GBAPSD Board of Education Special Meeting: March 1, 2021

001♪♪ Announcer: The views and opinions in this program are not those of CESA 7 or Spectrum. ♪♪ Eric: I'd like to call this special board meeting to order. We'll start with roll call. Beth, could you help us with that please. Beth: Good evening. Becker. Andrew: Here. Beth: McCoy. Laura: Here. Beth: Sitnikau. Rhonda: Here. Beth: Smith Dawn: Here. Beth: Vanden Heuvel. Eric:Here. Beth: Warren. Brenda: Here. Eric: All right, all six board members are present. On our agenda tonight we have interviews for a vacant board member, a board position. We have eight people lined up to interview and we will get started right away here at five o'clock. Josh, I believe we have somebody in the waiting room, candidate number one. (laughs) I don't know if Josh is watching somewhere. Oh, he did? Okay, so we'll just

002wait a minute. Our first candidate is Eric Hagedorn. I know he's in the waiting room. And our tech support just stepped out. So as soon as he gets back, we'll bring Eric in. He's virtual. Rhonda: Oh, I'm sorry. Eric: Yeah. No problem. So I guess while we're waiting, I can just cover a little bit of how tonight will go. So we have all eight interviews scheduled. We do have a 10 minute break from 7:30 to 7:40. If we are running ahead of schedule, we'll bring in candidates earlier as they're available. So we may adjust that break time depending on how we're doing. After all eight interviews, then we will... Each board member will select their top three candidates. Not in any order, just let us know who your top three candidates are. Beth will tally

003those for us to give us an idea of which way the board is kind of leaning. Certainly we can have discussions about any candidate. But hopefully that tonight's meeting ends with someone making a motion and someone receiving at least four votes to be appointed to the board. And their first meeting would be next Monday, March 8. Beth: All right Eric, if I can allow Eric, the other Eric in. Are you comfortable with me putting him in? Eric: Yeah, absolutely. Okay, here he is. Eric: Will we get to see him? Josh: Yep, I'm sorry. Eric: No problem. Hi Eric, can you hear me? Eric H.: I can, hello? Eric: Hello. Eric H.: Who's this I'm speaking to? Eric: This is Eric Vanden Heuvel, President of the Green Bay School board. Eric H.: Very nice to meet

004you. Eric: Nice to meet you as well. Thank you so much for joining us. And for your interest in this position. So as I mentioned a little earlier, but just to make sure, we'll go around, we have five questions. You did receive the questions ahead of time, correct? Eric H.: I did. I did. Eric: Great. So we have about 30 minutes to ask those five questions. And then anything else at the end that you'd like to let us know about yourself. Any clarifying questions that you may have, we'll ask those at the end. Eric H.: Sure. Eric: All right, perfect. So we'll start with Laura McCoy. If you could ask question number one. Laura: Hi, Eric. Eric H.: Hi. Laura: Question number one. Why do you want to be appointed to the school board, and

005what are the contributions you think you can make to the leadership of our district? Eric H.: Thanks for that question, Laura. Thank you. Let me start with the second part of the question first, if that's all right. So I'm presently Associate Professor of Philosophy at Saint Norbert College. And I've taught courses in the history of philosophy, and logic, and reasoning, for about eight and a half years now. In addition to my teaching commitments at the college, I'm presently the chair of what's called the clean share committee. Our committee oversees in about of $2 million endowment. And we are responsible for organizing one of the premier lecture series events at the college. Last year, I was asked to be a team lead, one of six team leads for the colleges assurance review. Which confirms the college's

006continuing accreditation with the higher learning commission. I've served on various college committees that are related to assessment efforts at the college and our educational policy committee say. In 2017 and 2018, I was one of the community members on the Green Bay Public School district-wide boundary task force. When there was the task force about whether, how to deal with space issues especially on the East side of the district. I'm involved in, I'm on the elder board of my local church. So I'm involved in management and oversight of church budget and church programming through that. My wife was a high school and middle school teacher for a number of years. My mother was actually a school board member when I was growing up in my moral hometown in Iowa. So all that to say, in terms of

007contributions I could make to the leadership of the district. I believe I have a rather unique background that includes a variety of firsthand and secondhand experience within education. Both in direct teaching, but also in management and oversight of programs with budgets. I know my way around an assessment report. I understand what the difficulties are of allocating budget resources, potentially scarce budget resources in some situations. And I feel that I can empathize with the Herculean efforts that are presently today, being undertaken by teachers across the district. As they try to simultaneously for the first time teach some students in person and others via Zoom. I've been doing that myself now for the last six months. Additionally, my academic training and my time serving on all these various committees has made me, I would say, unusually attentive

008to ensuring precision and clarity in my writing and in my speaking. On finding ways to create common ground and consensus when there are disparate views at the table. And to recognize the ways in which spirited disagreement, about how to reach a shared goal can usually lead to better policy outcomes in the end. And so those I think are my contributions. That I have this experience. And I think the experience has given me a particular set of skills that I think would serve the district well. And as for why I'm seeking appointment to the school board at this time. I think my first part of my response is the answer to this. So I've long held the view that every one of us has a duty to serve our community in some way or other. And

009I think that the way we serve our community, ought to be responsive to our particular skillsets and to the urging of fellow community members. So I've never run for elected office before. I'd never given any serious thought to doing so, to be honest. But when this vacancy arose, several parents in the district who know me, messaged me. And they asked me to apply. And they said, they thought, "Eric you've got sort of this wealth of experience. "And you've got a generally amiable personality. "And you have the right kind "of attention to detail." A number of parents in the district thought I would be a valuable asset to the board and the district going forward. And on the basis of their recommendation, I put in my letter for application thinking that I have a set of

