001here. Mr. Parker here. Okay. And just uh for the record that Mr. Vasquez is out of right now. Um so we certainly wish him well wherever he is vacationing. All right, we'll move on to 1.03 is the pledge of allegiance. Uh 1.04 is the mission and vision statement and that is going to be recited by Mckenley STEM Academy. For those that would like to stand for the pledge, please do so. One, two, three. I alce to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible with liberty and justice for all. We provide innovative educational opportunities that ensure each student is prepared for their future. We empower each and every student to lead and live a purpose-driven life. At this time, I would like
002to request a motion to adopt the April 22nd, 2025 board agenda. So, move It's been moved and seconded. Any discussion? Hearing treasure, please call the role. Mrs. Gerkin, yes. Mrs. Barwig, yes. Miss Barnes, yes. Mr. Parker, yes. Okay. Section two are presentations. And I will turn that over to Dr. Durant. I would turn it over to Miss Mer, please. Thank you. And good evening. The work of High school students can be called nothing but out of this world. Natalie Sanchez and Shayen recently shared their touch project with the local media that was part of their preparation for a big presentation they made to officials from NASA. The story from 13. We have some problem solvers and they're right here in Toledo. Two students from Wade High School are going to NASA next week to show
003astronauts a device they made. 13 Action News reporter Lily Loun has their story. All year these weight high schoolers have been working on designing a realworld product for NASA and now their creation is headed to the stars. This is a cosmic dust collector. Weight High School seniors Natalie Diaz Sanchez and Chevy Irwin designed the tool themselves. It was hard to find what we wanted to do, but after we figured out what we wanted to do, we kind of rolled with it. It's not your typical science project. They may fix it a little bit. Um, but yeah, they most likely will use it in space. Their prototype could go from Wade High School all the way to the cosmos. Natalie and Chevy made the cosmic duster in Hunch Club or high schools united with NASA to
004create hardware. It took a lot of hard work. With Natalie being basically our researches, she basically our backbone of our presentations, our brochures and everything. I was the mechanical part where I found out this. I was starting to make it on the CAD design and we just kind of went from there. They researched, designed, and 3D printed the device, which will allow astronauts to collect dust samples in space. You push this up and you collect it, and then you just close it. NASA chose their design as one of the finalists from across the country, inviting the students to show their prototype to astronauts in Houston. They're beyond anything that I could have ever hoped. Seth Alder is the instructor of Weights Hunch Club. He said it will be a life-changing or should I say out
005of thisworld experience for the students. They are taking it to the next level and um they have bright futures and I'm just really proud to be a part of that. The students say it all came down to hard work. I feel like you'll be able to inspire other students to be able to create different projects. Don't stop believing in yourself just because you fail. Push forward. work hard because one day that is gonna pay basically pay off. And we wish the students the best of luck as they head to Houston next week. Reporting in Toledo, Lily Louns, 13 Action News. how their trip went. Uh, next up, did you know that the United States will celebrate the semient, that's 250 years, in 2026? The America 250 Ohio Commission is charged with leading Ohio's celebration of
006this milestone. Back in December, our very own historian, Robin K, applied on behalf of Toledo Public Schools to be a representative for the of as a liaison to America 250 Ohio. Last week, Robin received the exciting news that her application was approved. She is here tonight to talk more about this exciting opportunity. We'd also like to congratulate Robin as we just found out that Bowser High School once again earned the Purple Star designation from the Ohio Department of Education and Workforce. Schools must meet strict criteria to receive this designation and Bowser has once again met those standards. The Purple Star designation shows the schools and the district's unwavering commitment to serving military connected students and families. PS historian, but I wanted to disseminate this information to you tonight so that you are fully aware of
007what we're headed into. Um, as you know, America's turning 250 years old next July. And it was brought to my attention in December that there was no representative for the city of Toledo. And so I had a lengthy conversation with Mr. Gant and we went back and forth and decided that this would be appropriate for the public schools to apply for it. there is no cost to the district. I do all the work. Um but the reason it's it's beneficial to us is there is a huge educational component that can be shared with all the teaching staff throughout the course of the year. There are numerous brochures, there are tours, there are free events that are going on that will culminate here in the city of Toledo next July at the Glass City Center. Um
