WLCSD Board of Education Special Meeting - June 15, 2023

001good evening thank you for coming this evening nice to see so many of you tonight we're going to stand for the Pledge of Allegiance okay we are starting this evening with public commentary and I know some of you have spoken before and some of you have not and in recent meetings post meetings I've received several emails some people thinking that we were respectful some thinking that we were not it's a judgment call I'm going to do my best one thing I will ask since we do have so many people here and so many people who want to speak the board Administration really wants to make sure that we can hear you so whilst people are speaking if we could please let them have their time and be quiet we'd really appreciate that if you do

002get a little bit noisy and we can't hear you might hear me asking you to please let the person speak we know that sometimes you'll agree and sometimes you won't agree with what they say again we just want to be respectful Mrs Levin is going to time for us she's told me she has charged her phone so she's all set when you get close if you get close to three minutes she'll give you um that information and let you know you're coming close to your time and will ask you to please you know wrap up your comment you don't have to take three minutes but that is the the limit if you do um get close to that again we'll let you know that when you do speak you'll want to come up here over

003here to the microphone in the podium and we'll just call you up one after another we do have quite a few and a couple more had just come in so I will try my best to get the names correct if I misspeak please give me a little Grace our first person tonight will be Dan Carlson [Applause] good evening Gord thank you for giving me the opportunity to speak uh before I begin my actual comments I just want to put a plug-in we should build pickleball courts at all the different locations because it's a great Sport and it's so much fun so we should do that uh Dr Chatfield like Mr Chatfield yes so yes yep um but uh maybe you recognize me I was here last month to receive the be kind award and I

004want to thank you for that honor it means a lot to me and I've gotten a lot of compliments on it but for me part of being kind being means being kind to all those of society particularly those who are most marginalized including the lgbtq community and the African-American community and as part of being kind I think we should adopt textbooks that include stories and the history of those marginalized peoples just like it has always included the stories and histories of uh maybe the majority of Americans white males in particular so uh just as you're as you're making your decisions tonight please be kind and try to include everybody thank you so much I appreciate it Becky Behrens you take those over there come on Dr Burns good evening members of the board Dr bernia

005my name is Dr Becky Behrens and I would like to comment on supplemental resources being proposed for common lit which you will be considering this evening this is quite an impressive array of material and information I much I must say I can see why teachers have requested it it has good annotation tools and Provisions for questions and discussion since diversity is the buzzword in today's culture I look for this when I look at textbooks or educational materials I suggest that common lit could benefit from more diversity of opinions in research now let me explain what I mean one of the online library articles in common lit was about FDR and the New Deal it is commonly accepted in educational circles that FDR was a great precedent who passed a bold array of measures to help

006the common man in the form of the new deal but it took World War II to restore the economy many economists of today disagree with this assessment FDR's own Secretary of the Treasury Henry morgenthau said in testimony before Congress in 1939 and I quote we are spending more than we have ever spent before and it does not work and after eight years of this Administration we have just as much unemployment as when we started and an enormous debt to boot close quote why is this important for high school students to know because if they don't examine what was destructive and troubling about FDR's policies they will not become informed adult voters when faced with the prospect of voting for the same failed policies credible economic historians now say that the Great Depression did not have

007to last as long as it did and the fault lies at the feet of FDR in this resource also there are 96 articles on the subject of racism only one article on Independence Day and it debunks it from the perspective of Frederick Douglass because of the continuance of slavery know where our students told that Douglas however reversed course on his opinions later in life and celebrated the U.S Constitution as a freedom promoting document again only one incomplete view of History patriotism only one article giving the lyrics of America the Beautiful an article on the Bill of Rights was written by the ACLU they made the statement that the enormous progress achieved as being heavily challenged by a movement dedicated to Rolling back the reach and effectiveness of the Bill of Rights and to undermine the

008independence of our courts the courts were never intended to propose or Implement public policy it was always intended for Congress to do this again this article is a promo for the concept of judicial activism under the guise of independent courts students are not given in opposing viewpoint so with this imbalance and one-sided bias no wonder college and university students are graduating with a very dim view of America as incurably racist and not worth celebrating or fighting for surely our impressive educational materials in all fairness should be able to provide better balance and diversity of thought thank you Deb Terry good evening my name is Deborah Terry and I just completed my 23rd year of teaching high school English in the district I am one of three high school English Department chairs in our district and

009currently the vice president of the wlea I am also the really proud mother of two wonderful students who attend Northern so when I prepared my comments for tonight I was really thinking through many lenses as a teacher a mom a Community member and a leader in particular I have some concerns I like to address relating to comments made at the June 1st board meeting regarding discrimination and censorship after the June 1st board meeting I was reminded of an old saying that says if you want to be someone's Ally but you haven't been hit by Stones being thrown at them you aren't standing close enough to them yet I'm here tonight to say to you that you have a room full of Educators and many more who couldn't be here who are willing to stand up

010and stand close not only for our students but for one another the wlea is almost 700 members strong and each day all of us Choose Love and acceptance for all of our students whoever they are every student every day I was heartbroken to listen to some of the voices from our community members a couple weeks ago but also the comments made by some of our newest board members during the conversation about curriculum adoption it's very hard to believe that in 2023 we are listening to our elected School Board leaders in a premier District in Oakland County that touts every child every day say they can't endorse curriculum that somehow promotes a transgendered agenda or encourages inclusivity to all I sat here so disappointed and then 72 hours later felt rather sick to my stomach at

011graduation watching the same board members smiling and shaking hands with our students as they cross the stage to receive their diplomas [Applause] some of those students who of course identify in ways that some of our board members refuse refuse to support and acknowledge please do better if you are going to shake our students hands in public then back them in this boardroom secondly I am an English teacher literature reflects The Human Experience we read for so many reasons and not the least of these being to one understand one another to build empathy make human connection and relate to others as an English Department and across all departments it is imperative that we are able to continue to teach high quality literary texts like the ones on the agenda tonight and the pre-ap and Common Core

012Curriculum to our students as we have prepared to do so as highly qualified educators to our new board members please focus on the job you're elected to do trust the leadership in the room and the Educators in the district to do what they have been trained and hired to do if you need a project please get out and talk to other school boards in the district to work on the Oakland County enhancement Village as that will be an avarable admirable and necessary change for our district most importantly please strive to be leaders for our students believe in them and stand up for them and not against them thank you Hannah Donegan Hannah Donegan do you get it right oh sorry Hannah done again yep good evening thank you for the opportunity to speak my name

013is Hannah Donegan my husband donigan and I started teaching years ago and we met here in fact in the building that's no longer there anymore but we I want to remind people that there are state standards for a curriculum and so anybody who tries to deal with them have to know that the State Board of Education is the group that tells what should be taught I'm a former English teacher and I praise the first the gal that was just here because the literature is The Human Condition my husband taught geography and history and he knows how important valued human history is and not just glossing over the wrong things that maybe our country did at one time so thank you and I hope you'll consider the state board and know that they're the ones who

014officially dictate the curriculum thank you Michelle black Michelle black good evening members of the board and cabinet thank you for letting us speak tonight my name is Michelle black and I'm an extremely proud 25-year employee of Walled Lake Schools and currently serve as the English language arts and social studies curriculum coordinator I'm so grateful to be able to do the work I do and feel so fortunate to be among such amazing students teachers administrators and families in Walled Lake to begin I'd like to thank the board for approving our recent curriculum and resource purchases purchases and for trusting our teachers to choose curricular materials that are appropriate meet the rigorous standards we are compelled to teach and are engaging for our students in meaningful ways I also wanted to take a couple minutes tonight to

015highlight some of the summer learning opportunities we're able to offer our Walled Lake students because of our incredible teachers and staff this year we have our in-person Sunshine Academy running at three elementary schools each day the students will be immersed in fun and engaging Reading Writing and Mathematics activities we have virtual tutoring in small groups focusing on reading and math we have our English language development in-person summer opportunity school at summer school opportunity as well as virtual tutoring for our English Learners we have our credit recovery grade Improvement and credit advancement opportunities for our high school students with in-person lab and virtual opportunities with all of these programs we're supporting nearly 1200 Walled Lake Schools Walled Lake School students this summer this work is important and we're happy to be able these offer to offer

016these opportunities for our students to continue to be engaged while learning when we're not in school in closing as Educators we are so fortunate to work with students and staff from all walks of life we're responsible for creating safe learning environments where all students can learn be successful and feel welcome in our learning communities I'm grateful for the opportunity to learn alongside all of our students staff thank you [Applause] Mike is it why sir whis thank you I would like to talk tonight about what is occurring within the board as it relates to the Wallach School Board budget review and approval the board is devoted on approval of the budget tonight a board member is mentioned in a poisonous Facebook posting from a right-wing Wall Lake anti-government anti-public School anti-student hate group determined to destroy

017public education in Michigan this board member falsely indicates the Wall Lake Administration failed to provide detailed information and adequate time for School Board review of the new budget this board member appears to be looking to block approval of the budget I have met with the Wall Lake School staff involved in budget preparations unlike this board member I have done my homework detailed budget information is on the transparency website and has been there for several months the Administration has had more budget meetings budget discussions and shared more detailed budget information this year than ever before this board member has received multiple invites and opportunities to meet with the school's Administration to discuss any questions and give clarification on budget items this board member has ignored repeated requests to meet all Michigan public school districts prepare similar

018Financial reports based on Michigan State of Michigan requirements plant Moran's Auditors have reviewed an approved the district's budget and financial documents plant Moran's Auditors have indicated the Wall Lake School budgets and financial information are some of the most thorough and complete in the state of Michigan the 2324 budget must be approved at this board meeting if not approved the district expenses will cease being paid effective at the end of the month this unreasonable questioning of the 2324 budget and unwillingness to meet and to understand it is a replay of what occurred a couple board meetings back when the same board member voted against the approval of the Oakland intermediate school budget there are 28 school districts in the Oakland ISD only two districts did not approve the ISD budget Wall Lake was one of them

019it made us look less than professional I'm here in support of all wall Lake students the great teachers staff and School administration I want Wall Lake to remain one of the most desirable public schools in the state On a related note I attended a Huron Valley school board meeting Pat this past Monday one of their newly elected board members Jacob dimmick posted an anti-lgbtq hate Facebook comment the post gave the impression that the comment came from dimmick through the Huron Valley School Board dimmick took down the post realizing how stupid he was he was reprimanded multiple times at last Monday night's here on Valley board meeting we can only hope his recall petition circulates soon the same here on Valley School Board member demick back by demig is a backer and supporter of our problem

020as a board member we need to continue to fight against the poisonous anti-American and anti-public school hate elements I have lived in Commerce Township for 20 years and have complete faith and confidence in our Wall Lake Schools I asked that you vote to approve the budget that is being presented tonight I want to thank the administration of the walleye Consolidated Schools for all the great work that you do I also want to thank those board members that are a positive influence in our community and want to make the Wall Lake Schools a positive and accepting place for all students thank you for your time Matthew Hewitt good evening Dr Vernia school board members and cabinet members thank you for the opportunity to speak this evening my name is Matthew Hewitt and I'm currently on summer

021in summer mode but during the short nine months between those summer breaks I have the privilege of teaching up to 32 students 10 11 year olds at Keith Elementary I will be starting my 23rd year here in the fall I had one of the best school families this past school year I consider my students to be a school fan we laughed a lot learned even more and my family members grew into Kinder more thoughtful citizens aware of the world around them we even made time to write an act in our own skits and perform them for other students if you're looking for data here's a quick snapshot my kids made 97 growth and I ready math where more than half made growth from 100 up to 236 percent and that I've already reading my students

022made 154 growth fourth of the class made up to 400 growth and a fourth made up to 200 percent I love my kids and they love me they don't care that I have a husband and neither do their parents because kids aren't born with prejudice it's a learned trait we accept each other for Who We Are um and that's it period the only thing I'm trying to indoctrinate them is to be kind people who care about themselves one another and their fellow Keith dragons and their favorite part of the whole year was in place of a typical reading buddies on Friday my kids go out and help our schools special needs students that that joy that this job brings them and my kids and the kids they work with is immeasurable as Educators we get

023to work with students from all walks of life we're responsible for caring safe learning environment learning environment where all students can learn be successful and feel welcome in our Learning Community I'm grateful for the opportunity to learn alongside them and with our students and our families thank you Alan McDonald all right good evening I wanted to thank the board for this opportunity my name is Ellen McDonald and I'm here to speak on behalf of some of my colleagues if you'd like to stay on June May um foreign as the school year ends we can't help but think and reflect on the past 180 days that we've spent with students and families graduating seniors have come to share their plans for the future I see some in the back that came to that I got to

024visit with on the um wle senior um clap out thank you um share their plans for the future and students in every classroom are sad about leaving their current classrooms and excited about what is to come teachers feel the same sad that the community of Learners Are Moving on but excited for the new faces of the next year we reflect on the successes of the year and the things that we want to change like Mr Peterson said at the last meeting we learn every day from our students they really do teach us the best lessons about empathy and compassion as public school Educators we are so lucky because we get to work with students from all walks of life we are responsible for creating safe learning environments where all students can learn be successful and