010skills that could be of potential service to the district. Laura: Thank you. Eric H.: Thank you. Brenda: Hello there. What are some of the issues that you believe have been brought on by the pandemic? And as a board member, how would you prioritize and address these? Eric H.: That's a great question. And I think that the last 12 months have brought renewed attention to the fact that student health and educator health is a prerequisite for student success. Not that we didn't know that before but I think we have sort of a renewed appreciation of it now. But not just physical health, but also mental health. Students can't reach their full potential if they or their teachers are physically ill. Whether that's from COVID or whatever else. But I think we see a little more clearly

011than maybe we did before, how student success is also so severely impacted by depression, anxiety, loneliness, by larger family struggles like joblessness and food insecurity. So starting today, in fact, teachers across the district are now being vaccinated. Vaccines will be available to the wider community within the coming months and to children, I think maybe sometime this fall I've heard. So I mean, fingers crossed, hopefully the worst days of the COVID pandemic are behind us. That said, in so far as the district mission is to educate all students and inspire everyone to succeed, I think an important priority going forward is that we continue to re-examine and we find these resources dedicated to student health across the district. Both physical and mental. So for the last 12 months the district has gone, to what seemed to

012me, admirable lengths to keep students fed. And now they've rearranged classrooms, and they've altered traffic floor flow through buildings to keep students and teachers safe from respiratory illness. And all of these efforts are to be applauded. And definitely careful consideration should be made about whether and how to continue them going forward. But I would say a real priority going forward is to ensure that there's an adequate number of mental health resources available throughout the district. Just returning students to buildings, I'm not sure is going to fully address what I might call the debt of mental distress. That's built up both in students and teachers over the last year. And so if I were appointed to this position, I think one significant priority in the coming months would be to work with the other members of

013the board and to work with health staff in the district to really put together a plan to assess the current state of student mental health. And to find ways to better support that. Whether that be with the hiring of additional counselors or new programs. But I think it's something that the district sort of needs to be aware that this is going to be an ongoing issue. That I don't think has been solved by just putting students back in buildings today. Brenda: Thank you. Rhonda: Hi Eric, it's Rhonda Sitnikau here. Eric H.: Very nice to meet you, Rhonda. Rhonda: You too. Can you describe your understanding of the school board's role and the administration's role in the district? Eric H.: Sure thing. So the school board sets the mission and the strategic plan. And allocates budget

014resources to accomplish that mission and that plan. Not too different from the relationship at my own college between our board of trustees and the college. The administration then is responsible for implementing the strategic plan for accomplishing the mission with the resources. Under the oversight of the board. I mean, some of that is fairly boiler plate. That is the relationship between boards and administrations everywhere, of course. To go a little bit beyond that and to say sort of what I see as uniquely the role of the board. So it's not possible. I don't think. For the board to create student success. And it's not exactly the board's responsibility to create student success. The members of the board are not teachers who make pedagogical decisions about the content of the classrooms. Members of the board are not

015principals who are having to figure out the utilization of particular buildings. The responsibility of the board is to make sure all the preconditions of student success are in place across the district. Across the entire district. The things that will empower all the individual teachers in the individual classrooms to bring about student success. So the work of the board is to oversee the work of the superintendent to ensure that adequate resources, both physical resources in terms of buildings and space but also in terms of money. To make sure those resources are available for district priorities. It's the role of the board to make sure that scarce resources aren't being squandered in ways that don't serve the mission of the district. And it's the role of the board to do what it can to guarantee and monitor

016that teachers and students throughout the district and every building and in every last classroom have what they need. What is needed for the students in that classroom, in that building to succeed. And I think that's the board's primary responsibility. To make sure that all of those preconditions for student success are in place. So that the teachers and administrators in the districts can do the job that is needed to bring about student success. And then in addition, I think the school board has this additional duty to the community. The board has a duty to listen to and engage with stakeholder concerns, constituent concerns across the district to help stakeholders be informed about what's happening in the district. The board has to be a careful steward of community resources in so far as it is the community

017that funds and supports the district. And I think there's a duty to be an advocate for public education generally. Public education here but public education statewide and nationwide as well. Rhonda: Thank you. Andrew: Hey Eric, Andrew Becker. Eric H.: Hi Andrew. Nice to meet you. Andrew: Hello. As a school board member, how would you be an advocate for the districts, schools and students? Eric H.: That's a good question. So being an effective advocate, I think requires first that one be an effective communicator. And then second, that you form the right kinds of relationships with the relevant stakeholders and community groups. You can't be an advocate if you don't know the people you're advocating to. And you also can't be an advocate if you can't communicate effectively. I think that in my role as a teacher

018in higher ed as someone who teaches communication regularly, I think I have the effective communication that down at least in some sense to some degree. I think I would make a significant use of social media as a platform for this. As other school board members have done to try to offer a space for community engagement. A place where I'm present to hear the concerns of parents and community members. A place where I can provide updates about the district successes. I would try to, I would seek to deepen that existing relationships I have with say local leaders in higher education and local leaders and various religious communities across the district. I would deepen those relationships. And I would try to form new ones say with local business leaders, local political leaders, to try to find ways

019that community resources might help us achieve district goals. And to find ways in which district resources might be able to help further goals of the community. Albeit in ways that are in furtherance of, and you know, consistent with the district, the school board's mission, the school's mission. Brenda: Okay, thanks Eric. This is Brenda Warren. Nice to meet you. Eric H.: Hi, Brenda. Brenda: Our last last question is, could you please identify specific examples of situations where you have demonstrated a working style, communication skills, leadership skills, or decision-making skills that you think would be effective on a seven member school board? Eric H.: Absolutely. So my examples of these, my situation examples are all sort of going to go back to my answer to Laura's first question about what do I think my contributions would be?