008so it's a great opportunity. We also get to use their logo on everything that we put out. public schools and so there's a lot more to come but I didn't want you to be broadsided by this information or something like that. So I'd really appreciate it if I could get a photo up not with me but you and the certificate and the flag so I can start writing some stuff and getting this information out. One request you have to be in the picture. I do not do pictures very well. If I have to that's fine. Um, I can stand behind the flag, but yes, I really would like to get this out uh into the public. Okay. So, it's it's a win-win, I think, for to public schools. Our two retirees, Donna M. Buchanan, she
009is a music teacher at Rogers High School and she is retiring with 26 years of service. And Deborah Walters, she is a secretary at the Cross Preschool. 25 years and 6 months of service for a total of 51 years and six months of service to public schools. Thank you, Miss Mer. All right, moving on to section three, which is community comments, and we do not have any registered for this evening. We'll move on to section four and we have with us tonight our student representative uh Khloe Larde. Is that right? Okay. From virtual academy. So we'll have you go ahead and give your little presentation. Good evening. I'm Chloe Larde from the virtual academy and I am a very passionate student about mental health and I'm a part of the mental health smarts committee and
010I am proud of the work that we have done and I look forward to the growth in the future awareness in the area. Smarts has helped me not only find my voice but become a leader while making changes within my school and community and time and time again has showed me that your voice can have a big impact. After graduation, I plan on attending the University of Toledo and double majoring in finance and accounting. And I will be with Nefus and Innovation and Jess Jessup Scott's Honors College. I appreciate the support of Dr. Durant and the board of education and I am TPS proud. Thank you so much, Chloe. We're so grateful that you're here tonight with us. All right, we're going to move on to our parent representative, Tena Harris, and she is the
011TPS Head Start Policy Council member. Good evening. My name is Tena Harris, and I am your TPS Head Start um chairman, Policy Council, and OPAN member. Um I am passionate about teamwork. Like, I get excited when it's about to be a team thing. So, I'm excited about helping to create the bridge which connects our students, our parents and families together as one so that we can continue to build and our focus has been on attendance and testing. Um, we're receiving information on the health clinics at the comprehensive high school level and how we can share the information about the benefits of the clinics. Now, we have six locations at the comprehensive high school level. Um, weight high school has a full dental suite with the dentist on staff five days a week. Um, we accept
012walk-ins, sports, physicals, immunizations, general wellness, chronic disease management and behavioral health. Full service pharmacy that delivers to your home or your student's school. Sliding scale for payments. Anyone can go to the clinic. Family members, elementary student, high school students, and TPS staff. high school students 18 or older who do not have insurance receive a discounted rate. Um any insurance or no insurance. I have been privileged to be able to also use the Scott Hubs um clinic for when my granddaughter was in early childhood education um head start and everything and I couldn't get her into her normal doctor. I was able to use that and it works right with your insurance. um the doctors, they work right alongside with the program. So, it's really needs to be out there. We need to figure out a
013way that we can get more people knowing about these services because some people may not have the transportation or may have used all their transportation rides that they can, you know, have and still need things done. But we just want to continue to put it out in the community and know that it's available. And I am TPS proud. Thank you, Miss Harris, so much. And I'm so grateful again for you being here tonight. We certainly appreciate it. I do not see representatives from TAP or TFT or ask me at this time. No. Okay. So then we are going to move on to section five which are comments by the board. Um M Parker. Thank you, Madam Vice President. I'll make it real quick, so I'll leave some space for my colleagues if they want to
014talk a little longer. Um, I want to say thank you to McKenley STEM Academy for the awesome pledge of allegiance and the mission vision statement to our weight students who are really showing TPS is out of this world. And congratulations to Miss Hage on your continual dedication and excellence on behalf of our district. We are very proud of the work that you do. Um, and it makes us look good on a daily basis. So, thank you for the work that you do. Uh to our student rep, Chloe, thank you so much for being with us uh this evening and continuing to do the great work that SMRs does. Even the mental health piece and um just hearing it from the lens of our students is very eyeopening and so we appreciate that. And to Miss
015Harris, our parent rep, who's also my godsister, thank you for being here. uh and great information that you have shared um as it relates to our parents and things that are going on in our district as well. Just a couple of things. Um this month we were excited to have the groundbreaking ceremony of Scott Park campus and to have our superintendent, our colleagues, and our community all a part and just really ready to see that vision become a reality and the steps that is taking place. And so we are really excited about this project. And again, thank you to our community and our voters for investing that um belief into us to make this happen. And then also finally, we are in the last leg and graduation season is coming up and we're very excited.
