrutiny and enough um uh individual oversight um for such a weighty and important amount um on behalf of our district in the end uh I also will be voting yes um and that is because I believe that the voters uh ultimately need to decide for for or against the bond um in May and as I've said you know I totally recognize that Bond funding is important I might have liked um like with the syncing fund a little bit more um uh deliberation around what the right amount is and what we really need thank you Mr Peterson Mrs k
066gry um so I'm not going to reiterate a lot of what Mrs Loven and Mrs Fernandez have said but I want to kind of complement it so one of the things that that we hear from our community and public and we've discussed here is you know where do we get our funding from and the per pupil funding and if you look at the school of research uh collaborative uh the finance research collaborative we don't have enough money coming per pupil to be able to pay for the other items that is a piece that Mrs Levan hit on if you want more information that study is really good um it's really long but there's good information there that it shows you how schools are funded and how we still don't even have the right amount of
067per pupil funding and that doesn't even take into account all the things we need to do to keep the district buildings Etc in in good order um yes we have a syncing fund I want to touch on that a little bit but the sying fund is limited um to certain parameters and a box of things we can and cannot spend money on and then it also is a smaller amount it's nothing like like this kind of bond that we're going to take to the public for a vote the um notification you know for the clerks I just wanted to point out and I had actually um talked to Dr Bernie about this that before he even went and and talked to the clerks that I had received information from the township where I am within
068the Wild Lake um boundaries and they had already put out that there was going to be potentially a May election so they knew they knew that there could potentially be they always have to plan for that now does it always come to fruition no um but they know they have to plan for it but I do do appreciate the fact that we're having communication and and that we're we're trying to do the right thing there to make sure that um they know that this is what's going on here at our meeting um the last thing I wanted to talk about is the um the oversight and and continuing so I think we we have a a fine line there and so yes absolutely we need to keep you know talking about that one of the
069things that Mr Peterson and I have talked about and I've also talked to Dr Bernie about this before is you could have an integrator who could come and talk to how you talked to Mrs Fernandez about a subcommittee it would be an ad hoc committee it would it wouldn't be a standing committee but it would be something where you would have up up to three people and you could rotate that you could put it in place for a period of time then you could you know stop it then you could put it in place and you could stop it for certain specific things and and that would probably be a good idea um and I know that Dr Bernie is in favor of that as well to make sure that we have good communication um
070because quite frankly we don't have people on the board right now who have been through some of this sometimes it's the first time that somebody sitting in the board seat has done this and when you have a board that doesn't have as much experience in that um you know it's good to have further conversation and I think that that's good so I agree with you that maybe having an ad hoc committee doing that for that specific purpose makes sense and I too I'm in support of the bond thank you Mr seagler when you look at the fsrc uh the IAL findings basically said if we added in transportation if we add added in special ed funding and a lot of other areas that we were not receiving full funding on we would be our school
071funding should be approximately $112,500 per per per pupil which we know we've never seen and we probably unfortunately never will that was you know but that was what they were saying we needed per pupil and that was several years ago number one number two when you look at the facilities study that was done prior to the last election the amount that they recommended that the district spend was in excess in Mr Chatfield you can correct me if I'm wrong in excess of over $600 million uh we went to the public for considerably less well when we get our next facility study they're going to come back again and they're going to tell us we need to spend x amount more to do upgrades do improvements and and maintain the buildings in a manner that is
072safe and conductive for proper education with the amount that we're coming in right now it still does not fill the gap of what was recommended from the last research from the last facility study this has been ongoing in this district for prior to Mr Chatfield coming in or anybody else sitting at this table that we we have made it through sometimes we have made it through by the skin of our teeth sometime there was a time when our fund balance in this District was close to $26 million but we've lost a lot the economy has taken a lot from US general tax structures and revision of track tax structures have taken it away from us Headley has Tak it away from us losing something as simple as 20j which amounted to approximately $4.5 million a
073year that we lost has taken it away from us but thankfully our community has been there to support what we want to do and what we need to do to educate our children and I have to say thank you for that do we have any additional comments I would like to make a comment so when you look at this and where we have arrived I really ask everyone first of all to understand the perimeters of wall Consolidated School District so number one year we're north of 160 million a year annual budget we have well over 1,200 employees we have 22 schools at present we have a very large geographical area area and secondarily uh unfortunately we are a Consolidated School District so that thus means we have to go to multiple communities to have a