025feel welcomed in our learning communities we are grateful for the opportunity to learn alongside of all of our students and families thank you for the opportunity and thank you for supporting all of our students foreign hi there I'm Ben milonas uh the instructional specialist at waldick elementary I'm here to happy pride month I'm here to share some points of Pride um but we just don't eat june for that because we're proud of a lot of things at Walled Lake in Walled Lake I am at least a very tons of things um I want to talk about the instructional Specialists uh that that are in every Elementary School our job is kind of we have there's it's kind of a triangle where we are we coach teachers we work with small intervention groups and we work

026um really really a very focused instruction with first grade readers and um it's a hard job it's not it's not easy but any job in the school is hard there's not an easy job um but but we're all very very proud of what we do um looking at looking the best I have some preliminary data data and um what we have done we take what we do with our first graders is we we we assess the lowest third of every class and from that assessment we take the lowest kid the lowest readers and our job is to take them and and get them at or above grade level and this year I'm very proud I see some instructional Specialists out there um we we uh we took 50 kids 50 kids that were way below

027reading level grade level and they're at or above and that's I'm so proud of that um that's like two that's like two entire classrooms of students who are below level that are now at or above that's that's two entire classrooms of students that are not going to have um special ed referrals uh we we we we're doing we're making a difference um in addition some of us um worked with a renowned educational leaders from Columbia universities Teachers College of reading and writing project and these um special these instructional special Specialists uh studied with them and when they came back uh they uh within three in three schools they did this thing called a mega lab which is which is another fancy word for uh a reader and Writer's Workshop um but they LED kindergarten staff

028development Hands-On kindergarten staff development in three schools and I was fortunate that it was at waldick elementary was one of them and I got to learn from that because I I my I'm being trained next fall um 30 seconds finally I want to just say that um I am I'm so grateful for this opportunity to speak tonight but I'm more grateful a ticket to do what I do every day and and Walton Lake it's a excuse me um it's a wonderfully inclusive place that 29 years ago I never thought would be and I was I was afraid of that and I'm not I'm not afraid of it anymore times whatever thank you Haley Zimmerman Kaylee Zimmerman hi there thank you for the opportunity to speak I'm actually glad I'm following you um and I'm glad

029to hear all the wonderful things about Walled Lake Schools I'm actually a 16-year educator in a neighboring neighboring School District so thank you for allowing me to speak I have a son who is a kindergartener at Keith Elementary and we love it there but today I did want to talk to the board and I'm glad a lot of curriculum leaders are here I did want to talk to you guys about the literacy curriculum being caught taught in Walled Lake Schools I'm an Orton Gillingham certified teacher 30 hours of training I'm in my second year of letters training which is focused on the science of reading by Dr Louisa Motes it's been fabulous and let me be clear this is not a teacher problem this is a stomach problem that starts at the teacher training at

030the colleges I began the shift in my classroom a few years ago from a balanced literacy approach to a structured literacy approach and I have to tell you the data and the things I am seeing with my students is amazing and I'd be happy to share that data with you at a later date I realized that as a pair parent not a teacher in the Walled Lake Schools I don't know everything that goes on behind the scenes and all the planning and work that is going on so I don't know about the future for the literacy curriculum in here on or in Walled Lake but having a son in kindergarten I was disappointed to see the use of leveled readers and the units of study curriculum being implemented to teach reading writing and phonics my

031son's teacher was fabulous we love love Mrs Chappelle and I'm not changing districts I'm not changing buildings but I did not love the fact that my son will leave kindergarten without the foundational skills needed to become a successful reader I will be taking him to my school in my office at home and teaching him Orton Gillingham this summer to catch him up teaching using the units of study which by the way Lucy Hawkins has admitted is not research based and she wrote it not knowing about decades worth of Science of reading research alongside dras and fountas and Pennell with assessments and using predictable level readers has put students at a disadvantage and most importantly it promotes the use of relying on pictures guessing and memorizing instead of providing students with the necessary skills and phonics

032Foundation to be able to decode Words which if you can decode words you can comprehend and be a fluent reader that is not happening I would love to see the shift at the elementary level in the literacy curriculum and the way reading and writing and phonics is being taught all teachers deserve professional development that focuses on decades worth of research pertaining to the science of reading and structured literacy it's out there I hope conversations at the district curriculum planning level is focusing on shifting from a balanced literacy curriculum that promotes the use of predictable level readers and the three queuing system anything heinman Lucy Hawkins units of study dra found to some Canal assessments please get rid of them they're fabulous research programs out there that my district is actually field studying Institute of multi-century

033Education or Gillingham youfly is out there and I would encourage you guys as board members thank you stakeholders to go and research sold a story write to read film is out there there's so many things you've hit your time okay please finish thank you thank you [Applause] nalani Johnson okay hello my name is Melanie Johnson I am a recent Alum from Wildlife Central and I am a proud black young woman and I have been told by numerous people who have felt unsafe in our school and I think Banning books will not make them feel safer I've learned so many things from books about lgbtq culture and I've learned things about Black Culture many kids including myself see themselves in the characters and they connect to them and if you take these books away you are

034inhibiting the growth of kids pretending history didn't happen doesn't mean it didn't having books about slavery or the Discrimination of black people shows the younger generation how far we've come and how much further we can go don't you want the world to keep getting better many black families are told to keep their history to themselves to not show it some even feel ashamed by it growing up in a district that has a very little black population I know personally I have learned things about my own history from books why do I have to fight to know my history books help teens gain perspective no one should be stuck in their ways people need to keep learning keep changing everyone should have a mind of their own and reach ideas on their own by Banning books

035you are forcing and teaching the youth to censor themselves to feel stuck and lost in themselves because they have no one else they can look to see that kids deserve to see themselves to stop them from feeling different we use books to learn isn't that why I have to read books in class isn't that why my AP World Book was bigger than my head when you ban books you are teaching kids not to learn about the history having selective history does nothing but hurt the growth of children isn't that the point of school to help children grow to learn I want you to think to yourself what's more important teaching kids to make our world better or keeping kids from learning from their ancestors mistakes thank you for your time Tyler Lapointe Tyler Lapointe hello

036my name is Tyler Lapointe and I am a 2023 graduate of wildlife Western uh forgive me if I speak fast I am very nervous um I would like to tell the board that I have never been much of a reader myself when I would read I would read Goosebumps or scary stories to tell in the dark and I am not a monster that hides under your bed uh I am however a young queer trans man so for the record my path of figuring out who I am had nothing to do with the books available to me growing up to the individuals interested in Banning certain books saying it's because they wish to protect children may I ask what children you are helping by limiting their education hate crimes against people of color queer people and

037trans people have increased in the past couple of years according to The Marshall Project from 2021 excuse me from 2020 to 2021 alone hate crime rates went up by 70 for people in the LGBT community this stems from people's fear of the unknown while the solution for these crimes is not as simple as education it is an amazing place to start I as a transgender person have felt unsafe in school for the past four years there have been people who have threatened to beat me up if they saw me in the restroom but there have also been many people who have supported me some of those people barely know me but they do know that I am no harm to my peers my identity makes me no more of a threat to any than any

038other people in my school if you were to take away the minimal education students have on people like me the more danger trans and queer students will be in there were a lot more Tran excuse me there were a lot more people in my freshman year that believed I didn't belong there than there were by the time my senior year came along freshman year I had to use a secret bathroom in the counseling office every time I had to use the restroom for my personal safety most students at the school only read about only read what they have to read for classes or they would read about things that personally interest them if we're being honest with internet being as accessible as it is if someone is electing to read a book that you are

039attempting to ban there really won't be a way to stop them from reading that book or learning about that topic but it may be harder to get a hold of accurate information misinformation excuse me misinformation feeds into fear when someone finds out they are wrong they instantly get defensive which is just a natural response but it can lead to escalating situations very quickly when I was in Middle School people would ask me very weird questions about things that they had to look up to be able to ask me questions that were incredibly leading and make me sound uh sick in the head or um like a creep other questions would uh excuse me questions that wouldn't have been asked if they had had other accurate sources available to them if you wish for your children

040to not learn about complex topics that will surround them once they get into the real world there are much more complex ideas that they are already learning about high schoolers have a much easier time learning about new and complex things while they're growing this is a very important time to learn about marginalized communities I guarantee you the students in AP Calculus have a much harder time grasping that information than they do about people's identities everyone in this room understands wanting to protect younger generations and I am sure the parents here wishing to ban certain books have good intentions but they don't understand the much stronger negative impacts that those bands will have in the community please for the safety of my community listen to the students speaking here today thank you [Applause] Lily Cosman Lily

041Cosman good evening and thank you for the opportunity to address the board tonight my name is Lily Cosman and I will be a senior at Walden Northern High School next year in my honors 11 English class we were asked to pick from one of seven prompts and write a speech for our final assignment I chose the prompt defending the book The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn from being banned I would like to read a few key points from this speech that I believed apply to recent issues banned books often discuss topics such as equality racism and morality many believe that these topics of conversation should be discussed within classrooms both on how it has been prevalent throughout history and so applies to society today it should be assumed that diverse perspectives are welcomed and examined through

042our Educational Systems however an unfortunate amount of people think quite the opposite many believe these topics to be too mature for students they believe that the content being taught is not appropriate in a school setting and for these reasons aside that their child should not be exposed to this knowledge discussion of racism discrimination inequality has always been present in literature these include the Adventures of Huckleberry Finn Little Women the hate U give and the experiences in these novels evoke compelling questions about Society for the reader people argue that the portrayal of race discrimination LGBT lgbtq plus characters and offensive language have the potential to harm students but it is important to acknowledge that shielding students from challenging material deprives them of the opportunity to learn how to navigate complex issues and engage in controversial discussions

043books provide an easier platform for students to interact with these ideas they can be used as a platform for open and honest conversations about controversial topics they allow students to connect to their own thoughts and feelings through the characters in these books providing guidance in facilitating discussions Educators can help students develop a mature understanding of these issues of language and its implications racism and its societal impacts and prejudices that have a choke hold on groups in society allowing students to read and discuss controversial literature encourages independent thinking broadens students Horizons and cultivates their ability to form informed opinions as someone who's graduating next year as a female minority these are skills I believe I require to be successful in society these are skills I hope my peers and I learned in high school before we

044enter the real world before we interview for a job where 30 of us will most likely encounter issues because of our race where 46 percent of us will need to prove our worth due to our gender and where every single one of us has an obligation to love and support one another regardless of race religion and orientation I would absolutely love to be able to receive my education in a safe open and accepting environment Walled Lake school's mission statement says they want all students to demonstrate that they are caring responsible and knowledgeable citizens not allowing students the option to discuss complex and diverse topics contradicts the Walled Lake school's mission statement by depriving every student the opportunity to learn how to fill these to fulfill these purposes by exposing students to uncomfortable truths we enable

045them to confront and challenge Society in a healthy and productive manner by Banning these books with these subjects we undermine these values thank you thank you Maureen haran Marine haran good evening thank you for the opportunity to speak tonight my name is Maureen haran I've taught in Walled Lake Schools since 1997. in that time I've seen a lot of change I've seen schools built and others torn down I've seen the demographics change from predominantly white English-speaking families to a district more representative of the world white with multiple languages speaking families Arabic Chaldean German Hindi Hmong Chinese Japanese Romanian Spanish Urdu just to name a few the classroom is a place where kids get to know each other share ideas and learn that learning doesn't focus on Progressive or conservative ideas it focuses on all kids

046and what's right for them censoring what's right for one group to serve another is unpatriotic we want honest accurate history and stories relevant to our students respecting people across our differences and preparing our kids for the 21st century lgbq represent approximately four to ten percent of any population according to Gary Gates A demographer Williams Institute UCLA School of Law these students come to us as they are and sometimes they come out to us even at whole classes that's because of the caring responsible and knowledgeable environment teachers provide as Educators we get to work with students of all kinds cultural backgrounds that are different ethnic backgrounds that are different socioeconomic backgrounds gender color language speaking backgrounds all differences coming to us as they are we are responsible for creating learning environments that are safe warm welcoming

047and knowledgeable so as to Foster success for each child walthik has over 20 schools with 12 000 students among them there's likely to be lgbtq students as we've heard from a few today our mission statement reads in partnership with parents in the community is to become the best education system in America so all students demonstrate they are caring responsible knowledgeable citizens our motto every child every day I'm grateful for that opportunity working together with students and families to become a great School District fostering great citizens making America great in the 21st century thank you Kelly burkel Kelly burkel hello and good evening to the board of my fellow community members I would like to thank the board for allowing me to speak today my name is Kelly Berkel I am a student at Walled Lake