016Um I get to do it again. I'm going to try to see if I can hit that record with Dr. Durant and go to all graduations. Um, so I'm taking my energy drink now and going to the gym every morning at 5:00 am. So really excited. Uh, just the opportunity to celebrate our students who are heading to their next in life is very important. Then also one last thing is next month, the first week of May, I will be receiving my master's degree from Walden University. Um, and so I'm really excited to put that on come graduation time. Um, it's been a long journey, but I'm excited to finally get that done. So, thank you. Always TPS proud. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Parker. Yes, Miss Kirkin. Thank you. Uh I think the countdown is
017on, right? We had a late spring break. Um not the latest though. My granddaughter is at uh our uh school in school in Mami and they are on spring break this week. So, we're going to get into some shenanigans together. Um but the countdown is on. I think someone said, you know, 25 days, which brings us clearly into graduation uh season. The celebration of excellence is coming along uh coming up so that we'll get to celebrate those uh top scholars in each district. We we always enjoy that. And uh Chloe, I think I'm the board member that will be at your graduation. So, I look forward to a in-person graduation where I'll be shaking her hand. So, that's that'll be fun. Um I know that we have um you know a lot going on at
018the state legislature especially in this budget bill and a lot to um you know be going back and forth about and as usual the assault on public education continues. Uh the one the one proposal though um Mr. Treasurer about you know having to give back any money we have in savings if it exceeds a certain amount. Um, from what I saw today, it's losing traction among the sen on the Senate side of the house and state auditors of the other side of the aisle. So, let's, you know, cross our fingers that that'll uh that that'll go away and they that it dies of its own uh of its own nature because it's it's just a ridiculous proposal. Um, so you know, as usual, we have stand stand at attention to see what's next to assault
019us. Um, I also noticed that um that there was a state supreme court that just ruled vouchers unconstitutional, which is the same battle that we're taking on in Ohio. So, we're, you know, I think we're starting to see some traction where it's become obvious that this is a complete uh money grab to privatize education and we will continue to fight it at every turn. Um, so happy uh spring and looking forward to that end of the year uh season of celebration for our scholars. Thank you, Miss Barnes. Thank you, Madam Vice President. Um, so I had to look at my notes. So I had an amazing time at Joel's Leadership Academy. No, I'm not biased because I'm a parent there, but I had an amazing time at uh the annual stock exchange. Um, I still
020don't understand half of this stuff, so I'm hoping my son can help me with my socks. Um, between Dr. Durant and my oldest son, hopefully I'll make $5. Um, and then I also attended the McKinley STEM Academy six uh STEM Expo, which if you have not attended, please next year plan. They had an awesome uh duckies and like animals. I didn't go close to the live creepy animals, but they are cool to look at from the hallway. Um, and they have an amazing um, and I can't remember the teacher's name, but she is amazing. She turned her whole classroom into like a glow room is what we call it. um which is like uh what is the lights called? I can't think. The night lights. We used to have them back in the day. I'm
021old. So um but she talked about how it stimulates the students to get them engaged into art, but also how it helps them learn different things and learn a little bit easier. And that's what our district does. Uh we see education as an opportunity and not just a business. So, I'm very proud of all the staff that put the events on and the ones I couldn't attend because they stayed after their regular school day uh prior to spring break, which is a lot to ask for and they do it willingly. So, I I appreciate all the staff members that did any events um during spring break and before spring break. Um I am in a different position I haven't been in a while actually. Um, and uh, board member Parker can uh, relate to this.