074election so we are penalized to that degree if we were just the Wall Lake School in Wall Lake we would have one election and one fee so there are pros and cons that way but it's very important that that all of you track and a lot of you are here have been through these meetings this last year and have listen listened to plant Moran provide the data as it's come into the district um we've had the reports from Dr Beria on the uh um facilities committee work uh in line with what thought that data was showing us and uh it's it's it's it's a stark contrast the district was originally probably at this point footprint wise based on 17 18,000 kids quite frankly we're at about 12,000 something and moving all the time I never
075get that number exactly so um that's that's you know that's concerning but we're no different than any other District in all of North America so um from that standpoint the other side of that is that I think the uh facilities committee recognized that to further and grow wall Lake Schools we had to find how to repurpose those potential buildings in some cases and and allow us to access some additional programming for for our kids overall which is really one of the big benefits one of the things and I don't know if you all remember that they came back and almost resoundingly both from the surveys through parents and and the kids um and through the committee work was that they they wanted to they were 98% in favor of enhancements to the CTE programs throughout
076the entire District that's that's overwhelming that's just not marginal that's overwhelming um we still have uh you know this building at some point in this Bond if it does move forward will go um the administrative will be moving to potentially another building um we still have these open issues on our trans uh you know transitions program um where do they fit and how do we find them a permanent home that um quite frankly 25 years from now they can call this is their home and uh so there are other things that are a byproduct of the bond um we're not absolutely there yet we still have a couple more hurdles to get um I know we're opposed as a board I we've had this communication since I uh came on board as president this year
077that we would automatically um uh kind of if the bond does pass in in the spring that we would transition to a uh first of its kind I think in this District a uh um a a committee that's strictly as an oversight on the on the bond itself um we will position right to that right away um that will give us some insight and some collaborative efforts with everyone involved in this going forward um this will not end it will not end there we will I think there's a commitment by Dr Bernie and the administration I know there's a commitment by this board to make sure that everyone that's here and abroad is available in this process the facility study committee will not go away they are not done yet they just don't know what
078that final or final meetings are going to look like yet because we haven't been able to present that what that option is going to be so um is it this in window a or is it this in window B um we don't know that but uh they are poised um to uh obviously move once we have a a clear picture going forward so that being said as we move forward into the next uh um agenda item but we'll take and go through our board our our actual uh count vote count is the strategic planning and that does that coincide with this at the same time so we'll talk about that a little bit more when we move on so do we have any additional comments at this point so miss SOI would like to roll
079call vote please yes Mrs Casa Grande yes Mrs Fernandez yes Mrs Levan yes Mr seagler yes Miss Ty yes and Mr Peters yes and the board count is 60 the motion has passed we'll move on to the uh next agenda item which is strategic planning um the way we have it structured here is I again I will give you some basic background how we got to this and what is strategic planning so most of you are probably aware that you see somewhere on the website or You' seen somewhere on a piece of paper somewhere you see a mission statement and you see a vision statement and then somewhere kind of hidden in there sometimes is the Strategic plan which is generally a three fiveyear kind of window on where the district is going and uh
080so the Strategic plan in this District we were very clear as the the facility study became began to conclude in the fall of last year that going forward that we had not done much work in this area so um I asked Dr Bernie to please look a little deeper into this and uh best he could find is that the last major attempt at a strategic plan um or a planning study work was somewhere in the Dr gisler era um it had been probably massaged a few times um in a minor way um and that's quite a long time and obviously the district has transformed a lot um in many different ways and maybe that that whole plan and that whole vision isn't in tune so it was time it it it's it's a process that
081uh we as a board uh engaged in a workshop last fall at the end of the year um on strategic planning and we got more insight as to what that conail it is not okay we're going to just change a few words and off we go it's so much if you you engage in that process in full full-heartedly um it's a much bigger process it's very similar in a lot of ways to how the the facility study operated so in other words we would look to and we solicited those few companies that are consultants in this area to assist the board because it's a process that you know starts out with you know first contacting everyone in the district through surveys and and follow-ups and and these areas to get solicit their in information and