020So, as I mentioned, I presently serve as the chair of this committee at St. Norbert College called the Killeen Chair Committee. So there are nine of us, faculty and students and some staff members. We have a $2 million endowment, and among other things, we accept grant applications from across the college to fund different programs across the college. And so as chair of that committee I am involved with taking people who might disagree or who might agree, who might agree but might disagree about what is worthy to be funded about those sorts of programs that should be run, and it is my task to try to carve out consensus, and in my leadership style in that role, I seek to find consensus wherever possible. If it comes down to a majority vote on that committee, I

021often feel like I've somehow failed the committee. Like my job is to try to get the committee to a shared understanding of the committee's mission in a way that everyone can see that the grants we're accepting and the programs we're funding are in furtherance of our mission. And so in that context, I think it's important to seek consensus, important to build relationships, important to build agreements across people. I also, as I mentioned, I'm presently a team lead for this HLC re-accreditation effort at the college. In that role, I manage a team of 10 people, again, faculty, staff, and students, and our goal, our task for the past year has been to seek out evidence and write a rather long and detailed report that details the college's compliance on a wide variety of criteria that are

022expected by our accrediting body. And so in that role, I have the task of assigning specific people, trying to sort of take this team of 10 people I have, thinking about who would be good partners, who would work well together, and then sending them off sort of in teams of two. Okay, you go talk to these people on campus and you go gather this evidence. You two, you're going to be writing this aspect of the report. And so trying to recognize what people's individual skillsets are, recognizing who might work well together, who might have a little bit of a harder time working together, and finding ways again to further that common mission and make sure that the work gets done, but in a way that's sort of fair and equitable to everyone involved. As a

023member of the elder board at my church over the past year, again, having to make decisions about how to continue services in the age of COVID, not nearly as difficult a task as I think all of you have had here in the district over the past year. But that in and of itself, as you have multiple people sitting around the table who don't agree about perhaps what the right sort of health interventions are, how careful to be in regards to this pandemic or whatever else, and trying to form, trying to form an agreement and make, reach a decision that sort of respects everybody's input but ultimately is furtherance of the vested interests of the church, its congregants. Yeah, I think there are other things I could say but I think I've probably gone on long

024enough that, in each of these instances, it's been a case where I've had a team underneath me or alongside me in some way and just aiming to try to find some way to build consensus in the midst of disagreement. Eric: All right, thank you very much, Eric. We have about five to seven minutes left, so I want to give you the opportunity to say anything else that you may not have had a chance to say about yourself, anything else you'd like us to know? And if you have any high level questions, we can try to answer those for you as well. Eric H.: Absolutely. So in terms of just a couple other things about myself, so I am the father of two wonderful children who are in the district. I have a six year old

025daughter who is a first grader and a 10 year old daughter who's a fifth grader, both at Langlade Elementary in Allouez. My fifth grader is going on to Washington Middle School next year. She's really excited about the Fine Arts Academy there at Washington Middle School, and so she's going into that. And at the end of the day, on top of everything else I've said, if anything, they are the reason more than anything probably that I put my name in for this position. So I believe strongly in the importance of public education and having an excellent public education system. And like I said in my earlier answer about sort of the role of the school board, I don't think the school board is the, has the responsibility of bringing about student success. I don't think the

026school board can do that. But I think it's also, I think it's possible that the school board, if the school board is not doing their job well, then the student's success is more difficult all the way down. And so in part, I put my name in for this task because I believe whoever the seventh member of this, whoever you select as the seventh member of the board will have an important responsibility: The wellbeing of 22,000 students in the district including my two daughters, and I just hope that as you, as you make that decision, I want you to pick someone who will be an excellent advocate for the district and will be excellent at bringing about the district's mission. And at the end of the day, if that's not me, I'm actually fine with that,

027so long as you pick somebody who is excellent and does an excellent job of supporting the students in the district. And yeah, I think that's the only thing I would want to say about myself. Do you, have you made decisions about the timeline for next steps on this search? Eric: Yeah, so the plan is to finish the interviews here tonight. Hopefully this meeting ends tonight with us making a motion and selecting that person. Then we would follow up tomorrow and hopefully they would join us for our first meeting next Monday on the 8th. Eric H.: All right, fantastic, thank you very much. I really appreciate your consideration of my application. I appreciate the time you've given me to talk to you tonight. Eric: All right, thanks so much, Eric. We appreciate you. Eric H.: Thank

028you so much. Be well. Eric: Good night. Beth: It looks like Saint Luke is available. Would anybody like a moment? Eric: Everybody ready? All right, we're ready, Beth. Beth: Okay, here he is. Eric: Luke, can you hear me? Luke, are you there? Saint Luke: Can you hear me? Eric: Yep. Saint Luke: Okay. Eric: Are you able to turn your video on, Luke? Saint Luke: Yeah, let me find the camera. Clicking on the three dots... Start video, here we go. How do you like that? (laughing) Eric: If that's really where you are, you can turn your video back off. Saint Luke: I wish. Eric: Thank you so much for taking the time to join us. My name is Eric Vanden Heuvel. I'm the president of the Green Bay Area Public School District Board of Education. The

029plan here for us tonight is to go through a few questions to help us get to know you and your perspectives a little bit better. If you don't have any questions for us, we'll get started right away. Saint Luke: All right, well, I'm going to turn on the volume a little bit more because it's a little quiet, one is a little louder. Eric: Okay, we'll make sure that we talk right into our microphones when we ask the questions. Saint Luke: Yeah, there we go. Eric: Yeah, everyone received the questions ahead of time so you should be good to go. So, all right, go ahead, Laura. Laura: Hi, Luke. My name is Laura McCoy. Question number one: Why do you want to be appointed to the school board and what are the contributions you think you