022Uh, as graduations come this year, I am gearing up for my son, my oldest son, to be a senior next year. And so, it's hitting hard that I can't cry. He already told me I can't cry on the stage. So, I'm trying to work that out now. Um, and it's a beautiful uh, blessing to be a representative of this great district as well as a parent and have those those two things intersect. So, I I'm going to need some coaching for um from board member Parker about that. Um Chloe, you are always a delight. I can't wait to vote for you for something. I just don't know what it is. Whatever it is, I'm voting for you. Um and you give me hope for the future. Keep please keep taking space and telling you your
023truth. That is very, very valuable in this time. And I wouldn't be the board member I am if I didn't make the the statement that diversity, equity, inclusion, when you try to roll it back, it hurts everyone. As we are getting news of colleges in Ohio and across the country who are eliminating key factors, classrooms, degrees, um that has nothing to do with diversity, equity, inclusion when you look at it. data analytics is is really just controlling and and gathering numbers of data. Um and so if you have a public crisis, you can't prove that public crisis without data. And so this is a very scary time as they try to eliminate at a higher education level and then eliminate so many things at the K through 12 uh education. And I always say if
024you want to rule the world, get rid of education because the people in 10 to 20 years will not understand, will not know the harm, um, and will be believe anything that's told to them. Like we, and I keep saying this because it it's very sad that we thought Christopher Columbus found America for so long. And when the truth came out, it it was hard to digest, but we've been silencing Native Americans who've been telling their truth, but guess what? They were erased out the books. They were erased off the media and there was silenced and they were taught to tell the victor story. So that's how come we got to where we thought Christopher Columbus discovered a land that was stolen by him and others and also that he discovered something people were already
025here on. So this is how we got there then. The scary thing is where are we going to go now? What are we going to believe? And I'll tell you uh a few things and I won't rant too long. They're trying to say that enslavement of Africans benefited African-Americans. They're trying to say that the only way to have a family is by a male female and you have to have kids. I don't know about your families, but my families that I love that are in my family of our aunties that are grandmas. They have a father and a mother. I am a single mother and my kids, let me brag about my babies. Like I said, one is about to graduate next year because he better. He ain't got a choice. But my oldest daughter
026that I had at 15 years old just took her elat uh exam. So you can't tell me families that are not the quote unquote traditional can't be successful. I am living proof of that. And I will be damned if we sit there and make families cuz we're always talking about making a certain type of demographic feel bad about enslavement of Africans. But now we're talking about families that don't matter. You're erasing families. And so I am really disappointed that what we lead right now in Ohio is rolling back our future to times where most people watching uh most people in this room did not have rights. And I will say it again and then I'll end on this note. If you are not a cisgender heterosexual able-bodied Christian male who can take 90 days off
027from work and still make your rent and your car payment on time, DEI or diversity, equity, inclusion roll backs will affect you. And we see right now uh as schools are rolling back gender equity studies and disability studies, Africana studies and anything except Russian studies for some reason. This is how we got to where we believe Christopher Columbus was a good guy. This is how we silence Native Americans. So if we don't want that to happen to everyone else, we need to stand up together in solidarity. Thank you. Thank you, Miss Barnes. Um, first I'd just like to say that I am really grateful um every day for my colleagues on the board. I always learn something new. Um, and I appreciate all of their lenses that they bring to the table. I'd also I
028want to say ditto on everything that Randall Parker named off because I do also want to um first of all, I want to thank Mckenley STEM Academy. I love love love the pledge of allegiance, mission of vision. I think it's just great that we are able to virtually even bring in our students into the board meeting. Um, so very grateful for that. Uh, I'd like to thank Chloe and Tena for being here tonight again. Um, again, you are part of the family, right? And so we appreciate that you're here and willing to be here and speak your your truth. And then I would like to um thank Robin H. My goodness. Um, again, our TPS historian. and she's done so much um to honor and recognize and bring out and educate folks on um our
029history uh within our community. Uh so thank you for being here tonight and um bringing forward the 250th right of the US for next year. Um I'd also like to congratulate Bowser High School which I'm a graduate of. So Mr. Vasquez is not here to do his whole wait all the time. So I'm here to say bowser bower bower, right? Um and then um you know what I'd like to thank our retirees because again we could not do what we do without their efforts out in the field. So we certainly thank them and wish them well and maybe at some point they'll come back and and work for us again. So um and then just a couple more things. Um I look forward to graduations as well. I mean, I think uh you know, I
030always think kindergarten registration and kindergarten first day is like so exciting, but then to see the fruition when they walk across the stage and they're they're heading into their future, it's really um it's just exciting and empowering and and I'm really thankful that I'm just a part of it. Um and just to mention the fine and performing arts. Um, you know, we have wonderful choir concerts and band concerts and orchestra concerts that are free to the public. And I know that we've put them out on our social media, but I highly highly um would encourage folks to attend those musical performances. Uh they they just bring so much joy and I certainly uh miss being the parent. Now I get to do it as a a grandparent. So uh I'll be doing that. um in