082feedback that's a process that takes time it's um it's it's it's demanding to get to that point then most of these uh Consulting companies um have a series of smaller group interactions that takes time um again soliciting and trying to get feedback in how do we form that and how do we find a funnel as to where that strategic plan will ultimately end um and so that takes time um best case scenario for us even at this point and then ultimately they'll have one large community um meeting uh type uh Retreat concept um similar to what uh happened within uh the facility study committee uh or has been engaged in throughout this last year and then ultimately there will be some recommendations that will come back to the board for obviously um oversight and approval
083um this process will not be extremely fast um I guess our best judment might be at this point um maybe the early part of the Fall conclusion does that sound reasonable um I from what I have learned that is reasonable so it's important to understand that part of what drives a school district like this is all those factors sometimes we take it you know we just take them for granted um just what's on the floor um what's on the little rug sometimes we don't realize how they impact and how they impact our our teachers our our curriculum our our mindset our kids our our Drive um these things are all part of it um so it is uh at this point probably a necessary entity um quite frankly did we want it to have H
084happen it's a just I think a byproduct of that facility planning more than anything else so for further Ado is there any comment from within the bo would you I was going to say would you like would you like a motion so we can then speak to it Mrs L did you want to do that I do yeah um I moved that the Board of Education approved g& D Associates to conduct and oversee the strategic planning process and authorize the superintendent to execute the contract and remit payment support do we have any additional comment Mr Le so I'm very glad that we are uh taking this step to move forward uh in this process um at some point last year um it became clear uh you know as I was newer on the board that
085there wasn't a lot of Direction with things with the district everything was uh you know we have to solve this problem so let's solve that problem and we have to do this thing and let's do that thing but there weren't goals and I think that any organization needs goals whether you are a high school baseball team and you have a goal to win your division or you are a company and you have a goal to be Forbes number one place to work or you are a school district you need to have a goal and those goals need to be defined they need to be measurable they need to be relevant smart goals so um I'm pleased that the board has taken the time to um explore this I'm hopeful and optimistic that the board will
086continue to spend the time that we know is coming um to go through this process and I'm most excited to see the outcome uh of of where we land because that will point us and Dr Beria uh in a direction that I think is very badly needed for this district and will help us in all of our future decisions I'm looking forward to being able to you know see an agenda item and be able to point to it and say this goes to goal number whatever and this is why I support it or this doesn't really go with any of our goals and I don't support it and to really be able to fall back on what we establish as a board and as a community um I think will will lend to the accountability
087the transparency and the trust that uh you know we need in this district and so I'm very much in favor of this Mr Peterson Mrs K Grandy so I'd like to just piggyback a little bit on some of what you said um Mrs Leven so I think there were goals but they were stale and in my mind goals strategic planning you have to live it it's like okay you like you can do a risk assessment but but if you just do it and it sits there and it isn't something that as you mentioned you're saying okay we're doing this how does this fit into the big picture then it's really hard to understand how how you you're moving forward and so I absolutely um agree that we need to have goals and a strategic plan
088that helps us understand what is that big picture and then how do we bring that down to what those little pieces of execution are that we then would bring to our superintendent to execute on our behalf but we need to be able to have something that is our driving force and it needs to be something that we talk about and we don't just talk about it every you know 10 years or so um so history-wise when Dr gisler was here when I was not on the board I was part of strategic planning but it again that's stale right that's that's a long time ago that we did that so I I agree the other thing that we've been we had been looking at we looked at um masb we looked at g& D Associates and
089initially you know the I think some of the board most of the board was thinking well we had masb come out and they did some training for us and they offer this service and I think it was Mrs Fernandez who said I'd really like to see g& D and I agreed with her I'd like to see that i' like to be able to see um what they offer as well sometimes it's just when you listen to a presentation or people come and talk with you you get a feel for and one of the things that I really appreciated about g& D and I called Dr Bernie and talked to him afterwards and told him I absolutely would like us to you know consider g& D because they'll even offer additional services to help and support
090Dr berni and some other items as well and um I absolutely um appreciate a lot of what masb does but I just really felt that the gnd presentation and the questions we asked in the followup and how they approach it is just going to be a little bit better fit for us and I think it's going to give us a little bit better service um so I do support this and I do support um g& D being our consultant thank you any other comments I do I have one follow-up comment and and I would just make a point that I think that uh as the facility studies ran through their course last year I think the the website here in the district kind of mileston every one of them along and I would assume I