030can make to the leadership of the district? Saint Luke: Well, I'm sure you guys read my letter of interest, telling you all about my history, you know, where I grew up and what I have achieved up to this point. I believe what I've contributed, I have over 20 years of experience in education, business, technology, health and wellness. I got my bachelor's degree in kinesiology, exercise science. I went for three years at NWTC for my associates in information technology, computer specialist, so I know I can build a computer from the ground up. I created my own nonprofit organization based on educating the community with using services and technology and health and wellness. So I'm very, very into education, health, and technology. And those are some really big factors that have been coming back at me throughout

031my whole entire life. So I've embraced it and I've helped thousands of individuals find jobs, internship, training, and hiring with my nonprofit that I created six years ago. So I have a lot to offer and I've been doing it for the past, I would say, over 15 years, because I actually started my company that I have now, I started 17 years ago as a sole proprietor. So that's a long time ago, from back in 2004, and then shut it down for about 10 years, and then I turned it into a nonprofit because after the recession, the first recession, 2008, and later, I saw how the community needed more help. So back then I was more about, you know, making money and all that, nut now it's geared towards the economy, it's geared towards more like

032helping the world and helping the public and the economy. That's why I changed my mission and my vision to nonprofit and helping out individuals. I mean, there's a lot more to say about what I can contribute, but I guess in a nutshell, that's what I could contribute. Laura: Thank you. Saint Luke: You're welcome. Rhonda: Hi, I just have a follow-up question. This is Rhonda Sitnikau. Can you, you had mentioned that you had done some work in health and wellness. Can you just expand on that, just touch on what type of health and wellness work you were supporting people with? Saint Luke: Yeah, currently I work part-time for the past five years as a caregiver. So I've worked in all different facilities. I've worked in in-home care, I'm currently working in in-home care. I've worked in

033nursing homes. I've worked in PBRS. I worked in all the types of facilities you can think of and I learned a lot when it came to people's health. So I'm certified as a domestic care worker. You know, I'm not a CNA, but I've got, I could probably take the test and pass it if I took the test. However, my path in life didn't take me that way. So I've got some other certifications in Alzheimer's. I can help people with Alzheimer's or autism. My nonprofit that I have, I have hired wellness educators, some specialized and customized. I have this lady who customizes healthcare plans for individuals based on their health and what they want to achieve. I hired this lady who is multi-talented. She is a yoga instructor, she's a personal trainer. She does all kinds

034of things, but I hired her on and she just blows me away with all the skills and education that she has had to help people with their wellness and their health. It's more geared towards wellness because everyone is individualized and we help people from all different types of backgrounds and disabilities and just ordinary people who just want to, you know, get better at being healthy and in different ways. Rhonda: I'm sorry, I was saying that's great. Thank you. Saint Luke: You're welcome. Dawn: Hello Luke, this is Dawn Smith. What are some issues you believe have been brought on by the pandemic, and as a board member, how would you address these? Saint Luke: I listened to a lot of NPR and news radio. I've been listening to them for over 10 years now and so

035I listen to the current events, plus I have children, I have a 15 year old son, a 14 year old daughter, and a nine year old daughter. And I see, this is like one of the saddest times in life for humanity. I see how the school system is different in three different schools, because my three children go to three different schools. My 15 year old goes to a charter school. He goes to the School of Innovation here in Green Bay, and I see how his school handles the pandemic. They're going to school starting next week, hybrid. My daughter in Oconto goes to school. In Oconto, they started school a month ago and they're a full-on in-person, and I'm scared about that. You know, I don't, you know, (inaudible) how my son is doing it. I

036feel safer with how my son, but my daughter in Oconto, they're on shaky ground, I feel they're on shaky ground, but we have to move forward. And then my youngest, my nine year old, she goes to Random Lake Elementary in Sheboygan County, and their system is one of the worst. My daughter, she got COVID back in November and they're still doing in-person. And I was so disappointed. I was telling my daughter's mom, I was like, please keep her home. So right now for the pandemic, I would do priority first... Our children are bringing back this virus and literally killing the elder- our adults and I'm so happy finally we got the vaccine. They're pushing it out as fast as they can to the adults. I got vaccinated because I'm a caregiver so I'm one of

037the essentials. I got vaccinated last month already because I was in the front lines taking care of people everyday, going into their homes. So the way that they were doing it is, like I said I hear the news all the time, people are not getting enough vaccine, it's not going fast enough, but we've got to keep moving forward and we've got to keep pushing it, and we've got to keep the faith and keep our morale high and continue focusing on the elderly because that's where they're getting hit the hardest, and then work our way through. Teachers are going to be getting them this month, this week. My professor at NWTC, she's getting hers today. She's getting her first shot today. So that's good. You know, we're moving forward. Schools are going to start again like

038I said in person. So, I feel- It's going to be a long and you know, slow process but I believe we're doing fairly well when it comes to prioritizing you know, what we need to do first and who comes first and next after that, but we've got to keep good communication at all times. We've all got to be on the same page. Get our facts straight. Get our numbers and statistics correct, because we can't lose anymore. We're at half a million people, you know, that are gone now because of the pandemic and everything, and that's uh, that's sad. Dawn: Thank you. Saint Luke: Yeah, you're welcome. I don't know if that answers your question but... Dawn: You're good. Saint Luke: (laughter) Rhonda: Can you describe your understanding of the School Board's role and the administration's

039role in the district? Saint Luke: Well from what I gather, we all come (inaudible) and from the School Board and we all look at, you know all the current and past issues going on, we look at it all together and we, you know, brainstorm all our ideas and put together what we can do to make things better, more efficient, and work together, and then (inaudible) they administer what we, you know, the pushes and the choices that we make from the School Board, you know. But, that's what I believe our role is as a School Board, to look at everything as a whole and then have the administrators administrate it and move forward with it and apply it. I mean in a nutshell that's how what I see our role is. Rhonda: Thank you. Saint Luke:

040You're welcome. Andrew: Andrew Becker, here. As a School Board member, how would you be an advocate for the district's schools and students? Saint Luke: Um, I've taken the test. I'm also not only in my- well, I'm at TC, NWTC right now working on my Doctorate's for, well, currently going for my associate's for Physical Therapist assistant, but ultimately I'm going for my Doctorate's in Physical Therapy and at the same time right now, I'm also at Concordian (inaudible) online working on my Master's degree in Education, so it's interesting that you ask me about advocacy for schools and students because going to work for my teacher's license, they teach us all about what type of person you are, and this leads cause the next question you guys are going to ask me, my teaching style and my working

041style. I knew since I was a child what kind of person I am. I am a hands-on type of person who doesn't want to be bored. So if I were to advocate for the schools and the students, I would hands-on in whatever events and issues that we need to get across. I would communicate with people, the people, the organizations that we are currently working with and who we could network with in order to make things better, not just in school but in general, in our general public health. Whatever events we need to partake in, people we need to network with, organizations that we need to network with, schools and students, I am the person who would step right away into promoting and showing that we need to get whatever we agree on is the word

042to you know, create, or adjust, or amend, or make more efficient, and be more productive. I will go to those events and those organizations, those individuals to get those done. Get what we need to get done, because you can't just think of all these ideas, it sounds good on paper, it sounds good when you say it, but it's very difficult, especially from being a business owner, it's very difficult to actually do and do the legwork compared to what you plan and say. There's always going to be obstacles and you're gonna have to adapt and adjust you know, just on the fly sometimes to situations that happen and I love that. I'm very adaptable and I am very experienced when it comes to situations like that. And I believe when it comes to advocacy for the

043schools and students, which could be very evolved and communicate and work together to get what we need to get done. Brenda: Hi Luke, I'm Ms. Brenda Warren. I'm going to ask the final question but before I do that, I was wondering if we could go back to question number 1 and could you elaborate a little on the first part of that question which was why you want to be appointed to the School Board? Saint Luke: Um. I think my matter of interest that I gave to you, I don't know if all of you read it, but my biggest concern is when it comes down to it, it's our knowledge and everything we have learned from our predecessors, I was trained and I was taught through church and through my schooling and everything like that, that

044we are supposed to pass our knowledge on to the next generation ahead of us and my biggest, when I got this email from you all, that was my biggest concern is that I feel that I keep getting told from my past, the elders, my elders, that we are getting softer and softer and losing more and more knowledge and our children are getting softer and softer and more, I guess you could just say, like getting it easier than the generations before them, we had it more difficult, and I want to make sure that we retain and are able to pass on as much that we- what we know over to them cause they're the ones that are going to be taking care of us you know, when we retire and this was one of the, that

045was the main thing that we really wanted to be a part of this board was because all the knowledge that I can bring and all the hands-on experience that I have gone through, to pass on to the next generation. That is my biggest mission and goal in life is to do that. Brenda: Thanks, Luke, and then I'll just ask our final question. Could you please identify specific examples of situations where you have demonstrated a working style, communication skills, leadership skills, or decision-making skills that you think would be effective on a 7 member board? Saint Luke: You know, when I looked at this question and I thought about it, I noticed how you guys all like, justified on working style, communication skills, leadership skills, decision-making skills. I looked at it as a whole. You need all

046those elements, working style, communication skills, leadership skills, you need to put all those together. It depends on the situation. So you said examples of situations. For example, as a caregiver, I work- I am currently working with an individual who's autistic. So I need to know how I treat this individual because they can handle what they're doing to a certain limit but I have to just kind of keep an eye on them making sure that they don't hurt themselves or anything like that. So I have to change my style to that and I have to communicate more specifically with this individual. So, that's my style for that. And then, another example as an Executive Director for the nonprofit that I have here, I have to oversee the wellness and technology services that I provide to the

047community. Like I told you, I hired this lady who's the yoga instructor, personal trainer, I had to put that hat on and be you know, the Executive Director and make sure that she had the skillset and she was able to be comfortable with her clients that she gets and all that. You know, I had to hire her and I had to make sure that she had all the credentials. I had to communicate with her fairly well to know everything inside and out about her personality and her skills. So, that was like part of a leadership skills, that was communication skills that I had to use, healthy decision-making skills that I had to use to you know, see if she was a good candidate, to provide her skills to the community. So that's another example of

048a different working style. And then another working style I would have to say is as a student, cause I'm also a student, and I have to change that working style to make sure I get my homework done, organized, what I have to get, you know, done first, projects, cause like I said I'm working on my Master's degree and my, an associate's degree, so I have to make sure that I get this paper done. I get this assignment done right on time. I make sure I got to email and communicate with my professor and other students cause sometimes it's group work that I have to do. So, that's another example, and I guess a final example is I also teach many things. I teach martial arts, self-defense, computer technology, and so, and when I do that

049I have to communicate for example when it comes to teaching self-defense, I have to separate individuals that could individuals based on their skill level. I have to show them that I'm a leader by showing them my skills and showing them what to do, how to properly do things, and that decision-making comes into that part too, like I said I have to find out what skill level they are, and see, I have to separate some people depending on their skill level and all that, and I'll teach them so that, you know, you need all those elements when it comes to uh, being in a role, or being a member of the School Board, I'm going to have to determine the situation. What calls for what we need to do and what skills you need to use