031the in the next month. Okay, with that we will move on to uh section six, which is the consent agenda. Agenda items 6.01 through 6.39 are the consent agenda items. Board members may request to pull an item from the consent and move to the discussion section of the agenda. Items 6.01 through 6.06 06 is human resources staff development and training committee chair Paulie Taylor Gerkin co-chair Randall Parker III. Item 6.07 to 6.13 finance and business operations committee chairs Bob Vasquez co-chair Randall Parker III. Item 6.14 is Workforce Development and Partnership Committee Chair Chris Farway co-chair Bob Vasquez. Item 6.15 to 6.17 board curriculum instruction academic excellence chair Paulolly Taylor Gerkin co-chair Chris Varwig. Item 6.18 to 6.33 policy committee chair Bob Vasquez co-chair Sheena Barnes. Item 6.34 to 6.35 it's arts athletics and student activities
032committee chair Chris Farway co-chair Randall Parker III. Item 6.36 to 3 6.37, family and community engagement committee. Chair Shaina Barnes, co-chair Bob Vasquez. Item 6.38 to 6.39, approval of board meeting minutes. At this time, I would like to request a motion to approve the consent agenda items. So moved. Second. It's been moved and seconded. Any discussion? treasure. Seeing none, please call the role. Mrs. Gerkin, yes. Mrs. Barwig, yes. Miss Barnes, yes. Mr. Parker, yes. Thank you. Section seven of the agenda consists of reports and minutes from this month's committee meetings and are here for information and reference. No action is required, so we can proceed to section 8 of the agenda. Section 8 is our discussion items and 8.01 01 is a resolution opposing Ohio Senate Bill 156. I'll turn it over to Mr. Parker
033at this time. Thank you, Madam Vice President. A resolution opposing Ohio Senate Bill 156. Whereas the Board of Education of the City Toledo City School District, the board is committed to providing equitable access to quality instruction for all students, which includes encouraging students to explore diverse life and career paths to find what works best for them. Whereas, the Ohio Senate has proposed Senate Bill 156 known as SB 156 that would require the Ohio Department of Education and Workforce to develop statewide standards and a modern curriculum to implement teaching the success sequence in schools and thereafter schools would be mandated to incorporate the success sequence into the curriculum for grades 6 through 12. Whereas the success sequence is a term for a life model where students are taught to one obtain at least a high school
034education, two find a full-time job and three wait for marriage to have children in that order which con cons excuse me coincidentally reflects traditional Christian values. Whereas while SB56 claims the success sequence makes students overwhelmingly less likely to live in poverty in adulthood, critics of this model recognize that it ignores systematic obstacles that certain groups face and hurdles that individual efforts cannot necessarily overcome. Whereas SB56, which is supported by the Heritage Foundation, the American Enterprise Institute, and the Center for Christian Virtue, threatens to one, enshrine Christian values in public school curriculum, stigmatize students for their poverty, and three, induce students to internalize blame for failing to follow the success sequence rather than recognize the systematic barriers, often limit the economic mobility of certain groups regardless of their individual choices. Whereas SB56 would be damaging to
035students who for whatever reason are unable to follow the very narrow set of prescribed steps for success. Moreover, parents rights are infringed when the government dictates to parents a formula for family values rather than allowing the parents to raise their child according to their own values. Whereas the board urges the legislation to one reject a SB56 and to allow local districts to develop life and career models that embrace their students live experiences. Now therefore, it be it resolved by the board that section one, the board remains opposed to SB 156 and any other leg legislation that would ignore real barriers to traditional life and career paths for certain students in the district and impose an unreasonable life model and stigma on these students. Section two, the board reaffirms it commitment to investing in vulnerable communities
036of providing a quality education to all students. Section three. This resolution shall be in full force in effect from and immediately after its adoption. It is found determined that all formal actions of this board related to this resolution was taken in compliance with all legal requirements, including section 121.22 of the Ohio Revised Code. Thank you, Mr. Parker. Um, I'd like to request a motion to approve uh the resolution opposing Ohio bill uh Senate Bill 156. So moved. Second. It's been moved and seconded. Discussion. Yes. Brenda Parker. Thank you. Uh, Madame Vice President, I want to speak directly and unapologetically about why I am opposing this Senate Bill 156. Because this bill is not about success. This bill is about control. It's not about helping students. It's about pressuring them to conform to this narrow version
037of life that really ignores the very real barriers that our students face on a daily basis. This so-called success sequence is nothing more, in my opinion, than a stress sequence for our students because they're already carrying so much. And so it really pushes this standard of this rigor formula to graduate, get a full-time job, get married before kids as if life doesn't like as if life follows this straight line all the way through. But our kids go through situations where life is a bunch of zigzags through poverty, through trauma, through systematic challenges. And so this doesn't really, this bill doesn't even address those realities. It just makes it seem like it doesn't even exist. So, now I'm going to go a little bit deeper and uh here we go. As a Christian, I find myself
038troubled by this bill that tries to smuggle traditional Christian values under the umbrella of legislation. There's a big difference between following Christ and forcing Christ. I tell people all the time, if I was a mechanic, I'd talk about cars. If I was a chef, I talk about cooking. I follow Jesus. That's my belief. But I don't believe in forcing him into a policy to meet an agenda. That's not faith. That's Christian nationalism. And I gladly and boldly oppose that. You can't legislate love. You can't mandate morality. And you can't weaponize faith in a public school system that serves all children regardless of their background, regardless of their beliefs, regardless of their circumstances. from before it was elementary McKinley STEM, it was McKinley Elementary School on the corner of Central and Upton and I was a