048western and I'm addressing the board today in regards to the recent Push by a group of parents to remove various supposedly inappropriate books from our libraries when researching book bands I found that according to pen America last school year 2532 books were banned of those books 41 explicitly address lgbtq plus themes 40 contain prominent characters of color and 21 directly addressed issues of race or racism a staggering statistic considering that according to a study done by Boston University the average high school library only has 20 to 40 books that address the queer community and only 7 to 16 books said that dress race and racism furthermore of the book span this school year 38 percent discuss topics of health and well-being 44 betrayed violence and abuse and 30 percent cover grief and death such as

049The Lovely Bones which was brought up in the previous board meeting removing books that discuss mental health alienate students who are struggling and does not fix the underlying issues should the board follow the demands of these parents books that represent students of minorities will be at risk to be removed from our libraries despite the fact that students are protected from discrimination on the basis of race and gender by the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the education Amendments of 1972 it is apparent imperative that students are able to see themselves in the media that's provided to them especially since queer and colored teens have hired rates of suicide than their peers according to the Trevor Project and the CDC the parents that are pushing book bands claim that students need protections from intense topics because

050we are not ready for the realities of our world it is an insult to the district's ability to teach us it is an insult to our ability to understand Nuance it is an insult to the trauma that we have already endured we survived a worldwide pandemic we students we children have to practice active shooter training drills also known as Alice training let me draw attention to the counterpart of this training where it may be necessary for students to attack an armed Intruder and might I ask both the board and those book Banning parents what are we to throw at the gunman when there are no longer books on our shelves 30 seconds the Banning of books is an attack upon the students the students that cannot vote on the legislation nor the board members that

051represent us so we must come here to plead our case I asked the board rather than listening to the parents that wish to put words in our mouths please listen to the voices and hopes that we students articulate here for you today thank you [Music] all right Aaron Nuttall hello my name is Aaron Nuttall um I'm a neurodivergent trans student attending Wild Lake western today I will be speaking in opposition of censoring or Banning controversial books from Walled Lake Schools do you know how many trans and queer youth are suicidal nearly half and according to NPR those rates are higher for queer use of color in March of this year I had shared to Mrs Walters the social worker at Walled Lake western that I was contemplating suicide I was deeply depressed and I felt

052alone thrown out by the world as a trans person who every step I take I am thrown back 20. I am not a monster I'm not a predator I am a queer child trying to take one day at a time so I don't fall back in that hole again censoring books in waldick Western because they are deemed unsuitable her children is horrifying as a nation hurdles towards fascism queer children deserve to see positive strong and empowering representations of themselves in books the Manchester City Council says that positive representation can boost self-confidence in students adults alike I know for a fact that had I had the access to books with neurodivergent and queer characters in them I would have accepted myself sooner instead of wishing and praying that my differences would go away but this doesn't

053just affect queer characters and queer books this will also affect books concerning Mental Health sexual well-being and many many more topics it is inevitable that teenagers are going to be teenagers and experience and experiment with sexual intercourse and it is of the utmost important that adults provide literature and resources to help them deal with practicing safe sexual actions betting books won't make these issues go away instead it will actively harm your student population by stigmatizing these topics and making them unspeakables so please please do not listen to these parents pushing for Banning books and listen to your students thank you Alan geish Alan geish did I get that writer close I hope yeah okay thank you thank you for having me speak today I addressed the board today as a proud American a constitutionalist a

054believer in the First Amendment I believe that cancel culture has gone too far this country and that is why I stand in opposition of this attempt at government censorship uh parents have every right to uh up their children out of uh curriculum and and keep them from reading books that they don't approve of they do not have a right to prevent everyone else's children from having access to a quality education it is so important that children are able to see themselves reflected in literature have their experiences acknowledged as being real and their pain uh is valid they need to know that they are not alone that's why actions like the ones being discussed today do not protect children they only strip the support from the most vulnerable Among Us thank you for your time today

055support our teachers and God bless America Christy rust Christy rust okay Nancy van lewen [Applause] thank you much of what I was interested in saying has already been said so I shall not repeat it but I would like to make one comment that was already alluded to tonight it does distress me that one of our board members was posting on Facebook concerns about the budget process when obviously I believe that most of what was expressed was inaccurate and it to some degree irresponsible I would like to also express my firm belief that Walled Lake has one of the strongest kindest most experienced cabinets and Leadership in the all of Oakland County and maybe the state of Michigan we have people that are so dedicated to their work we have people that are Award winners we

056have people who have spent their careers in education continue to Foster what's good about education the fact that there seems to be a trend or a feeling that they are irresponsible also bothers me a great deal so I I am here to support not only our cabinet but I also want to praise those who have spoken tonight especially the students your bravery your your experience your sharing of your life experiences is very critical so thank you very much and thank you Kathy cubic I just want to say it's great that you all came because I've come to board meetings for about 29 years or more and we always have about five or six people so thank you for coming showing you care that's a good thing I do want to support um anybody that runs

057for school board has to be pretty brave to do it and I appreciate you and I am very very sad because I've come for many years to the board meeting and Mr Siegler would know do you ever remember where previous board members came back and wanted to um I don't know if the word would be attack but condemn the new board members and that's what I don't think is right and I think Mrs Casa Grande I hope you can Reign that in a bit and I thank you all for all the hard work you've done thank you foreign [Applause] Paul Carlisle did I get that right yeah okay thank you it's okay I only came here because of my daughter I'm a concerned parent I'm a Survivor of um being if you could speak this

058way sir to the board thank you I'm a Survivor of being um a pedophile took me and when I was 15 and two of my students aren't survivors they died they committed suicide over so I have maybe a very tainted Viewpoint of all this I'm not opposed of the community I think that schools have a very slippery slope line to follow here they have to be careful what they do publish when you don't want Nazi and put in the books we don't want a lot of things put in the in our schools so we got to be careful in what we put out there I'm sorry if you could again address the board I don't mind putting lgbtq out there but the schools it's not the place for them to teach it I'm sorry we

059need to teach how to be good to kind to people we're missing a lot of other things that we're not teaching we're not teaching how to do taxes kids can't come out of school and just survive my my student doesn't she doesn't know how to do a checkbook she doesn't know how to do finances she doesn't know any of those things where are we missing and then we can't focus on other things when we're not even teaching people Basics and how to survive so I may be very tainted in how I see things but being a Survivor I do it see it different and I had I have put two pedophiles into jail and one was a high school student and you can look him up he went to jail and also it was my

060fire chief he went to jail for attacking the children at the school so I see an unpainted Viewpoint of it but I think we've got to be careful in what we do we got to be very careful in the school's got to be very careful on how they handle things in the future and I agree with some censorship but I agree we do need not to censor history we need history to be out there we got it even Nazism I don't care what it is we got to learn from all the bad so that we cannot repeat it we do not want to repeat history again thank you Christopher Titus good evening Dr bernia a board of education and the cabinet my name is Christopher Titus and I have been a member of this community

061for 31 years I have my wife and I have four children who are all successful today are products of this district and I also am the proud husband of a instructional specialist here in the district I am here to speak tonight about the budget um the budget as it has been stated it is simply a tool that has to be used by this district for to be able to spend our dollars we have this we are required to have this budget proposed by the end of this month when we have the state of Michigan doesn't have to have their budget done until October this past week uh at least our Senate did make some good work on some things they passed a law so that we can have everyone in a college football game drunk

062because they can now drink beer at a college football game but they certainly were not working on uh the budget so that our schools can know what they're going to have to be able to develop their budgets and to um you know have them in at the end of the month again this budget that is today is a tool it's going to it's going to change as the year it goes on no we have no idea how many students are going to play a particular sport we have no idea how many new kids are going to show up but it is imperative that this budget is built on years of experience it is built um with experienced people doing their job they are professionals they they are they are doing what we need to support

063not only our professional teachers but all of our students and families in this District the the uh from what I've seen um the comments made is that it is just proving to me that people are being beholden by who put them in these board seats that is not your job as a board member your job as a board member is to listen to everyone that wants to come and speak but then you need to make decisions based on all of our families all of our students whether we whether whatever your personal feelings are about things they have to be put aside and this board has to come to consensus that is the job of a board is you need to be able to understand that yes we've got families that look all kinds of ways

064in our district we have all students that look lots of different ways speak lots of different things feel and and are different those you have to be you have to be concerned with just with every student that is in the district if it runs against your personal opinion thank you you have to be able to do that never hurt my 30. okay okay yeah I didn't hear your 30 either but she gave you time about 10 seconds ago thank you very much Mary louther Mary Lou louder yeah Mary lowther I believe it's I get the right pronunciation yeah hello first thank you for allowing me to speak tonight my name is Mary louther and I have two children who attend waldeck schools my daughter is a freshman at Northern my son is in eighth grade

065at Clifford Smart I'd like to speak to you tonight about a concern I have with the long-term suspension and expulsion process in our district on May 24th my son was suspended through the end of the school year based on a hearsay allegation and conflicting statements with zero evidence besides he said she said statements robbing him of the celebrations with his friends and classmates he was so eager for we had a hearing with Dr Lunds and he determined the long-term suspension was valid throughout this process I have learned that this is happening to many other students in our district as well these are good kids who are good students good athletes good friends kind-hearted from good families with no history of threatening behavior I would like to work together to determine a better process in determining

066these punishments before criminalizing our children which is tarnishing reputations and changing the trajectory of these kids lives currently the school the student attends will make a recommendation a disciplinary recommendation to the deputy superintendent who they are in constant contact with from this onset of the allegation of the said allegation hearing is then set and Dr Lanz is the judge jury and executioner there is currently no impartial committee or to oversee these hearings or any restorative process to try and remediate these accusations before throwing our kids good kids out of school our own board has been stripped to the right to have a say in these situations numerous Studies have shown that exclusionary discipline of the on of uh the exclusionary discipline of of this form sets the stage for student disenfranchisement academic failure Dropout and

067the potential for criminalization the Michigan Department of Education states that an impartial designee or committee shall oversee the hearing I don't believe our Deputy superintendent is an impartial party and has not and has no intention to hear parents out at these hearings and feel like we need a better process there appears to be no opportunity within our district for input from professionals such as social workers therapists police or teachers the process is broken and needs to be the Board needs involvement to adopt a new policy for long-term suspensions and expulsions if nothing is done to change this process the district is going to continue to cause more harm than good I understand that our schools need to be need to do their due diligence to address a Potential Threat and obviously I encourage that as

068I want my children to be safe but when there is no evidence besides a game of telephone among peers we are hurting good kids and hurting their future and potential to be great we talk about inclusion but this should also mean inclusion for boys that are interested in normal boy things such as hunting and not demonize them because someone finds out they responsibly and legally partake in these Hobbies this is also a right under our constitution practicing inclusion for some and not others is in direct opposition of opposition of our District's motto every child every day it was not every child every day for my son we can do better please consider revisiting this process so that it is fair and partial and right by forming a committee to conduct these hearings which is the

069common and recommended process Statewide thank you thank you Jennifer Bond hello my name is Jennifer Bond and I just finished my 24th year in education at 6 45 locking up the cabinets at Clifford Smart Middle School as I'm the Design Tech Teacher and I just want to thank all of you for your service serving on the board my dad served on the board for eight years in Oxford while I was a student then into college and I know the sacrifice and the commitment that you have to have and even some of you my own son had his bait or when I was pregnant with him I had my baby shower at Stephanie's house as I had her daughter at the time and Mark I served on Lake serry Arts Council with so I know that

070even Beyond these experiences you give so much of yourself I also have given so much of myself over the years on curriculum committees and for many years I was a third grade teacher at Glengarry Elementary and I served on a numerous committees that we developed and looked at the curriculum and some of the comments in past meetings were offensive because it second guessed the professionalism that I put forth in all of the decisions made and I just want to let you know and I heard that you might want to have a workshop this summer to truly understand the curricular adoption process and years ago we had one of our curriculum team members say your curriculum is the standards the textbook is a tool so our curriculum is always the standards and we have to find

071textbooks that sometimes aren't a perfect match for what we need to do there's textbook companies they have to look over the entire nation as a way to Market their materials that doesn't necessarily mean Walled Lake uses every single page of a textbook and I think that's something that seemed to not be known and for example our third grade math curriculum we have a Michigan book and throughout the whole thing we have some lessons that we developed as a curriculum committee and sometimes we go into the textbook we do not have every child read every page nor do I use the teacher textbook every page so I think that understanding that will be helpful if you have that Workshop also one of the comments that was made as far as the Michigan Association of School Board

072conference it wasn't focused on learning so I wanted to just let you know that we have learning conferences across the state the science councils the McCall conference the reading conference board members often get reduced rates so you are more than welcome to come and learn about the learning taking place across the district with committed passionate teachers and I encourage you to seek out those opportunities because it will truly develop you as a better Board of Education member thank you Jared is it Roshan good evening thank you for the opportunity to speak tonight to everyone on the board the first item I would like to address is that it is imperative that we support the initiative to bring Mental Health Services into our school system our children need to be our focus and they are going