050in the situation. Eric: All right, thank you Luke for answering all of those questions. The few minutes that we have left remaining I guess I would allow you to mention anything about yourself that you feel you haven't been able to say already, and then if you have any high level questions for us I'd be happy to answer those. Saint Luke: Do you know- well, this is like a simple question. What was the reason why there was a vacancy? Cause that was a surprise to me that I got the email. I was like, "Wow, okay." I think it was, they said something like they retired or they left early or something like that. Cause I would like- Eric: Yeah, I certainly don't want to speculate on all the reasons why the previous member stepped down. She

051was elected to another office in Madison as a State Representative and I think that that was one of the reasons. Saint Luke: Oh, okay. Um, I mean besides that, I don't really have any, anything specifically. I just, what, I guess, what would the timeline be for this now after this interview and everything? What's the process that happens next? Eric: Yeah, so we will wrap up interviews here tonight and um, then have our deliberation. All of that will be broadcast live and we're hoping that we leave tonight's meeting with a motion in approval of our next member. Then we'll be in contact with that person tomorrow and hopefully they will join us for our next meeting next Monday, March 8th. Saint Luke: Oh, you said broadcast live. Will I get like a link to that or

052something? Can I see? Eric: Yup, so this is live right now. If you go to the Board of Education site on the district webpage, it might even be right on the home page, there will be a YouTube link, and you'll be able to watch the rest of the interviews and tonight's deliberation. Saint Luke: Oh, nice. Oh yeah, that's right. Okay. Yeah, I'll do that. Eric: All right, anything else for us, Luke? Saint Luke: Uh, no that's all I got. Eric: All right, thank you so much for your time. We appreciate it. Have a good evening. Saint Luke: You're welcome. Thank you. Eric: Goodnight. Saint Luke: Goodnight. Beth: Jessica is available, Eric. Just let me know when you'd like me to let her in. (throat clearing) Beth: Hey there, Eric. I'm not sure if you can

053hear me. Can you let me know when you'd like me to let Jessica in? Eric: Oh, yeah, I can hear you. I thought we were waiting. Beth: Oh, I'm sorry. (Eric laughs) Beth: All set? Eric: Yeah, we're good. Beth: Okay. Eric: I'm glad she said something. Eric: Jessica, can you hear me? Jessica: Hi, I can. Eric: There we go. How are you? Jessica: I'm doing well, thank you. Eric: Good. How is everyone else doing? Eric: I think we're doing okay, first time we've seen each other in a while in person. Jessica: Yeah. Eric: Well, thank you so much for taking the time to join us tonight. A little bit about how the process will work, we'll go around the table and ask the questions that you got ahead of time. So we'll go around, and

054we've got about 30 minutes. At the end, we'll give you an opportunity to mention anything else that you may have forgotten to mention, and any high level questions that you may want to ask at the end. Jessica: All right. That sounds like a plan. Eric: We'll start with Laura. Laura: Hi, Jessica. This is Laura McCoy. Question number one. Why do you want to be appointed to this school board, and what are the contributions you think you can make to the leadership of our district. Jessica: Great. Thank you for the question, Laura. You know, when I reflect on my decision to submit a litter of interest, to be one of the people considered to fill this vacancy on this school board, I found myself reflecting a lot on my own educational journey. And, as some of

055you may or may not know, I grew up in Green Bay. Green Bay is my home. I grew up in a working class family of immigrants who really put a lot of time and energy, and highlighted how important education was, and is, as a vehicle to a brighter future. So, you know, I started my educational journey as a head start student at Ft. Howard. I went on to graduate from Green Bay Preble, and then, also went on to receive my bachelor's from UW Madison in 2017, and my master's in 2019. But, you know, as proud as I am, for my own educational journey and the doors it has opened up for me, I also know from my own experience, that that wasn't the case for everyone. It wasn't the case for all of my peers.

056And so, I want to be able to put myself in a position where I can be an advocate for students, where I can harness the importance of what an education is, and the impact that it can make to people's futures. Not only students as individuals, but families, and honestly, communities at large. So, you know, as I reflect on my own educational journey, I really do feel a sense of personal responsibility to give back to the community that has given me so much, and also a sense of responsibility to ensure that all students have access to a high quality education. As far as the contributions that I feel I can bring to the school board, first and foremost, I, as a woman, as a woman of color, as a Latina who grew up in Green Bay,

057I feel I can bring a diverse perspective, influenced and informed by my own unique personal and lived experiences. We do, we have a growing district. Our community is changing. Even, you know looking at our students now, compared to when I was a student in the district, I see the changes. I see the growing diverse populations. And so, when you have a district that's 56, almost 57 percent students of color, I feel it is important for the leadership, and decision-makers to reflect the communities that they are serving. And so, I feel a contribution that I can bring to the school board, shedding light on those unique lived experiences, and having that relational capacity with a majority of our students and families. Lastly, I do feel that based on my own lived experiences, but also on my

058professional experience. I have what it takes. I have, I offer a lot to this position, including experience working with students and families, and building that trust, building those relationships. I have experiencing leveraging community and parent engagement. So, in my current professional role, I have worked with trusted community partners in the area, and have been working on building multi-beneficial relationships. Right? I think it's important for us to recognize the expertise that is available to us in our community and welcome those opportunities, but also finding ways that we can give back to them as well. So, again, I guess just conclude, I feel my unique lived and personal experiences as well as my professional experience make me a great candidate for the school board, and one that brings, has a lot to offer. Laura: Thank you, Jessica.