039kindergartener there to my kids walking out of Bowser as graduates. And TPS has always had the format of letting kids write their own stories. You can't write your own story when someone tries to force their own script on it. And so we believe in partnering with families. We believe in not replacing families. And so again, I oppose this bill uh as a real believer that understands that you don't force anyone into a religion or a relationship, but your life and your light ought to draw them. Thank you. Thank you, Randall Parker. Well said, Miss Girkin. Y thank you madam uh vice president. So I guess to the people who introduced this bill, am I not successful? That's the question I have for you. Once again, I had my daughter when I was turning 15 years
040old. That means I was impregnated at 14. I am a survivor of sexual assault. do my values of my life different because it wasn't traditional path. I was taught and I say taught because it was adults who told me and many friends of mine that we were not going to make it um that we were going to die before we were 23 or be in prison. This is what I believe because people forced their ideas on me and my life because of they saw a 15-year-old child with a child. Those same people didn't expect me to become an elected official. Let me back up. They didn't expect me to graduate high school. They didn't expect me to go to college and graduate college. They didn't expect me to become elected official. They didn't expect me
041to get invited to the White House twice. And it's something else I I want to share, but right now it's okay. I'll share it when it happens next month when I can share. But when you are trying to dictate, this is dictatorship. Let's call it what it is. Um out of white supremacy, you are erasing families. You are erasing our students. You are erasing our staff. and to make this about education without even listening to the people that you're forcing to do this to the students who I have worked with who are experiencing homelessness to the students who are going to college as a first time in their families. These are the success stories every day that I hear and I work with our amazing students, some who have graduated now college. When I see
042things like this, it's out of touch. It's dangerous. Um, you're talking about bullying. We already have now a incline of bullying and harassing harassment amongst our LGBTQ students and our students with immigration status or their families with immigration status because people trying to dictate who is safe and who is welcomed. And now we're going to start targeting what families should look like, what your high school experience look like. I am not ashamed to tell you um when I graduated high school, I was shocked. But yet I had teachers who believed in me. They made sure I go to went to night school with my daughter and some of them babysat my daughter to make sure I graduated. That's what happens when you believe in a student success. Not making dumbass resolutions like this that has
043no value. Because if you really care about people getting full-time jobs and all this stuff, you will make sure it's living wage and not have a family of a household of four working two jobs and still qualify for Medicaid and food stamps. Let's talk about doing your job. And I'm hopefully somebody watching on YouTube. If not, I'm going to imagine that you watching and I'll try not to cuss for our sign language interpreter, but she said I can do that. But if you really cared and was really doing your damn job, you will actually make sure our jobs are living wage. You will make sure we have housing for those who are experiencing homelessness. You will make sure we have insurance policies that cover families to that they choose to have children that they are
044not denied reproductive health care. Um I know that word definitely scares a lot of people at the state office, but reproductive health care is what you're talking about. But you're trying to take that away. You're saying that we can't support the parent in decisions about their LGBTQ student, but now we can support the parent about having a kid after they're married. So either you want to be big brother or you want us to do our job or the parents to have say. So you can't have it both ways. And once again, I think it's time for you to get a new job if you don't understand what is need to happen. And what needs to happen is housing. What needs to happen is more qualified jobs to actually pay people a living wage, health insurance,
045food insecurity. We need to talk about that. Things that people are really talking about, not waiting to have babies um to after you get married because guess what that called? That's called birth control. Something once again that you're taking away or trying to stop. So, if you want these students to wait till they're married, don't take away the things that can help them to wait to have a child until after marriage, including condoms. Oo, the big scary word. But I'll stop before I start cussing. Thank you. Um, I wanted to wait because I knew I wouldn't be able to um match the articulate and passionate remarks of my colleagues um on this topic. Uh, We're we're all pretty predictable in how how we feel about this attack on public education. What stands out to me
046is I just see these words, right? Like uh you know the success success uh sequence is uh reflects traditional Christian values that it's supported by the Heritage Foundation. That's enough for me right there. The Heritage Foundation, not the Christian values part so much. It it also sounds a little bit like a pro uh solution looking for a problem. And do you really think that without the success sequence being taught in schools uh in a mandatory way that suddenly the uh families, young people are going to overcome these systemic obstacles that that that actually cause some of these things to to happen in their lives. It's not like schools are standing around lining kids up saying, "Don't worry, don't graduate. Let's just get busy and have some babies first. It's not like that's what we're doing.