073to suffer if we don't make an immediate change into our programs and offerings that we do offer throughout the district secondly it has been brought up in recent meetings that certain board members are afraid to discuss what is right and just for our students they don't support our Educators or believe in their professional judgment for a few of you on the board it is time that you followed the job description you sign when you accepted your role and that is to advocate for all students and families not to minimize them you are on a public school board it's time to support it not take it down like certain board members want to do to complete their hidden agenda that was not shared prior to them getting on the board regarding a previous comment tonight unfortunately

074you're right turnouts probably are not very good at this board meaning in general but unfortunately the turnouts continue to be required due to several board members wanting to bring our district backwards in thinking versus being supportive and forward thinking as many board members there's several board members I also feel like public posts that you post on social media that as representation of the board need to be addressed in our very poor taste and I hope the board does review that policy with the entire board it may be time to review recall options to remove those board members that clearly do not have our students families and entire public school public school in their mind thank you Tim sawmiller Tim sawmiller hello Tim sawmiller Commerce Township I'm a cisgender male using pronouns he him and his

075first a brief English lesson the singular they has become a pronoun of choice to replace he and she in cases where the gender of the antecedent the word the pronoun refers to is unknown irrelevant or non-binary or where Jenner needs to be concealed it's the word we use for sentences like everyone loves their mother but it's nothing new the singular they has been used for centuries among its most famous historical users are Shakespeare Chaucer and Jane Austen the Oxford English Dictionary traces usage of singular day back to 1375. where it appears in the medieval romance William and the Werewolf anyway the school board this school board is made up of educated people so you really don't need me to point out all of the nonsense and lies that get repeated here these lies are Scare

076Tactics designed to arouse emotions and incite anger and certainly for no good purpose data for more than a dozen studies of over thirty thousand transgender and gender diverse young people consistently show that access to gender affirming care is associated with better mental health outcomes and that lack of such care is associated with higher rates of suicide depression and self-harming behavior what does all this have to do with Walled Lake Schools any medical procedure has risks associated with it but medical procedures are nobody's business except that of the patient and their doctor what we all have to concern ourselves with is supporting our students who may be afraid or under pressure or in crisis in that vein I urge this board to resist any efforts to allow the Discrimination of and the deprecation of any student

077based on race color creed religion personality or gender identity please protect marginalized kids from the oppression originating from the so-called Great Schools initiative the route to happiness is to accept people as they are not as we wish them to be to see them in the clear light of a day and still love them thank you Tricia Ziegler hi my name is Trisha Ziegler and I teach the second grade at Loon Lake Elementary and I'm representing some of our staff members from there thank you for the opportunity to speak thank you to all the staff who spoke up and especially the students I am extremely impressed and humbled by you first I'd like to thank the school board for approving the go buckets and the new curriculum resources for literacy and social studies at recent school

078board meetings this approval shows that you respect and trust us as Educators the go buckets provide a space for students to use the restroom in a horrifying lockdown situation that we all hope we are never in the new curriculum is a little more aligned to help our students with skills necessary for reading as well as the diversity of our students I wanted to share a few of the positives from Loon Lake this year a veteran teacher who was new to Walled Lake Mrs gourlay said the school district felt like home the staff families and students at Loon Lake have been more welcoming than I could ever have imagined I'm so grateful to be here and I look forward to many more years to come at LLC several staff members myself included were fortunate to receive

079grants from the foundation for excellence thank you to all involved with that Mrs McCullough researched different books at a variety of interesting topics for students and received one a grant to help purchase them to enhance our curriculum Mrs Hutton taught the amazing Junior kindergarten program we're so thankful was finally approved and brought to Walled Lake Schools and we're so happy it's expanding she took this on with gusto working with the other JK teachers and Ms kohanski to create a safe creative and welcoming learning environment for our youngest Learners several staff members share how supportive and accepting several of our parents and teammates can be Miss yulin had a student who was missing and worried about his brother a Walled Lake graduate who was sent off to boot camp we got together as a second grade

080group discussed him and the things he liked and created supportive letters and cards to be sent to him the soldier was so grateful and encouraged by our letter writing and card making he encouraged the students he wrote us back and he encouraged us to take really good care of the relationships that he helped Foster when he was here at Walled Lake and was encouraged by his teachers because they were helping him survive the trials and tribulations of boot camp Mrs Doran shared how her first grade Freighters worked on 33 projects throughout the year during her what she calls thoughtful Thursdays they rolled a practice empathy and compassion by lifting up and encouraging others through difficult times no matter their background Mrs Aaronson our Music Teacher held amazing concerts for parents like first and third grade

081performances second grade folk dancing started an after-school fourth and fifth grade choir and held a school-wide community sing-along that included music from different countries and cultures Mrs Aaronson and Mrs fatala ran a debate club for the second year in a row that focused learning on how to disagree with someone in a positive way they worked on using facts evidence personal experience and data to back up their claims that even if someone still disagrees they can at least understand your reasoning better Mrs Carlson had the first grade students enjoy the book the colors of us and art class before creating self-portraits discussing how they are unique and different with special qualities and characteristics like facial characteristics hair color hair texture skin color the variety show was brought back we had graduates come back and express their

082love um as Educators we get to work with students from all walks of life we are responsible for creating safe learning environments where all students can learn be successful and feel welcomed in our Learning Community I am grateful for the opportunity to do that at Loon Lake Elementary thank you Heather Martinez Heather Martinez good evening thank you my name is Heather Martinez and I go by the pronouns she her and hers and I respect the right of all to choose their own thank you so very much to our staff that is here tonight and those that couldn't be with us I appreciate the efforts of our administrators our teachers our ancillary staff our parapros our janitors our Cooks our bus drivers and everyone in the district of Walled Lake thank you for your efforts and

083pushing through even the toughest of times always I do want to highlight one staff group and that is our school social workers we do not have enough School social workers in this District and unfortunately we lost one of the best ones from Walled Lake Northern unfortunately my child social worker who has busted his butt every single day for our students is not returning to this District next year for what I thought might be partially personal reasons but it's also because he's overwhelmed because of the amount of work he does every day to hold these kids together in our schools because they don't feel supported because they have concerns with staff members or parents or people that come to board meetings and spout tirades of ridiculousness because they don't feel safe and secure in whatever reason

084because they're suicidal because they've been abused because of whatever reason it's our social workers who are there for them more than anybody else and we're losing social workers we don't have enough and we're losing social workers I am implore you to push forward an effort to increase the mental health support services that we provide our students within this District so that no students have to feel like they don't have someone to go to I also want to talk for a minute because last I checked our former board members have every single right that I do as a taxpayer to come up here and talk about what they feel is correct and implore our current board members who don't understand their role to do their job appropriately my son just graduated from Walled Lake Northern I

085went to purchase those photos from that graduation and I couldn't bring myself to purchase one of them because unfortunately there's a board member handing my son his diploma that makes me sick to my stomach she does not represent our community she does not represent our school she does not represent our students she should not be on this school board and we're not going to tolerate this ongoing Behavior so I'm here to tell you and let you know that yes we are here and your days are numbered [Applause] oh Teresa Renaud good evening it's been a long night already so let me see if I can grab some energy into this oh my gosh I'm Theresa Renault I'm the district director for state senator runstad here representing our local community and our elected officials in the

086administration trust transparency and accountability have been top of mind for the senator recently in fact he's got a couple of bills out there one is for child protective services to kind of help escalate some communication bureaucracy things that are in play right now too uh protect at-risk kids that are falling through the cracks in a very critical way another bill that he has um happens to be one common sense bill for elected officials to be more transparent about gifts that they're receiving I thought this was already taken care of a long time ago but apparently we have too many holes in this area so I bring all this up because trust because normally I say the same thing every week and I want to give you guys some new meat so trust transparency and accountability

087are so critical at every aspect of our society our relationships our marriages our religious institutions our government of course and of course our educational institutions so in conclusion I do want to say congratulations to you our elected officials in the administration the cabinet on a tough eight months but you're doing a great job we've got new members that are being assimilated and are doing a great job it's been a tough crowd tonight and I don't respect some of the comments but it's America and we're allowed to have those comments um so I do want to honor you tonight I think you guys have pulled together worked really hard and thank you for that oh my God Kate temasek is that correct hello Dr bernia cabinet and board thank you for allowing us to speak today

088I don't have anything that eloquent I just I wanted to say just to say um thank you for showing up all year the school year is now closed we've seen you at uh uh we've seen you at the school board or the PTSA meetings and we've seen you at the installation Awards and just thank you for all of that I also want to just extol the virtues of the administration I'm a I'm a seven year parent in the Walled Lake School District I've been seven years now Keith Elementary I'm a three-year Clifford Smart parent veteran Now new new to be a Walled Lake Northern parent um and I'm a proud multi-year PTA board member in both schools I volunteered and it's been a tremendous experience I have just been blown away by the leadership of

089Dr augenstein at the Keith Elementary level I am so proud of Mr Hewitt coming here today to to talk to you about you know his experience my daughter was luckily lucky enough to have him during the covid year and he has shown up so many times in so many sporting events for the kids and the students even in later years he goes to plays and he's just a tremendous resource for Keith Elementary so thank you Mr Hewitt for being here um I I would like to at some point talk about the book Banning but I I just can't because we already heard so many amazing things from from some of the Educators in but from the students my goodness I have children my own kids who won't even read a cereal box or they're too

090afraid to call to order a pizza and these kids come here to tell you that they are passionate about learning about different things they want nothing to do with Banning books they want to be exposed to those things they don't have a voice and they can't vote and they were eloquent and brave and I just think that is amazing so I really implore this board to listen to those Young Voices because we are their leaders right now and they can't do anything about that they can only do what they can do and that speak and it needs to be listened to and um although I'm not sure why his parents and grown adults were still clutching our pearls and afraid of what concepts they might be hearing you heard what kind of battles they're dealing

091with on a daily basis they're not afraid of anything in neither should we be 30 seconds but uh Mr mctari has also been an amazing addition to Clifford Smart so thank you for installing him there I've really enjoyed having him as principal and I look forward to hopefully he's still there in two years when when my son goes so thank you very much Katie bardos did I get it close okay no thank you okay so hello my name is Katie bardos um I've been in the district for 15 years I have two children one that's a graduated from northern sorry in an um incoming Junior I have dedicated my entire career of being a stay-at-home mom to your district and I have volunteered numerous hours at multiple schools and I'm not saying this to Pat

092myself I'm saying this just so that you understand where I'm coming from when I speak to you tonight I have not spoken at one of these meetings in a while but after listening to the last meeting well riding home from Cedar Point field trip I had to come speak when the two kids got up and spoke in the numerous kids tonight thank you I I am so and then the tears that came out of those moms that spoke in the audacity of some of the board members and you know who you are and one of you is missing right now is discussing and it's horrible how could you listen to your purple hair please just be a little careful okay I'm just I just don't understand how you could say the things that you said

093I'm not gonna say it because you know what you said thank goodness to one of the other board members that addressed them by thinking address the kids and the parents by thanking them for speaking and letting them know that they are welcome in our district and that they are safe and the ones that aren't here are welcome back I am not sure you all know that your what your job is and you need to reread the contracts that you signed your job and us as a community is to support and give the resources to our teachers to help them do the best they can for our kids our kids mean every one of every race color pronoun religion our number one goal to make is to make a safe inviting environment for all of them

094these talks I'm Banning books changing curriculums it's just a means for you to try to derail us from what we really need to be focusing on which is Safety and Security and I had passed on some information to someone and I have not heard anything back about them following up on that also extremely important mental health for our students and for our staff can you continue to improve the special ed Department we're performing arts at each level at each school I have been seeing a lot of gaps and declines in what I feel is the best part of our district you need to dedicate a person to each building into each program to recruit kids and to build the program my kids did not even know they knew how to sing to their grade school

095teacher told them and my son in middle school he need we need to give all kids outlets for them to thrive and help them become an all-around great person before we send them into the world to a life skill class we need life skill classes better Communications which I did see in the survey thank you Dr bernia and if you cannot do what you you have been elected to do you either need to step up or step out [Applause] Kristen Schumacher Kristen Schumacher good evening cabinet and board members thank you for the opportunity to speak tonight my name is Kristen Schumacher and I am an English teacher at Central High School for the last 18 years I've taught AP English language in composition for the past 17 and I'm also the English department chair at

096Central additionally I attended Walled Lake Schools graduated from Central many many years ago and my two daughters are Wildlife students first they were a school of choice and then we moved in District because we believe in the values and the curriculum of Baltic schools I'm proud to be a teacher in Walled Lake I respect and appreciate the seemingly impossible decisions the board and cabinet members have had to make over the past years and I want to thank you for all of those decisions and all those involved in that time but that you've done to benefit this community at the close of my 18th year I love my students and my job even more than when I started but I for the first time fear the direction this District specifically certain members of the school board