059Jessica: Thank you, Laura. Dawn: Hello, Jessica. This is Dawn Smith. How are you? Jessica: Hi, Dawn. I'm doing well, thank you. Dawn: Good. What are some issues you believe have been brought on by the pandemic, and as a board member, how would you prioritize and address these? Jessica: Thank you. So, you know, I do wanna start off by saying that I believe there are some issues that have definitely been brought on by the pandemic, however, I also believe there are issues that have existed, but have been highlighted by the pandemic. And I think those two are important, it's important to recognize those, and distinguish those two. But first and foremost, health and safety of our students, our staff, and our greater Green Bay community, is, to me, the biggest issue that has been brought upon

060by the pandemic. You know, as decision makers, I think it's imperative, in these times, to lean on the expertise of our public health community, as well as it's important to be flexible. There's so much that, as far as health and safety is concerned, that we didn't know when we entered this pandemic about a year ago. There's still a lot that we don't know. And so, as a board member, as a member on the board, I think it's important for me, if I were to be appointed, to be flexible, leaning on public health experts, but knowing that, as information changes, you know, our strategy should change along with that. I also think, you know, one of the issues that probably existed, but was highlighted by the pandemic, is our need to reassess instructional models, and be

061open to different ways of learning. Right? And so, whether virtual or in person, I think as leaders and decision makers it's important to ask, is our current instructional model working for all students? Is this an opportunity for us to be open to different ways of learning. Students can gain, it is my view, that students can gain certain skills in different ways. Project-based learning, virtual learning, the importance of social-emotional skills, and where that learning happens, whether it's inside the classroom, or outside of the classroom. I think we, public education and educators have been given an opportunity to really reassess traditional instructional models and be open and forward thinking, as we make decisions that impact our students in the future. Lastly, I think the data also shows and backs this up, something that the pandemic highlighted, an

062existing issue that the pandemic highlighted was really the inequities that are faced, that our students faced. I heard from a parent that shared a very personal story with me about how she was dealing with, you know, her students were dealing with virtual learning. There were some anxiety issues that arose and that were tough to deal with. And it was a wonderful moment for that parent to share that with me, but also it made me realize while I have certain experiences or know people with certain experiences, I also have to be aware that this pandemic is highlighting people differently, and what can we do to close those gaps? This reminds me, there was a poem shared on twitter, by Damion Barra, I believe, and so this line of his poem is something that I reflect a

063lot on. And the quote is, "We are all in the same storm, but we are not in the same boat." Meaning, we're all faced with having to deal with this global pandemic, but we are experiencing, we're weathering the storm differently. As a, if I were to be appointed as a board member, I would prioritize issues that directly impact students. Our kids need us to also be keenly aware of how the decisions that we're making at the decision making table, how the impact is being felt, and how it's being felt differently across different communities. Dawn: Thank you. Jessica: Thanks, Dawn. Rhonda: Hi, Jessica. It's Rhonda Sitnikau. Jessica: Hi, Rhonda. Rhonda: Can you describe your understanding of the school board's role and the administration's role in the district? Jessica: I can. So, first and foremost, I have

064a deep, deep respect for educators, and leaders, educational leaders, who wake up every day committed to protecting and fighting for public education. As I stated earlier, public education has played a critical role in my own life. And those of my siblings and of my community. And so, I have a deep, deep respect for educators across the board. Back to your question, how I see or understand the school board's and administration's role in the district, I think it really comes down to shared governance. We don't make decisions in silos, or irrespective of decisions being made elsewhere. I think it's important to keep in mind that we can come to the table and collaborate, we can find value in different beliefs, as long as we all hold truth that we are here to fight for public education,

065and we are here to protect and fight for students. With the concept of shared governance, I don't see any member or administrator coming in with a pre-agenda or a planned way that things should go. As long as we understand that we're here to make the best decisions possible on behalf of kids and our students. I think that that gets to the center of what the role of district leadership, is and should be. Rhonda: Thank you. Jessica: Thanks, Rhonda. Andrew: Hi, Andrew Becker here. Jessica: Hi, Andrew. Andrew: Hello. As a school board member, how would you be an advocate for the district's schools and students? Jessica: Thank you. I think in many ways, I am currently an advocate for our district's schools and our students. Again, I think our district is in a really unique position,

066where we, there's a lot that we have accomplished. Even in the last 5,10 years, we've made a lot of great progress, and there's still so much more for us to do, and so, being the third largest school district in the state gives us the opportunity to collaborate, to be a leader within the state and to be innovative. And so, as far as advocating for schools in districts, I think leaning on my own personal experience, my own experience as a student, that proximity that I have with students and families within our district. You know, using my voice, not to speak for others, but to shed light on other voices, to bring other voices to the table. I think, and I know that, me, if I were to be appointed, me serving on the school board is

067something that will transcend my own individual position. I think it speaks to, and sheds light on what can be accomplished. Right? I am a product of the school district. I call Green Bay home. I grew up here. And you know, just recognizing what a critical role public education has had in my own life and sharing that with other students and community members and telling them that they can also one day be in a place where they have the skills and experiences to be a valued member on decision-making tables. and decision-making spaces I think is something that I hold really near and dear to my heart. So that's kind of a long you know, long-winded answer. But again, I think leaning on my own personal experiences, leveraging my proximity that I have with students and families

068in the community and being a positive role model for the generations to come is how I can be an advocate of our public schools and our students. Brenda: Thanks Jessica. This is Brenda Warren. Nice to see you. Could you please identify specific examples of situations where you have demonstrated a working style communication skills, leadership skills or decision-making skills that you think would be effective on a seven member school board? Jessica: Yeah, of course. So currently in my current professional role, I work on, I work on a team, right. I work on a very high energy team. We are all bring a lot of energy and expertise, to the table and we're very high functioning. And sometimes it can be you know, it can be interesting trying to navigate spaces where there's so much energy and

069put into the work that's being done. Sometimes it can be hard to or difficult to find your place within that. And so really you know, I would lean on my professional experiences and how I've been able to navigate that and really how I've been able to be a leader within. Over the summer an opportunity presented itself where I was asked if I would consider being a project lead specifically when it came to diversity, equity and inclusion. So now the position has a more intentional focus and one of those and something that's come along with that is leading my own team, my own functioning, energetic team through diversity equity and inclusion framework. And so again, I think that says a very specific and a very real and current example of how I have been a collaborator,