091haven't conferred with Dr Bernie 100% on that but um I would con assume that we will have milestones and placements um on the website as the Strategic plan moves forward so uh no other comments then we'll move on to a vote those in favor those opposed motion pass 60 yes we just going to say yes so the next board uh next agenda item you were going and I you don't interrupt the board President right he's the boss uh no I I did want to comment and just say to to that point um now that you have voted in favor of both of these things the community will receive a letter from me tomorrow directing them as to where they can ask questions and we definitely will have pieces of our website for the bond for
092strategic planning and then for um the continuation of our facility study so you can look for it right there I want to congratulate the six of you though uh on working together and and taking a major step forward for the district Mr Peterson yes Miss Scot I I just want to just add to that even though Mrs Kap isn't here today I know she fully supports both of these initiatives and and so um I just for whatever it's worth um I think we have what if Mrs Kaplan was sitting here today she couldn't make the meeting today but but she would absolutely be sitting here supporting it as well okay so we'll move on to our next agenda item which is board policy adaption and I will turn it over to Dr thank you Mr
093President uh the board policy committee submitted a updated set of policies to the board at our meeting on January 11th for the first reading tonight is the second reading of the policies you've had a month to review them uh and so this is the meeting where you take the vote and then we update our policy book from there Mr Peterson Mr seedler I move the Board of Education adop the updated board policies presented support do we have any conversation Mr lean um first I just want to thank the uh policy committee for the work that they've been doing um they've met more than I have meetings at my own job um and and they have jobs they also do so it is not a small task to do this um I want to give the
094community a little transparency about exactly what we've been doing with all these policies um and I think this has come up before just a reminder like we have been very far behind kind with legal updates to already existing policies so the policy committee has been meeting to just get us caught up with the recommendations from our um attorneys uh just to bring things up to speed so these aren't new policies these aren't uh drastically changing anything they're just being brought up to speed I believe that the policy committee will tackle more um things in the future but what we've been doing and I believe this might not even be the culmination this might be we're only we're we're almost caught up but this there's still a lot more to get through the hope is that
095we don't do this again and fall behind but we have to get caught up in order to get moving forward so that's all Mr Peterson Mrs C Grandy yeah and just to picky back off on that so this is this is legal update since like 2020 is so when we had this little thing called a pandemic um that that kind of took over some of the uh the items and things that we were working on trying to keep um our our our staff safe and and having uh protocols and a lot of uh conversations across the district and the uh the community um and back in 2020 we had gone through and I was part of the policy committee at that point and uh Mrs Don and Miss vanon were as well and we met
096just like this as well I mean we had huge um amounts of information met with superintendent Gutman at the time and brought in you know a lot of um his cabinet depending on what we were talking about and and it does take time to do this and so but if again if you don't live policy that's another thing that we are absolutely responsible for here we hire a superintendent we're responsible for policy so um I do appreciate the work as well and I understand how much time it takes to talk through it so thank you do we have any additional comments I'll make one quick as a board member that is part of the bylaw committee I uh have to commend uh Mrs Fernandez and M Kaplan who is not here tonight I also Pat
097the back of Mr Peterson a little bit um Mr Bernie has been just excellent and obviously Miss soille has uh tried to follow us at best at times um the conversations do go abroad at times um we don't always resolve something um in a single sitting or maybe sometimes multiple we do have a lot of policy adjustments that have come before us and part of it is I think just changes in law in the state of mix that uh facilitates that urge and and just so that everyone is aware that um following this part uh as far as on the agenda item then these move into Dr Bernie has to formulate a administrative wreck which is really how to take that bylaw and put it into a day-to-day operating guideline so um but I do
098commend them all for their work and we are but sure not done um and I do foresee that in the well immediate future that it'll be an ongoing process so at that point we have any additional comments so do we have a motion we had did we do so then we'll go for a vote uh those in favor I those opposed passes 60 next item on our agenda is board policy administrative regulation updates and I will turn that over to Dr ber thank you Mr President uh as Mr Peterson just pointed out our administrative regulations are how we make our policies actually happen in our buildings and across our district uh so this does not require a vote from the board uh but we are updating our fees deposits fines and charges to reflect the