097is taking with regard to literature curriculum and exclusivity at the same time that these battles about books and biases rage on teachers are working to improve our Walled Lake curriculum a curriculum that needs a Renaissance to keep Walled Lake the exceptional place to learn and teach that it has always been and that Revival of intellectual and standard-based content is in the very best form in the AP college board pre-ap program in teaching college boards AP Lang for 17 years I can attest to the Quality rigor and content college board has been around for over a hundred years and is responsible for the AP classes we have in our high schools as well as the PSAT and sat one of its goals is to make College accessible to all types of students from all different backgrounds

098created in partnership with experienced Educators it will engage Challenge and prepare our students as an experienced educator myself I see the obvious value of this program to our students and our district in offering us a way to continue Excellence that we have always had I also see the the ways in which Walled Lake is on the precipice of fading and Excellence Excellence through bands restrictions and bias and through distrusting its experts the Educators who for many this profession is a calling as board and cabinet who has served us well in the past please use the seasoned experts in the field and at the ready to guide you in making decisions in the very best interest of our students and educational Community I ask that you keep Walled Lake the place to be by implementing the

099pre-ap English program and saving our Books thank you Douglas Bevier Douglas Bevier [Applause] good evening my name is Doug Bevier and I should have sat closer to this podium um I've taught at Western High School for the last 24 years and currently serve as the English department chair I am a resident of Wixom both of my children attended Wall Lake Schools K-12 in fact my youngest just graduated from Western a couple weeks ago Wally school has been a continue continues to be an important part of mine in my family's lives I would like to thank this board and all the committed people who give tirelessly and often thanklessly for creating a culture that prioritizes children's needs over their own I am here to urge this board to approve the pre-ap supplement curriculum for 9th and

10010th grades pre-ap is all for all students these supplements are not honor or Advanced based but skills-based there is no focus on a particular text but on the skills needed to understand and critically think about them participation in pre-ap courses allows students to slow down and focus on the most essential and relevant skills students and teachers can see progress and opportunities for growth through varied classroom assessments that provide clear and meaningful feedback at Key checkpoints throughout the course the pre-ap assessments serve as tools for understanding progress and identifying areas that need more support checkpoints and performance tasks provide frequent and meaningful feedback for both teachers and students across each unit and the course as a whole perhaps most importantly teachers will receive meaningful foundational professional learning and training to ensure their understanding of the tools

101and assessments available in pre-ap too often ELA teachers are left to their own devices to create content and assessment pre-ap creates a framework for 9th and 10th grade teachers which we hope will become the foundation for revitalizing 11th and 12th grade ELA classrooms in the future finally I believe this Bears repeating as an AP length and composition teacher I want to ensure this board the College Board and AP curriculum Ela is skills based not content Wallach schools deserves an Ela curriculum which clearly identifies and focuses on skills a curriculum that offers quality formative and summative assessments which provides feedback for growth and Mastery these pre-ap supplements do just that I'd like to just add that diversity isn't how to buzzword it is a powerful reality at Wall Lake western and I think that we need

102to as a community embracing thank you so much Gabby thiaga is that right Gabby tiaga am I close hi my name is Gabi thiaga Gabby like Bobby but with the G I have a kid at CH now CHS so I'm very nervous about leaving elementary school but I'm here tonight to simply just talk about showing up and talking last meeting and this meeting a few kids stood up and spoke and no matter where we fall on their ideas the fact that they got up and did things that adults still struggle to do is accredited to the learning that they're getting in this school and their parents and everything along those lines that's a big deal because this is my first time um this is intimidating I understand coming into this room coming up to this

103Podium being on camera is very scary I am very nervous about this so I ask um so I put it out to the parents and anybody watching right now to start small to start at home start with your local PTA don't come into a room like this and be scared transition yourself into things with your local PTA find something that you care about and bring it up it can be anything from the fact that one of our elementary schools doesn't have an American flag up and hasn't had one the entire year to the fact that some of our high schools have their lights on at three o'clock in the afternoon um or even the defunding of certain events ask the questions seek the answers speak up recently I made a post on Facebook in regards

104to decisions that were made at a local my local elementary school and through that post it showed me that people had something to say and something to fight for it caused a conversation that we haven't had in a long time following that post was the actual PTA meeting and the Common Thread among the PTA board was wow we've never seen so many parents show up wow we've never had an attendance this large while we've actually gone over our time frame because everybody's talking too much I did that I I caused it and that turnout was something I did and it was cool it was cool to see that many people and if anything had inspired me enough to come up and speak today so as I stand here today and I hope to stand here

105more often and at more events we as parents need to continue to show up we need to be vocal about things concerning us we need to start writing the narrative for our children instead of allowing others to write it for us we need to stop letting things happen that we don't agree with um and then the ad says my screenshot but I'll get to that um why we Advocate unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot nothing is going to get better and it's from Dr Seuss The Lorax it's it's really cute and thank you Addison chabelle hello my name is Addie shable and I'm going into my 12th grade year at Walden Northern um and I have lesbian parents a lot of people know that and a lot of my friends know that

106and I'm thankful that they're acceptance of that ever since I was in elementary school I've been asked well how are you born if you have two moms you know because there's a mom and a dad um and growing up I really never remember anyone being necessarily homophobic when I was five or six or seven but now that I'm in high school I'll walk through the hallway and I'll hear homophobic slurs and I I when I was getting a job a few years ago I couldn't tell my boss that I had two moms I can't openly be myself and talk about the family that I love so much because I'm scared of not of you know uh my family being oppressed and not only my family my friends my peers I know so many people that

107identify as lgbtq everywhere and I just I'm I'm really upset that a lot of people are not okay with little kids learning about it it's I heard a saying a while ago it's uh making a child listen to Mozart is not going to make them a musician and I think a child learning about lgbtq Community is not going to make them gay [Applause] I think the ignorance of some of my peers in my school is could be definitely brought down by the education of the LGBT community LGBT community at a young age I was always taught when I was little that families come in all shapes and sizes no matter if the parents are divorced they're adopted they have one parent and for me that happens to be that my I have two moms and

108I think that everyone regardless of age should be tolerant of that and should be educated on that thank you [Applause] I am close hello my name is Donna kilmari I've been a District Parent since 2005 and a district employee since 2011. when my son started at Wixom Elementary I was so glad that he was surrounded by students from all different backgrounds and cultures from all over the world where my son was a student at Sarah Banks middle school he became friends with two transgender boys one who spoke tonight Tyler and now he's in waldick Western and he still has those friends and non-binary Friends gay friends lesbian friends straight friends neurodivergent friends atheist friends religious friends culturally diverse friends my son and his friends accept each other for who they are without prejudice and with

109open arms one of the main reasons my family is open and accept into all is that our house is full of books and all kinds of books including banned books books like Slaughterhouse Five which I read at 15 and 7 years later I wrote a dissertation about at University this book took me out of my tiny provincial coal mining community in Wales into different times and dimensions it taught me about truth and suffering grief and Trauma and the power of books reading about the suffering of other people who are not like you teaches you compassion and empathy reading about people who are suffering in ways you can relate to makes you feel seen and understood reading opens your mind and reading opens your heart it is not transgender kids or lgbtq staff members who want

110to force their agendas and opinions on our school community to paraphrase Isaac Asimov it is the ignorant the uneducated the unimaginative the unthinking non-readers who want to force their feeble and childish beliefs on all of us they are the ones who want to invade our libraries and our classrooms with their agendas to suppress free speech in world league schools where our motto is every child every day every child means every child no matter where they came from no matter who they are we have a duty to love them care for them and teach them without prejudice and that is the duty of every parent staff member and board member in this room today tomorrow and every day thank you Joseph kamuri hello uh my name is Joe and before I give my opinions on literature

111I think there's two things you need to know about me the first one is I've been going to Walled Lake Schools my entire life I'm very proud to say that uh next year I'll be a senior at Walled Lake western and the second thing you need to know about me is I'm a cisgendered heterosexual white man and in our society today that means there's a lot that I don't experience and if it wasn't for my experiences in Walled Lake Schools there's a lot that I wouldn't understand in apo's history I was taught that this is America and what that means is we care about people no matter their gender no matter their sexuality or Identity or race we give them the rights and respect they should have as a person and a big part of

112this is through literature none of us are born with hate in our heart but all of us are born ignorant literature is an incredibly important part when it comes to understanding other people's experiences it's so important in developing the respect we should have for other people that are not like us and that we don't truly understand yet until we've seen through their eyes but it also helps us understand us for me in seventh grade after a suggestion from my mom I've read the book City of Thieves by David benioff this book yes it has themes of sex and violence but it also taught me that it's okay to be who I am it's okay to be that insecure little seventh grader that I was and it taught me how to grow up this book was

113extremely powerful in my development and I don't think it's this board's right to deny that development to anyone no matter who they are so when we're considering Banning books consider the people and the message we're sending we're telling them that they should not have this right to connect to people that they are not like us that they are not good enough to connect this is not a message Wildlife schools should be sending this is not a message that a western Warrior would send or a Sarah Banks Bulldog or in Wixom Elementary wolf and it's certainly not a message that an American would send thank you Hal wolf pale wolf good evening I had many things to say but I'm only going to say a few things um regarding the new school board members in my

114mind they were voted in to make your process sees more transparent I think they've done that I think they deserve the credit for that also people need to take into consideration that these new members have only been on the board since the first of January they probably have many things to learn as the ones that have been here considerably longer had to learn those things themselves so I think the criticism is a bit over overboard regarding that with regards to transparency I looked over the budget that was on the the website I think the heading should have been we spent this much and we and one column and the next column was we want more we're not going to tell you why we want more but by God we want more I think that I

115think a little more drilling down on some of the line items for the people that are spending their tax money should be apparent finally I was I had a couple of uh other things to say but I'm only going to say one more thing and that is regarding the flag one of my cohorts last times said something about only the American flag should be in classrooms I have to amend her statement or I wish to amend her statement to say that the state of Michigan flag should be also in there that's it we're all citizens of the U.S we're all citizens of the states period the end nothing else needs to be said the rest can be taught thank you Caitlyn monkanen am I close foreign Lake Northern my graduating senior of high school in

1162022 and I'm here to share my experience as a queer person I went to St Catherine at CN Academy my freshman through junior year of high school and I came out my junior year the day after I came out I walked into my class to my fellow classmates talking about how stupid pronouns are and had been saying many many queer slurs as non-queer people um I felt very uncomfortable the next year I transferred to Northern because of how uncomfortable I was at that school ever since coming out and posting on social media pictures of my girlfriend and I I've never gotten more hate from a community who is all about spreading love I have had multiple people from St Catharines go out of their way to hate on me to tell me that I'm going

117to hell and I'm an awful person that I should be in a psych ward because I have a mental illness all because I'm a lesbian Banning any queerness will not stop people of the lgbtq plus Community from existing with a instead you're putting Community with a high suicide rate you were putting many people in danger giving them unsafe and uncomfortable space that they are supposed to learn in thank you [Music] Anna hook and a hook good evening um I haven't done this in a while the last time I went on stage and spoke about lesbianism was what my AP research report that my English teacher remembers and my AP research teacher definitely remembers from my graduation in 2022 I'm a wildlike northern alumni I come to speak on the issues of lgbtq and banning books

118as this is an important topic to me my girlfriend just spoke I love you um I conducted my research report in 2022 about lesbian representation in the media and I studied probably over 30 read and researched different reports and then I conducted my own research on how well lesbian representation had come over the years and the general consensus of This research was that representation helped representation helped and this representation helps a community that already has a 42 percent suicide rate according to the Trevor the Trevor foundation for lgbtq people as a lesbian like the issues that I have faced are it's hard to explain if you haven't lived the experience but it's easy to understand with empathy um and that's what we teach students when we include queer characters we include lgbtq issues and we

119include different people of different backgrounds and different cultures in books and by Banning these what 20 30 books and out of a huge library is that you are doing more harm than good for our community and this is something so important to me um without representation I don't know where I would be I did a second report in college in my first semester about what factors specifically help with uh lesbian representation it's something so important to me and if you listen to anyone listen to the students listen to the t-shirts this is something that impacts us we go to these schools and I I belong to the gay straight Alliance at Walt Lake Northern a wonderful Club I loved it I loved going I loved helping my fellow queer students and allies of the queer

120community and one thing that I learned was how accepting and loving everyone was there but as my senior year of high school our first meeting had to be supervised by the one of the principals because we got threats of violence what happened to every student every day what happened to it when we are getting threats of violence for simply existing this can't be something that just you can't exclude from books this is something that needs to be taken into account for we were safe everything was okay it was just some stupid threats but this is something that impacts our mental health when we already struggle thank you [Applause] Brenda Raymond good evening Dr bernia cabinet and board my name is Brenda Raymond a 35 year member a district employee a mom of a believe it

121or not I'm still standing a very proud mom of a very successful Wildlife Central graduate and I am so proud of these students who have spoken tonight it's a testament to all of your Educators that are in this room amazing absolutely amazing I am here this evening to address the board and to thank you for approving some recent curriculum initiatives and I am asking you to continue to support inclusive curriculum and books in our schools as a long time District employee I have seen great change in this school district heck I started when I had to wear nylon stockings and a dress there were no telephones in our classroom and I had a record player it is crazy to think how far we have come over the years in so many ways today our world