047Talk about indoctrinating. Like this is indoctrination. And no, and on its surface, it's like, who can argue? Yeah, let's, you know, let's finish high school before you figure out the rest of your life, but why does finish high school have to be followed by get married, have babies? What if that's not even in the cards? Like, this is a solution looking for a problem. we're it's not going to make a difference. These are systemic obstacles and these are choices and there are lots of different family constellations. So, you know, all I need to know is that the uh Heritage Foundation is for it. So, I'm against it. Okay. One more uh amendment to my comments. Thank you, Madam Vice President. Once again, if they were doing their job, they're talking about making sure people have
048babies. Well, guess what? maternity death rates in black women are climbing and what they do they erase the data. They don't want to track it anymore. So once again, who are you trying to force to have babies is making me question. Um and what's the real logic behind this whole proposal that you put out? I just want to put that out there. Um again, I listen I love the passion from all of my colleagues. Um, and I will echo all of your sentiments. Um, my approach to this is pretty simple. It's government overreach, uh, at its core. And, um, who are we to tell the parents what is successful and what is not? Um, that's not my job. Um, that that's the parents job is to um, raise their child. You know, I I I
049look at this success sequence and I think of if it was taught back when I was a child. You know, you would think that um you know, my my parents were successful then because they followed the sequence. Um but they um they were impoverished and I lived out of a car and I went to 16 different schools. Was that successful? I don't think so. But you know what? Um, at the end of the day for this to me is again just government overreach. Um, you I I just don't know how many more of these uh bills they're going to waste their time on um to really uh dictate to the communities uh what we should and should not be doing. I love local control. I love it for a reason because we in our community
050know what works and what doesn't. We don't need someone from the state house dictating to us how our children are going to be successful or if they're not going to be. And just a side note, as someone who struggled with infertility, so if I didn't have children, I would not be successful. Like there's it's just a whole realm. And I think they're really going down the wrong pathway with this. Um so I'm certainly um I'm certainly opposed to this bill. With that said, I request a motion to approve. Oh, I'm sorry. We've already done that. Could I um we've had discussion. Could we just take a vote, please? Thank you. Mrs. Gerkin? Yes. Mrs. Barwig? Yes. Miss Barnes? Yes. Mr. Parker? Yes. Thank you. Okay, we are moving on to section nine. Are there um
051that's a walk-in section. Are there any walk-ins this evening? Okay, great. Then we can proceed to section 10, which is early childhood education items. The chair is Randall Parker III. Co-chair is Sheena Barnes. And I will turn it over to Chair Parker. Turn over to this time to Dr. Allen. We don't have anything this month. Okay. Well, that was quick. All right. So, no um ECE action items this month. Section 11 of the agenda consists of early childhood education reports and minutes from uh this month's committee meetings and are provided for your information reference. No action is required. So we can proceed to section 12. Section 12, early childhood education walk-ins. Are there any this evening? No. Okay, moving on. Section 13 through 15 are comments. I'll turn it over to Dr. Durant. Yes, a
052few items. Uh again, Scott Park. a great celebration. Uh look forward to our our fish release. Uh so our kids at Natural Science Academy are have been farming fish uh for the last several months. So there'll be bluegills uh bass along with catfish that they'll release every spring into the pond. Uh that will be part of uh fishing engagement for those of that community. Uh the other thing is Jones Leadership Academy business again a great stock market challenge to thank for those who have been there. Uh there were 22 teams of students who were engaged. I thought they did a great job of putting uh those who made the investments at the table with each each table so that way they weren't running around yelling for for an investor to to come over to their