0992425 preschool program fees uh we have a field trip consent form update uh our central office administ rators and building administrators we update this uh as we transitioned so we've had some we've had some new hires so that's an update to that we saw a series of laws that folks have probably seen on the news as it relates to teacher evaluation all of those administrative regulations have been updated and lastly with the support of the committee uh and with the leadership of Dr Lans we did some work on our threat assessment and suicide protocols and that has been updated as well so again this does not require your vote this evening but I do appreciate the support and the hard work of the policy committee we're meeting again tomorrow we met on one of the
100snow days it's a dedicated group and I appreciate their partnership okay then we'll move on to our next agenda item which is res resolution Mas board of directors election for Region 8 the Michigan Association of school boards masb requests that the Wall Lake School Board of Education offici officially select one candidate from the MS for the mases board of directors Region 8 three-year term the candidates are as followed melindia Hines she's from Wayne Westland Community Schools in Wayne County uh Bridget mcquiston Lake orian Community Schools Oakland County she is an incumbent and uh third person is Evelyn Pride Moore reford Union School District out of Wayne County um so we'll move for a motion Mr Peterson Mr seagler I move the board I move the wal Lake Consolidated School District Board of Education choose Briget
101mcquiston to serve on the masb board of directors for Region 8 support do we have any conversation yeah Mr Peterson M I just wanted to note that um burgett's name is misspelled here if we could just make sure we get it correct it is b i rgi t um so I want to make sure that that is that is correct and I also just wanted to mention that um we've worked with uh buret on and off and uh one of the things I appreciate about her is that she has passion that um she's she's also working with the Oakland County School Board Association County Board and um I know very organized very dedicated and I know Mr Seer you've worked with her a lot more than I have uh but I've known around enough for
102years and um have I I don't think we would vote for her just because she's the incumbent I also want to say that I have I have seen her do some good work and POS some good questions and um she is uh one of them that is in it to support public education and to make sure that we all get the information we need to make decisions thank you do we have any additional comments yes I I I wanted to add as some context I was fortunate uh Berget mcquiston son was attended my school when I was a principal she was one of my parents and I would Echo what you just said that uh she is so dedicated to the community and to board service and uh I can't say enough good things about
103Mrs mcquiston and the job she does as a board member uh I truly admire her and and her advocacy do we have any additional comments and we move for a vote please those in favor I those oppose 60 and Mrs mcquiston is our candidate and and our last agenda item is Oakland County School Board Association OS ocba dinner meeting yes oh before you uh before the board votes and before the anyone declares whether or not they want to go in your board materials tomorrow you will see that March 6th we we have three events that evening so we have the ocba dinner uh we have an art recognition award here at the ESC and then uh our partners at Hospitality House are having their spring fundraiser and so my cabinet and I we've parsed this
104out to make sure that uh administratively we're represented at all the events um but as you're considering what you want to do that evening I I would hate for somebody to say they want to go to the ocba dinner we register you and then you find out there's an art award tomorrow when you get your board materials so I just wanted to point that out before you uh make your decisions Mr seagler yes you would like to make a motion who else wants to go anybody do we know are you going to go yes I'm going to go I'm move the Board of Education approve the attendance of Mr Peterson and Mr seigler at the Oak County School boards association dinner meeting on Wednesday March 6 2024 and authorized payment of the registration fee support
105do we have any additional comments I do um the reason I stood up and chose this one right away this is at oh ostc facility in which is the Pontiac Auburn Hills which is I think the newest of all the the uh multiple schools uh vocational schools in the county I've been there before uh for our welding um Advisory board meeting it's an exclusive facility number one so anytime I always get the opportunity to go there um I would choose that um so those of you that do have the opportunity and have made up your mind at uh um and one of these other areas are not contrasting for you um that in itself it is not like going to Oakland schools it's a much different uh much different and deeper uh function so uh
106I'll leave it at that and uh if we don't have any additional comments Mr Peterson I do have one comment I have a question so I don't know if we have checked with Mrs Kaplan to see whether or not she wanted to attend or not and I wondered if maybe we should amend the motion and add her to it just in case she wants to and then if she doesn't want to go at least we've approved it so we don't have to come back and approve something I don't you think about that because I don't know her intention and and I would at least rather approve the expense in case she wants to go and I was with her at the last meeting and she did not mention one way or the other to me
107at that time and I realize that even for us it's our meeting is actually the 7th so this actually is the day before so motion and then we can vote sure um yeah I I would just um ask that we amend the motion to also include um Mrs Kaplan to the um to the fees and approve the fees support support any additional comments and we'll take a vote please those in favor I those opposed and uh that brings us to a light-handed adjournment thank you thank you all for your attendance