122has become more inclusive accepting of others with disabilities different cultures and lifestyles my job as an early childhood educator is one of our brand new Junior kindergarten teachers is to make all my students feel valued included and loved no matter their background Identity or family life over the course of my career I have taught children from a moderative backgrounds many with disabilities do I not include them when we're having a discussion about learning about me and how we move no instead I create a classroom culture where that student feels included and can share how they might have to adapt to do things differently than somebody who is well able it helps build compassion and empathy in a classroom these students didn't choose to be disabled just like a child born or raised by gay parents

123that child didn't choose those parents but they are being raised in a loving and caring environment with caring people no matter their gender or identity those of their parents and in school that same child deserves to have his or her family recognized for who they are in my JK class this year a small group of children were playing in the kitchen area one child that recently attended a wedding and they were talking about it I started to listen when I heard well you know a man can marry a man and a lady can carry an elite and camaria Lady Too those playing said oh okay and they continued to play I didn't teach that but obviously this child had an understanding of this because it's probably part of his life like it is so part

124of so many of our families we need to be responsible as Educators and as a board to make sure all students are represented in our curriculum to ensure that children have structures that include all groups not just that Leave it to Beaver mentality we've come a long way love is love be respectful be kind and understanding thank you and please I challenge you all pass this budget at 100 of all of you I want to get paid they all want to get paid thank you [Applause] Braden Hill Braden Hill ladies and gentlemen of the board my name is Braden Hill and I'm a world like Central alumni I've been a student of the Walled Lake District for more than half of my educational career and I believe that it is our responsibility to create an

125inclusive environment for all students today I stand before you to shed light on a crucial matter the importance of normalizing and incorporating the lgbtq community in our classrooms it is imperative that a cumber like conversation like this is happening right now because normalizing the lgbtq community is so vital for students due to the effects it will have on Mental Health lgbtq youth often come from homes that may not identify as queer or even hostile to the notion making their peers and teachers reactions to identities all the more significant the simple Act of feeling seen plays a pivotal role in the mental and in turn physical well-being of students a study from Columbia University found that students who see themselves in the curriculum are more likely to feel like they belong to the school's community and

126that sense of belonging keeps them in school they stop missing lessons and become more engaged let's talk about the curriculum by including lgbtq related topics and lessons we not only acknowledge the existence and validity of students identities but we also educate students and teachers about the diversity and acceptance this helps to create a more apathetic and understanding student body Research indicates that students exposed to the lgbtq inclusive curricula displayed improved attitudes toward their lgbtq peers leading to reduced rates of bullying and discrimination lgbtq youth who felt high social support from their communities reported attempting suicide at less than half the rate of those who felt low or moderate social support personally as someone who's openly um who openly identifies as gay I have yet to go more than one week without being called a fleur

127whether it happens in the classroom publicly or online it still affects my day-to-day over the years I've become more or less desensitized to the blatant discriminate discrimination of the slurs verbal assault and occasional objects thrown at me or someone pulling my hair it did affect me for most of my high school experience the school where I had been the victim of the most bigotry turned its back on me with the claims of lack of ability to change my situation of course it's put me through mental turmoil I couldn't wish upon my worst enemy and I am not alone I have a friend who struggled so much with mental health self-harm and multiple suicide attempts for years and out of caution for what they seemed they've remained closeted I have another friend publicly identifying as non-binary

128who struggled with the bullying and past who's attempted suicide before I wish I could say that these cases were eyes isolated but 45 of the lgbtq youth lgbtq you seriously considered attempting suicide in the past year that's almost half 30 seconds there is more than twice that's more than twice of the 20 of the general population Youth of the same age who experience these thoughts other stats from the Trevor Project state that queer youth who found their school to be lgbtq affirming reported lower rates of suicide making the lgbtq community a regular criteria within our schools it's not just a matter of inclusivity but it is vital for the mental health and well-being of students by integrating queer perspectives into the curriculum displaying symbols of acceptance and creating safe space led by informed teachers we

129can make significant strides toward a more inclusive and Equitable educational environment I want to live in a world where I do not fear feel fear for myself or those I hold close to who we love or what we identify with and I believe that starts with education thank you [Applause] Luke is it hooker or hocher hacker you know I thought I was going to say hacker thank you appreciate your kindness there hello my name is Lou Cocker and I'm an upcoming senior at Walled Lake Central High School I'd like to start by recognizing all the amazing teachers I've had throughout my education and a special shout out to miss Eastman freshcorn my AP seminar teacher for Patiently teaching me the skills necessary to allow me to succeed in my future and even the confidence to

130give the speech if all these schools motto is every student every day then why don't students feel safe to talk to their school counselors or teachers about the mental health problems they face even though that is what they're there to do I'm not sure if you're aware of this but a school-wide survey was done at Walt Lake Central this past school year asking students questions regarding mental health some of the most notable results from the survey were that 65 percent of students had a serious concern about their own mental health and 85 had a concern regarding someone they knew when asked who they felt most comfortable to talk to in a mental health crisis students ranked friends and trusted adults the most highest over school counselors interestingly crisis hotlines were rated as a least effective

131why is it that the people that these students are supposed to go to for help the trained professionals are the people that they go to the least what really brought this problem to my attention it's my involvement in a youth advisory Council a group designed to create a supportive Community for youth which prioritizes Mental Health in fact I just learned a few weeks ago that we have a psychologist in our school and sadly I'm not the only one unaware of these resources available to us only a Thor only a third of the students surveyed knew about supportive supports available and provided by the school so despite the fact that the vast majority of students had concerned about their own and Friends mental health one in three did not even know that these resources existed the

132powerful impact of social emotional learning on Mental Health has been thoroughly researched two recent studies from Loyola and Harvard showed that how social emotional social emotional learning supports students development and improves social emotional behavioral and even academic outcomes in order for educators to teach effectively they themselves need to be comfortable and have a strong understanding of how to incorporate social and emotional learning into the classroom every day therefore I am asking the board to consider implementing a social and emotional learning program for teaching staff to complete before this next school year in order to be more effective and compassionate educators I am also encouraging a social emotional learning program accessible to students at all levels we students more than ever need resources for mental health so that we can feel safe talking about our own

133mental health problems and we need to know about the current resources that are available and being offered at our schools I'm asking the Board of Education Administration Educators and students who work together to strengthen access to resources for students that are already in place as a leader for the Youth advisory Council I can speak for the rest of our group and say that we are willing to be a part of the solution so please make Walled Lake a more secure place for students thank you for your time [Applause] Paula smile hi I'm Paula small from Walled Lake Central I teach social studies I'd like to thank the board for allowing me to speak today I would like to thank the wle members who are here today good job and most of all I'm very proud

134and we are all proud of the students who spoke today so thank you I'm here today today as a social studies teacher at Walled Lake Central I was asked to speak today on behalf of the rest of the AP Government teachers I thank the school board for approving the new textbook that we we need the book which is used across the country provides the needed content to meet the College Board standards that are required for this class one of the things this book does is provide multiple perspectives and interpretations about government content this is necessary for Student Success on the AP U.S government and politics exam one part of this exam is to write an argumentative essay the essay requires the students to take a stand like should a movement use congressional action or go

135to the courts to achieve their goals this was the prompt on the last year's exempt which was released so I'm not you know sharing any secrets here um so after they take a stand they must use evidence to support their argument the in the in the last part of their essay is to address the opposing stance so it's not enough simply to State the opposing view but they must explain the other side's reasoning before they explain where their position is better having materials with multiple perspectives such as this textbooks gives students access to a point opposing viewpoints that they will need to have success on the AP exam also having a text that gives more than one perspectives helps me and all social studies teachers fulfilled their duty to this country we as social studies

136teachers have the duty to America to help create better citizens um a good citizen not only knows how the government and politics works and they know their rights 30 seconds but they also listen to other expected perspectives the reason to listen to others views in society based on Liberty and freedom is multiple we as Citizens can change our minds with better evidence we can find consensus but we can also disagree and in that disagreement we understand that by allowing others to speak that our rights are also protected so I thank you for giving us the opportunity to help our students succeed in AP Government and and for us to fulfill our solemn duty to our country I thank this community for supporting education and God bless America thank you Christine Titus good evening on this

137rainy June day I'm Christine Titus I'm a proud Hickory Woods instructional specialist and my husband gave the rest of our resume um being in this District I've seen this District at its highest growth and now at more diminished numbers but I still feel that we are educationally strong I'd like to commend those students that have spoken tonight that are incredibly articulate and inspiring and a testament to their families and to their teachers we just finished the 22-23 school year and it's always a Bittersweet time but I am already looking forward to the 23-24 school year in my newly renovated building so thank you to the Walled Lake Community for the passage of a bond that allowed that to happen um I'm also excited to start next week teaching at Sunshine Academy our district summer school

138and I'd like to give a shout out to my colleagues who will give up a great deal of well-deserved time off to continue to work with students who need continued support in literacy and math as well as our English language learners finally I'd like to address the textbook adoption discussion that's been occurring at previous meetings I implore you to trust in the judgment and professionalism of our educational staff from the superintendent to Cabinet on down to the teaching staff to know our students and to know what materials are developmentally developmentally and cognitively appropriate to share with our Learners trust us as you trust other professionals like doctors attorneys Financial experts and others who are experts in their fields thank you Sandra gresh yes I did sorry um my name is Sandy breathbrush and I just

139finished my 31st year of teaching and I'm planning on coming back in the fall um [Applause] I also have two children that are graduates of Walled Lake Central um so I was asked to speak tonight about the great things that have been going on in our science curriculum specifically our chemistry which is inquiry-based so I just want to tell you about the things that have been happening in my classroom so I had the honor and privilege of having 140 chemistry and honor chemistry students this past year which is actually a low number compared to some of my colleagues so thankful for only 140. um in the fall we did a project applying content from our first unit where they had to design a water filtration system I literally put sand rocks food coloring sticks salt

140anything in a big flask of water to make it look like gross pond water and they had to use engineering design to design a water filtration to make the water look clear and colorless so lots of learning lots of excitement and a great way to assess the learning in a non-traditional way when we went on to our unit on chemical and physical properties they turned copper pennies to Silver and to Gold actually zinc and Brass but to look like silver and gold as we talk about physical properties and things aren't always what we see we went on to do flame tests please imagine 30 plus students with Bunsen burners putting different things in flames it's an incredible sight to see a little nerve-wracking but it's very cool we went on to a small unit where

141students learn organic chemistry and they have to smell various chemicals there's proper ways to smell things and some things smell good and some things smell bad the first person in each group was to smell pass it on to the next student the most enjoyable part is when that first student had that really good poker face and they were smelling the most disgusting thing and would pass it on to the next student and then everyone was just all in a gasket how did you tell us lots of laughter and learning students um then were so excited about the unit that they would read labels and go is this why this thing at home smells this way so they were actually learning organic chemistry and applying it to Everyday Life in our weather unit we talked about

142air pressure and they learned you know hey Mrs gresh is this why your knees are hurting today we got that high pressure system coming in and clouds are forming and clear weather and they made clouds and bottles to finish the year we made Alka-Seltzer Rockets The Twist was their rocket had to actually be fired horizontally they were given two ingredients just Alka-Seltzer and water but they had to use engineering design once again following our next Generation science standards and applying all those skills to do mole ratios and get their rocket to travel a minimum of two meters every group was able to travel two meters and we had two groups that actually get to 20 meters I love all of my students I always go through a bout of depression when school ends because I

143don't get to see them every day until yesterday and today have been actually very hard for me as Educators we get to work with students from all walks of life they are my kids I have two biological and 140 others we're responsible for creating safe learning environments where all students can learn be successful and feel welcomed thank you for letting me speak today [Applause] okay it is 907 I am a big believer that you can listen and pay attention for a certain amount of time and we need to take about a 10 minute break so we'll come back at 9 17 and if you want to stay we'd love to have you if you need to be somewhere else we certainly understand that as well thank you for your comments tonight thank you yeah we're

144going to move on to administrative commentary uh tonight we are going to begin with Mrs Les I I do not have anything this evening thank you Dr Vernia Mr Russo thank you Dr Vernia as part of the consent agenda for your convenience or for your consideration tonight is the appointment of Miss Jessica Fisher to serve as the assistant principal at Walled Lake Central High School Miss Fisher is a Michigan native I'm gonna put my glasses on thank you Ms Fisher is a Michigan native who has most recently served as assistant principal at Seminole High School in Pinellas County Florida since 2018. prior to that Jessica served as a professional developer for staff at the county level Ms Fisher holds a master of administration and supervision from National Lewis University in Tampa Florida and her Bachelor