053table. But uh it was it was a great event to be at uh to really teach our kids wealth management strategies. And one uh that we haven't brought up tonight that was a great celebration was our senior prom for our senior citizens. A phenomenal event. It sold out in a week. Uh that's how quick the tickets sold out. There was over 500 senior citizens in celebration of the golden 60s and uh they came out dressed in impress afro everything. They brought it all. But uh they were ready to get down on the dance floor and uh it was a great celebration. Uh the king and queen u the king uh he was 95 years old and queen was 100 years of age. Uh who were all there for the celebration. So again great time. and
054we look forward to it next year and now we have spring fing for the area office on aging. Uh so we love our seniors just as well. So again, thank you and keep you proud. I love it. Thank you very much. Um Ryan Stulty, our treasur Mrs. Girkin touched on the first um the budget bill. Um as she's alluded to, the cap on our carryover is being discussed heavily. So that is getting a lot of traction to eliminate that which would be great. And then the other side of it is under the house version we will not fare very well with only a $400,000 increase and then an additional 200 in the second year of the bianium. So that will us really quickly. Um we are working with hybrid right now on testimony and uh
055how we are going to attack it in various ways. So we'll keep you updated. So my question to you then is um I I would imagine that we're probably trying to reach out to the senators to connect with them. Um how do you do you get a sense from the Senate at all on where they are? Not a good sense as of just yet because as soon as they received it from the house, they went on Easter break, spring break, whatever they're calling it. So they come back, I think Monday, this coming Monday. So then we'll start in on that. I have another question. So when it comes to um written and in person testimony on this bill, you're saying that we do have a plan for um for for doing official on there testimony.
056I know all of call your senators and resolutions, but I'm talking about like official on the record testimony. Do we have a plan for that? Yes, that's what we're working on. Hybrid right now with hybrid, I should say. Let us know if there's anything that we can help with or if they wanted to um pen a few versions of it that uh can go above, you know, different board members signatures or, you know, let us know how that we can help with that. Okay. Thank you. No, thank you. Um, I certainly appreciate that and we'll definitely keep a watch on what is going on in Columbus. I think all districts right now are really um nervous about what is going to be passed um with this budget and the the detriment that it will do
057to public education. Uh reminder um vouchers hurt Ohio. It's uh if this budget passes, it will be $1.2 2 billion for vouchers at the same time, right, that they are not honoring the fair school funding plan. Okay. Um board member comments. Random Parker. Well, I'm still bothered from section 8. So, um my mama would probably get me if I do this by putting your hat on in a building, but these are my last words. I choose public schools. Miss Girkin. Um, I don't think I have anything else. We have a couple of special board meetings that we need to schedule, but since um uh Mr. Vasquez isn't here, we'll have to do that through through email. So, keep your eyes out for that final uh those final meetings uh that we want to get scheduled
058in June. Miss Barnes. Thank you, Madam Vice President. So, uh also happy autism acceptance month. Um, and with that and the news going on, I want to state uh that autism is not a disease. It does not need to be cured. My son and myself are perfectly fine. What people in the autistic community needs is resource and access to diagnosis without racism and xenophobia. That's what we need. We don't need a cure because nothing's wrong with us. We are different and that's what inclusion really is. Is accepting us for who we are as we show up. And if people have a problem with that, they can come see me directly. Okay. Uh just as a final reminder, uh we do have Special Olympics coming up. I didn't want I did not want to forget that.
059Um I I forgot the dates though. I apologize. I know they're Fridays and May 16th. May 9th and May 16th. Okay. Thank you very much. Thank you. All right. And Okay. Now that we've done boardroom comments, I would just say I also choose public education. I think ending on that note is lovely. And that will move us to section 16, which is adjournment. And I'd like to request a motion. So moved. Second. It's been moved and seconded. Any discussion? Carrying on. Treasurer, please call the role. Mrs. Gerkin. Yes, Mrs. Barwick. Yes, Miss Barnes. Yes, Mr. Parker. Yes, thank you.