145of Science in elementary education from Central Michigan University she has she has proven success with a 99.2 percent graduation rate increased proficiency levels in reading and math and has extensive experience in planning and delivering professional development as a side note her references were probably two of the best references I have ever had in this position thank you Mr Sheffield thank you Dr Bernie I just uh pleased to report that following uh the um the departure of the the school staff uh on Tuesday uh afternoon uh right on their heels specifically the moving Crews for the bond schools came in and started uh clearing out the schools for renovation work and um uh here we are Thursday and things are progressing incredibly quickly and um and I just I want to thank the board for their

146approvals along the way of the the bids and the recommendations because all of that pre-planning has allowed us to have all of our materials and all of our contractors in place literally the hour after staff had left for the end of the school year which is extremely important due to the amount of work we have to be done for the start of school so we're off to a great start so thank you Mrs kohanski yes thank you Dr bernia just wanted to Echo um what uh one of our team members mentioned earlier today and that is that we're gearing up for summer school now that we sent our students off for summer we are looking to serve over 1200 students this year with a variety of programs we have great dedicated staff we've been working

147on getting getting scaled up and ready for that and I'm looking really forward to the learning that will take place over the summer thank you thank you Mr Durkin nothing this evening Dr Bernier thank you Dr Lawns nothing this evening thank you sir Madam president it's okay I will save my commentary for after the superintendent evaluation action item sure no problem we're going to move on to board commentary Mr Siegler anything tonight it was just a wonderful Sunday where we were all together to honor our students that are graduating uh it's the highlight of the year for me and one of the things that I really enjoy watching more than anything else is one we have faculty members whose children are graduating and we you know we're asked them to please come up and present

148the diploma to their children uh and I remember when I gave my son and daughter their diplomas and how I felt but you know it's a feeling that you can never replace and it's an opportunity in your life that very rarely comes so congratulations to that and I just want to thank everybody for speaking tonight but I really want to thank the students uh thank you for expressing your beliefs your thoughts showing compassion caring uh love and bravery you are our future you are what is going to shape the world in the future and I just want to say thank you to everybody Miss Tice anything yeah I just um I want to say it's hard to believe that the school year is over already and Summers upon us and so congratulations to all our

149teachers and staff and students who worked so hard this year I hope everyone has a relaxing wonderful summer and is able to return rejuvenated in the fall um just after um you know hearing a lot of the commentary tonight um I just kind of want to clarify I guess some things because I feel like our culture has kind of adopted a mindset that just because someone disagrees with someone's views and ideas means that somehow they're not kind or that they're hating on a certain individual um and I can love somebody while um while not maybe agreeing with all of their views and ideas I have lots of family members and friends that I love dearly and I don't agree with all their ideas or choices and yet my love for them is unwavering just like

150at graduation I can smile and be kind and shake a hand whether I agree with someone's life choices or not and I can be happy for their accomplishments regardless of who they are and that's why I smiled and that's why I shook their hands because um regardless of our differences I can be proud of somebody's accomplishments um and so I realized that some people believe that maybe the views and ideas that I bring forward represent either my own Viewpoint or only that of a few community members but a few short months ago the community spoke out in an election by putting me in this position because they have views and ideas that they rep that they want represented that they too hold dear and so um you know I just want to make it clear

151that while I may have differing thoughts I can still love and be kind to everybody in the district regardless of our differing views Mr Peterson it's interesting that when you listen to people speak um at various times and I was really kind of torn by the the lady early on that spoke I believe she's from uh Western and how it's uh difficult at times as a a black American sometimes we don't seem to recognize where their plight has been and where it's gone and I I reflected I was in high school in 1971 we had initiated the first class called Afro-American history believe it or not and I'm sitting here listening to this and 50 years later I find it profound and that we're still in this constant discussion so we had affirmative action and

152things of that nature that came into being and in the 1960s and by and large it didn't stop it didn't alter it in some ways it didn't just all of a sudden raise the curtain say hey everything's perfect because it's not [Music] um I just spent my last semester school year taking special needs kids in they have taught me so much in my part-time Venture for the last four years and I had one student I won't use his name I'll just call him mighty and mighty had a profound effect on me this year and I saw lots of positives and I also saw how those kids can fall through the cracks at times and it's not really any one specific person or thing that creates that crack it's just there and sometimes we have to

153figure I know we sat here some weeks ago and the pack had a a group event talking about a new special needs director and some of the guidance and some of the the concerns that they have and I sat there as a board member obviously I don't like to say anything but the number one thing to me was hey guys how do we stop so the kids don't fall through the cracks what system can we put in place so that they're all recognized and somebody's always looking on their behalf so you know I wish the best this this this young person the mighty I think has got a great future in a lot of ways in front of him but he's got a lot of challenges too so I think that's important that when we

154look at diversity I know I spoke out it when I came on the board it was coveted time and a lot of that stuff just kind of went to a Wayside you know we talked about Dei at that time and you know at that point there right after the board and then the district removed its Dei statement it's concerning it's still concerning two years later these are things that yeah obviously that's why we're here as a board member sometimes to pull these these areas and kind of work at them some of it comes from the community some of it comes from us as individual board members it was interesting for me it's not common for a 65 year old guy to run for a school board I don't think um but I was passionate I've

155been in this District a long long time kids went through this district and I have a passion about certain things and I think that we need to make sure that we do educate every kid equally and whether it's special needs or it's you know my vocation or CTE kids or it's the kids that are going on to college hey great it's cool uh but we've got to make sure that every one of those so somebody has to be an advocate on that behalf so um but again she resonated really with me because I'm just sitting here thinking 50 years later how are we making this discussion again and still having the same discussion so I'll leave it at that thanks thank you Mrs Casa Grande um to Echo what Mr Siegler said we had a

156great time at graduation and it was a long day but really a nice day with the board and just spending time together and getting to know one another and I I think the community could learn a lot from how this board is functioning um behind the scenes you don't see us interact a whole lot here you know at the table we do have differing viewpoints but we all respect each other and get along behind the scenes one thing that's important to understand about diversity is if you say that you accept all people you have to also accept people who have differing viewpoints as you and you have to respect them and if you choose not to you are being a hypocrite when you st you say state that you are kind to everyone you either

157are or you are not and I think it would go very far for people to have conversations with people that they think they know something about that they think they understand if you want to know something ask if you want to sit down I'll sit down with anybody who wants to talk when our schedules you know can can make that work I am here to support all all children one thing that I heard from the the especially the students that spoke tonight but even parents is there are issues that have been happening long before some of us sat on this board on January 1st there are people who served on this board for 11 years 25 years 30 years those problems are not the fault or the creation of the people who took their seats

158in January we have had very little impact on policy and on things but what we have done is we've started discussions and I am grateful that there are people here engaged that haven't been engaged whether we agree or disagree we're engaging and that's what this community wanted when they elected me and other people they wanted change and that's what I'm going to continue to do and whether you agree with my viewpoints or not if you're going to be kind be kind if not please don't say that you're being kind because you're not Mrs Kaplan I just wanted to congratulate all the graduates and all the end of the year students and teachers thank you for your hard work I hope you all get to enjoy your summertime I do want to thank every one of

159the students especially that spoke this evening you guys were eloquent and you made us all proud and you definitely are the future of Walled Lake so thank you all I'm also going to save my comments for the superintendent evaluation item all right we're going to move on to the consent agenda on the consent agenda tonight we have Personnel recommendations we have an administrative appointment as well as a leave of absence Mrs Lavin I move that the Board of Education approved the consent agenda as presented all those in favor aye opposed motion carries 6-0 next we have purchases Dr bernia Mrs kohanski yes thank you Dr Vernia first on the agenda is the English language arts grades six through eight digital literacy program which is a supplemental program called common lit School Essentials Pro Plus it

160is a one-year contract for twenty two thousand dollars coming from the general fund Mr Siegler literacy program one-year contract for twenty two thousand dollars any discussion I have something I the common the common lid is part of this correct the first time that's what we're talking about yes so I guess I just kind of have some concerns um I went online to review um the common lit and um I just I I kind of found it to be um a bit lopsided um just in some of the views presented on there um and I think that um I think that there's a lot of good tools on there um but I would like to see something that represents both sides equally may I ask what you mean by lopsided um let's see um I just

161felt like there was more of a liberal leaning view in the um literature presented as opposed to being a little bit more balanced between liberal and conservative any other comments this is Levin I intend to support this purchase I just have a concern that this is published or supported by or couldn't exactly figure out follow the money but this is supported by the Bill Gates Foundation The Mark Zuckerberg data collection conglomerate I have been told that student data is not going to be shared with these companies but considering the history of what these companies have been doing I'm not sure that I trust it so in the future I would love to see us look toward resources that are not somehow funded by these groups all those in favor aye opposed no motion carries five

162one Dr Bernie we're going to go back to Mrs kohanski for our second purchase thank you Dr bernia next up on the agenda is the pre-ap English for grades nine and ten this is a supplemental resource from college board pre-ap English 1 and English 2 for the amount of seventeen thousand one hundred eighty two dollars and fifty cents coming out of the general fund Mrs Kaplan I move that the Board of Education approved the purchase of pre-ap English grades 9 and 10 supplemental resources College Board pre-ap English 1 and 2 for 182.50 from the general fund support any discussion all those in favor aye opposed motion carries 6-0 and we're now on to the superintendent evaluation so we held a superintendent evaluation in closed session per Dr bernier's request and the board's approval to do

163so that was uh just this last week and I'm going to go ahead and just read through some information and then I'd like to say a couple comments um but I will make a motion too in there as well so for the 2023 superintendent evaluation report the consensus score rating for each performance indicator and the calculated domain scores for professional practices are as follows they're based on a one to four scale from ineffective to highly effective so I'm going to read the categories and then the ratings so for governance and board relations the category rating was 3.75 it's weighted at 20 percent of the overall evaluation community relations the category rating was 3.5 and it's weighted at 15 staff relations the category rating is 3.5 and is weighted at 15 percent business and finance the

164category rating of 3.6 and is weighted at 20 in instructional leadership the category rating of 3.545 and then was weighted at 30 percent next part of the evaluation is the overall professional practices and in that area the um when you take those items I just talked about there's an adjusted score of overall so when we take those scores and adjust them the score for that first portion is 3.55 or 89 percent and it gives a rating of effective then we go to the second part of the evaluation and this is where Dr bernia provides information to us and we take a look at how we're doing in both student growth and progress toward District wide State goals or District white goals so the both of those areas student growth as well as progress towards goals

165resulted in scores of 4.0 so therefore when you take the first part and the second part of the reigning overall the superintendent had a total score of 3.775 and that is a rating percentage of 94 percent which is classified as highly effective thank you I'm going to go ahead and make a motion and then we'll have some discussion um I move that the Board of Education adopt the completed year-end evaluation for the superintendent as presented any discussion I just want to say thank you Dr bernia for all your hard work in these seems like a lifetime month but in these short months that you've been with us you're doing a fantastic job and we appreciate all your dedication to the students of Walled Lake and our families any other discussion yeah I will just say

166that you know this is the first time that we've been through this evaluation tool with the newer board members and while I am not going to divulge any of the conversation because it was in closed session and as it needed you know we wanted it to be it was very productive conversation good conversation and as you can see the score of Highly Effective we are more than pleased to have you here when you interviewed and I was part of that interview team we knew that you would come and you would assess you would learn you would grow you would bring your expertise and your rating of highly effective is well deserved first of all we're going to go ahead and vote and then we'll let you speak if you'd like all those in favor aye

167opposed motion carries 6-0 dad to bring you uh thank you madam president and and members of the board uh as as was already stated I thought we had a very good meeting last week and I appreciate the the feedback both the feedback that was praised as well as uh the feedback that was constructive and it members of the community should know that there was both of that there was there was positive praise uh that that they believed that I've earned and then there were some constructive feedback that I think will help me be a better superintendent and serve the board better and I'm grateful for all of that I just am so appreciative for the opportunity I'm appreciative to to my team uh to Mrs Sobel who worked so hard and to all of our

168staff and to our entire Community uh I think tonight from time to time being new in the community I I get the opportunity to talk to people about what what it's like to work here and the diverse the diversity of thought that exists inside of our school system you saw it tonight and you've seen at other board meetings and you you see in the community and I think that that is remarkable and I think that we can be a model of civil discourse as a community because of those differing opinions but I hope you know wherever you fall on the Spectrum well however you see the world I hope you know that I show up every day and I work as hard as I can for all of you and that I truly care about

169every kid that goes to school here from our Pre-K programs all the way up to the transition students that that are at Western and so I'm grateful for the opportunity and I look forward to continuing to work on behalf of all of you thank you very much thank you [Applause] all right next we're gonna go to the 2023 24 budget adoption Dr bernia I think Commander president I I want to before I turn it over to Mrs Les I just want to offer a couple of important points of context state law requires our board to adopt a budget by June 30th in order for the district to operate beginning July 1. the state is not required to opt to finalize their budget until October 1st so we're required to formalize a budget go through a

170budget process and present something to our board where we don't know what the state budget looks like yet and we have to project forward as best we can as to what our student count will be in the fall which will generate the revenue that will then feed into the expenditures and so I've I've been a long admirer of Walled Lake I talked about this in my interview I've been a long admirer of the system in Walled Lake to do budget assumptions and to do the process but seeing it this year up close and personal has been nothing short of remarkable so I want to compliment Mrs less and her team on their work and then I also want to make clear to the board and the community that in addition to Preparing and trying to

171forecast forward what 2324 is going to look like their team has to wrap up the 22-23 budget with actual numbers and they have to prepare for a third party audit that began yesterday with meetings from from our outside Auditors so this is an extraordinarily busy time for a business office and I'm so grateful to them for their hard work and so with all that said alternative to Mrs Les thank you Dr bernian thank you for those kind comments the public hearing of the 2023-2024 general operating budget was held at the June 1st 2023 board meeting the presentation provided revenue and expense information related or relevant to the 2023-2024 general operating budget which includes the general operating Levy Administration recommends the 2023-2024 budget be adopted as presented Mrs Kaplan I moved at the Board of Education

172approved the resolution to a drop to adopt the 2023-24 budgets as presented any discussion Mr Peterson yes um those have known me that I've been on the you know board for the last this is my third budget and I I do ask some pertinent questions and I think this is one of the few times where I'm actually going to disclose the few questions I did ask on this budget and I want to make sure that people understand their dirt and not get the wrong perception that questions do need to be asked at times and they do have to resonate somewhere so the three questions that I asked as part of a question one was number one do we have the data to support what the reductions in the budget areas that were noted initially so

173yes they can change absolutely number two what's the justification behind why those sectors saw those those uh proposed cuts and then number three can we determine who was involved in determining when what those budget cuts should be and why they were earmarked in that area so that's a paraphrase of the questions I gave we normally would not do this but I think there's a misperception at times I'm not speaking on behalf of other board members I'm speaking on behalf of myself and how I take that very seriously I take the budget very seriously I take how it impacts everyone in the district um very seriously so I think it's important that that those that are here to listen that they hear these things that normally like I said I would not disclose that or would

174not paraphrase that but I think it's important that you hear that thank you Mrs Kaplan at first I just want to start off by saying thank you to Mrs Les and her team for all the hard work that they do and putting our budgets together and our amendments and everything that she does to present to us I want to make it clear to everybody that we as a board and as the community we have had numerous board meetings we've had lots of presentations by Mrs last with regards to our budget and what it entails there is no hiding anything it's all transparent it is on the website anybody can look at it and if you do not understand something we as a board community members have the ample opportunity to reach out to miss less

175ask her questions or ask the financial team questions reach out to Dr bernia to get their questions answered so we are all taking the budget process very very seriously because we all do that it's not that we just say that's the way it's supposed to be and we approve it we all work very hard to look at the budget and make sure that Walled Lake is being financially responsible and we take that as a serious thing and at this point you know I think you know voting no on the budget is a big no for Wild Lake and that's not something that I suggest anybody do Mr Secret first of all I want to thank Mrs Les and uh I've had the opportunity to review roughly 28 budgets in this District it's not an easy

176process I'm not a CPA or an accountant by trade but every question I have ever had has been answered by Mrs moats and then Mrs Les when she took the Helm of that and all of her staff sometimes we can ask some crazy questions but we get the you know we do get an answer there is nothing hidden uh you know one of the things that I realize when I look at this budget is the amount of line items how complex this budget is it takes a lot of time to understand where everything is and where it's referenced in the budget when you look at the state guidelines for accounting changes that come through on a regular basis you know this was allowed last year and you can put it in this category but this

177year you have to move it to that category and then when you're reviewing a budget you see a a major change and you're trying to figure out why where how does it happen we as a district have seen major changes in our fund Equity at one point in time we were in the 26 million dollar range and at one point in time I think we were down to about a 6.5 million dollar fund equity in our district we've come back we've put money back into the bank account for rainy days and and things that we will need as we move forward and along the way we as a district and I shouldn't say we because it's almost in her Department you know have uh received accolades and I can't tell you how many meritorious budget

178Awards we as a district have received because I've lost count 19 I think okay thank you I'm glad you know but you know I want to thank Dr bernia Mrs Les the cabinet all that are involved in providing the immense amount of information that we need to get this budget approved and continue moving our district forward so thank you any other comments before I take the vote I will just state that I am always appreciative that I learned something new every year um Mrs Les you and your staff keep on top of everything the changes about anywhere from 75 to 85-ish percent of this budget is our staff and benefits and the people who come to work every day for Wild Lake and then a very minor portion is all the rest of it I

179absolutely you know support this budget and support all the work that goes into it and appreciate and know that we will have budget amendments that come when we know more so we I trust the process I trust the professionals and I thank you for all your hard work all those in favor aye opposed motion carries 6-0 next we have the resolution for the line of credit Dr Bernie Mrs Les thank you Dr bernia Administration recommends the district pursue a line of credit to cover cash flow shortages in the school district's general fund not to exceed 5 million for the 2023-2024 fiscal year the district would pledge state aid to pay the principal and interest of the line of credit I will add that we have never had to use this line that there's never been

180uh we're quite careful but it is uh we receive state aid only 11 of 12 months of the year and that's our largest funding source so this is always a safety valve for us if we ever needed to use it Miss Tice I move that the Board of Education approved the district to pursue a line of credit to cover cash flow shortages in the school district's general fund as presented any discussion all those in favor aye opposed motion carries 6-0 District reproductive health education Advisory Board Dr Bernie I'm going to turn over to Dr lons thank you sir Public Act 226 of the 1970 of 1977 requires that a school district sponsoring reproductive health education program establishes an Advisory Board consisting of two co-chairs parents students Educators local clergy and community health professionals the role

181of The Advisory Board co-chairs is to coordinate the activities of The Advisory Board and to help evaluate the teaching learning process for the Improvement of instruction The Advisory Board periodically reviews materials and methods of instruction and recommends changes if appropriate process for establishing a reproductive Advisory board has been reviewed and endorsed by Administration and is recommended that the board approved the 2023-2024 district reproductive Health Advisory Board as presented Mrs Kaplan I move that the Board of Education approved the 2023-2024 district reproductive health education Advisory Board as presented support any discussion so I had asked these questions previously so they're no surprise with what um or I'm not going to ask questions I'll repeat some information I learned um it it looked like there were 13 people on The Advisory board and the meeting on May

18217th had five people uh on that board show up and I also learned that the people on this board have largely been in place for at least a couple years and they are all there by nomination from the chairs with the only changing members being graduating students and it seems to me it might be time to refresh that board only to maybe get people A New Perspective but also people who are available to come and be there if we're going to have a committee I think that that should be a committee of people who are who are going to come this was a meeting that is was long overdue to be scheduled and it was delayed I heard because of scheduling but if only five people are going to come when so much time and

183effort was put in by Dr lines and his team to schedule it it seems like maybe we just need to get some people who are re-engaged and maybe we should open up the process again to inquire to you know have people apply or or show A Renewed interest rather than continuing to serve just because that's how it's been any other comments or discussion I would just like to say you know the board um the committee is a well-rounded committee my daughter my oldest daughter was one of the original students that was on that board and she worked very diligently with all the members of the board lots of different opinions and different views that came in and were put forth and as a student you know she felt that she didn't have as much of

184a voice but she's my child so she used her voice very loudly as Mrs bond is shaking her head so the board and the committee I think has a very well-rounded group of people that are attached to it Mr secret what I've always liked about this committee and the structure of the Committees there has always been members of the clergy represented on the panel uh we've had Parents on the panel faculty members it does I feel it does represent a very good representation of the community and I hope you know we continue doing this any other comments Miss Tice um since beginning on the board in January I've been pretty eager to have discussions on the scab and just make sure that our district is in compliance and up to date with the policies surrounding

185sex education so we were instructed at a board meeting earlier this year to submit the topics that we wish to discuss as a board and so I did that with the scab being at the top and so I was kind of under the impression that we were going to be able to discuss this in one of our April meetings um but then I was reminded in an email on April 25th that during one of the March workshops that I had missed the board had decided that this item would be brought up in May instead um because during the month of April Dr Bernie and his staff were attending sessions regarding some potential changes with Title IX and related topics um therefore I was told that the discussion needed to happen following those sessions because we

186wanted relevant information from that training and legal update to come to the board so I eagerly anticipated being able to discuss this in May however I along with um other colleagues was shut down from being able to bring any discussion on this topic up and so as of tonight's board meeting we as a board have yet to discuss the topic of the seab um and now we're being asked to vote on this committee so um my hope is to be able to discuss have have discussion around the seab as a board and I know that other colleagues of mine would also like to have such discussion and I hope that we might be able to see that on an agenda soon um and so I'm not entirely comfortable voting tonight on this committee without being

187able to have proper discussion um as a board on the scab um but also just wanting to know that I know there's a diverse group of people that have to be in place on the committee um but I guess my concern just is that um you know we we want that diversity but I'm not sure how diverse all of the views are being represented so I'm not entirely comfortable voting yes on this at this time Mr Peterson I spent some time reviewing there's very strict guidelines state of Michigan Dr Lyons cited it initially at 4 51 of 1976 which was ultimately revised by the uh bill number 943 in 2004. and all it was was basically to I think fix some ambiguities I think that was found in the original state order it's very very

188straightforward it's not hard um the only question I would ever have out of this whole thing and I think we need to put this to rest at this point is are we in compliance with the state if we are then we're green it's that simple not hard and I I suggest that we read this thoroughly from top to bottom the states has a very clear they give you latitude which most laws do in specific areas so the district has some latitude to do and make their own decisions under certain circumstances it's not hard uh you know I personally would not have spent a lot of time on this um but but since it's been a topic I took the time to do my homework and uh I think it's this straightforward I'm more than happy

189to pass out a copy um or two um it's not that difficult so did you want to say something Dr Bernie I was just going to let Dr lines address our compliance if that's okay sure thank you Dr Bernie yes at this time we are in compliance as a function of that compliance though we need an approved committee and an sea board to move forward with the work that needs to be done in the next few months otherwise at that point we would again be jeopardizing our compliance status just state that my opinion of this is that our job as a board is not to decide who is on that committee it's whether or not we are in compliance who decides to put that in the committee we delegate that to Dr bernia our superintendent

190our superintendent has involved our Deputy superintendent Dr Lance um I will also for some history in case people are not aware I used to sit on this board I also sat with the State Board of Education to be a parent who looked at the curriculum from a parent perspective along with the experts and what I have learned in my years on the board yes to question when need to question but in this case the professionals who need to understand the compliance and make sure we have the people on the committee and whether or not somebody is attending or not is not my job as a board member my job as a board member is to say yes I see that you have people on here who meet the requirements you are in compliance and I

191approve that you can move forward I'm going to go ahead and call for the vote all those in favor aye opposed motion carries five one board policy regulation update Dr Bernie thank you madam president I want to bring forward a update to an administrative regulation this does not require a board vote as it is in my purview as superintendent when I came to the district to one of the things I heard as I traveled the district and met with families in particular was about our pay to participate fees and I am I think it's important context to share with the community that in in 2012 the state of Michigan took more than 400 per student from every school district across the state and following that they eliminated what was commonly called the 20-j funds and

192there were only a certain number of 20 J districts and Walled Lake happened to be one of them and that was another 300 hit so at that time there was a 700 hit in the middle of the school year to Walled Lake and caused dramatic budget cuts buildings closed employees took concessions programs were cut paid to participate fees were introduced and things became significantly more expensive it was only a year or two ago that state funding for Walled Lake returned to the level that it was at in 2012. over a 10-year period in Walled Lake employee concessions amounted to more than 27 million dollars that's not position cuts that is money that would have otherwise been paid to employees of the District employees of the district sacrificed in the aggregate more than 27 million dollars

193over that period to really keep the district going and to keep the lights on and so now that we've returned to this period of Health or healthier Mrs Les wants to say healthier not healthy now that we've returned to this period there is this this sense and I understand it but there is a sense to put it all back to where it was as soon as possible and I I come to you from a district that had to emerge from a deficit and I tell you sincerely that getting back takes time and it takes careful planning to make sure that what we're doing is sustainable so what I'm bringing you tonight is a reduction in pay to participate fees it doesn't go as far as I would like but it goes as far as we

194can at this time this topic isn't done and this isn't a closure of the issue I'm looking at other fees and I'm looking at other expenses and I think we're also looking at the employee sacrifices that were made too I'd love to put it all back tomorrow but the fact of the matter is that would put you right back where you were and put you right back in a concessionary mode so I do bring these forward it's been a lot of careful consideration it's been considerable meetings I'd like to thank Dr lons and Mrs Les and Mr swinehart who have worked considerable hours and gone through several proposals as to what we could do and how we could make this work and and all I can say is that this is a step in the

195right direction this is a good faith effort but we are not finished yet and so that that is for your consideration tonight yeah and I I would just say that um for clarity I think we mentioned this at the last meeting but these reductions are in the budget that was just passed correct okay and with all that I will say we are adjourned at 1004. thank you thank you thank you