070how I have been able to navigate leading within, how I've been able to respect others interests and skills and call upon them when different opportunities present themselves. you know, as long as the intent and the goal remains remains the same, which here would be, you know, the betterment of our students and staff. I'm confident that I can lean on those skills to be a collaborator, to be a good listener and, you know, to also you know, push us forward in certain instances. Additionally, aside from my professional role, I am part of an organization Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Incorporated within this organization within my sorority, I hold leadership roles. I'm currently, I currently serve as the parliamentarian and so I have engaged in work with statewide leadership to implement Robert's rules of order, review our policies

071and procedures. And this has taught me how to again develop and implement a process that might seem a little foreign to most people. and also it has taught me how to work with people of all ages. So members of my sorority that I'm probably one of the youngest ones. And so, being able to work with people of all ages with different experiences and being respectful and keeping in mind that again, collaborating is what's most important. So you know, my role in working to ensure that all students have access to high quality education by centering equity and leveraging policy is a skill that I would bring to the table. Eric: All right. Thank you so much, Jessica for answering all of our questions. We've got a few minutes left and I want you to be able

072to mention anything else that you haven't had a chance to and certainly ask questions for us. But one thing that I want to follow up with in full transparency you know, you have had a few conversations leading up to this interview about a potential conflict in your current roles. So I'm wondering if you could just speak to what your would be with your professional position if you were to be appointed to the board? Jessica: Yeah. Thank you for your question Eric. You know, and I think first and foremost it's important for me to make clear that you know, in my current professional role I am not in a position where I am personally profiting from the school district in any way especially, you know, financially. I did speak to my direct supervisor and my current

073professional role who passed the message along to the executive leadership. At my current employer and you know, said Hey, this is an opportunity that has presented itself. I feel very strongly about being an advocate for the students in the district that I was a part of that I graduated from and so you know, the message that we received back was after you know, the executive leadership reviewed, the situation they did not see a conflict in my ability to serve on the school board. And so you know, if I were to be appointed and if there were to be foreseeable conflicts I would make it a point to work with the district's legal counsel and abstain for any votes that may constitute a potential conflict. Eric: Perfect. Thank you for answering that. Anything else that you

074want to mention and any questions that you have for us? Jessica: Yeah. I guess the, you know, the only other things that I would like to mention is one thanking each and every one of you who expressed their support and wanting to move me forward to the interviews you know, I appreciate that and I don't take that lightly. and so you know, I want to believe that there are board members here that support my candidacy and so I just, I wanna say I'm appreciative of that. Ultimately it's very important to me that you know, I be given an opportunity to serve the community that has given so much to me. I hope our conversation has shown you know, what I have to offer and that I would bring value as a board member and I

075look forward to the opportunity to serve alongside you. Eric: Thank you so much Jessica we appreciate taking the time and we will finish up interviews and have a decision before the night's over. Jessica: All right. Thank you so much for your time. Have a good night. Eric: Thanks, Jessica. (inaudible) all right go ahead. (throat clears) Beth, Rhonda just stepped out so as soon as she comes back I'll let you know. Beth: Perfect. When she gets back Josh is available. Eric: Thanks All right Beth we're all set. you can let Josh in Beth: Thank you. Eric: Hey Josh Josh: Hey, good evening. Eric: Thank you so much for joining us. Josh: Thank you for having me. Eric: All right. So the plan is to go round each one of us will ask one of the five

076questions that you should have received ahead of time any follow up questions that may come up We'll give you some time at the end to ask any questions and clarify anything that you feel like you might need to. Josh: Sounds great thank you. Eric: All right, go ahead Laura. Laura: Hi, Josh. This is Laura McCoy. Josh: Hi, Laura. Laura: Hi, first question. Why do you want to be appointed to the school board and what are the contributions that you think you can make to the leadership of our district? Josh: Well, I come to you tonight as a product of the Green Bay School District. I grew up in green Bay. went through schools in the West side graduated from West high school. I married into a long time family of educators. My wife is a

077teacher in the district. My in-laws are now retired district teachers. And on a personal level. I went to school and was trained to be a high school social studies teacher but for me it took me a different direction. So I've always been a appreciative for everything that I received from the Green Bay Area Public School District but never really lost that spark or that interest that I've, that I originally had in undergrad to try to give back and pass things on to the next generation. I think that really kind of bears itself out through a lot of my volunteer opportunities. I am the vice-president of the board of directors for the center for childhood safety. I take an active role in a lot of organizations that really just speak to that youth development and educational

078piece. You know, from a broader perspective, when I saw this opportunity open up I started as a great opportunity to give back to something that really has given so much to me. As a first generation college student in my family and being where I am, I certainly have to be appreciative for everything that helped me get here and anything I can do to give back to this school district that's provided so much for me and for my family. I think I'd be a full map to have at least attempted to apply for the open spot. As per what I can bring to the board in my professional life I deal with a lot of difficult and complex issues every day. My job has me, very, very analytical day in and day out I deal with

079handle a lot of family issues. In fact, I'm a family law practitioner by trade. So I see sort of on the, in the legal system, the impact that the lack of support may have, or deal with a lot of the family issues and the importance of education. So I'm seeing these in the court system and certainly want to try to help foster a meaningful change at the district level. I also work as part of a team that has to collaborate work together and find creative solutions to difficult problems every day. So I think through my experience, through my occupation, through the skills that helped me perform well in my job that I'd be a good asset to the green Bay and Public School Districts board. Laura: Thank you. Josh: Thank you. Dawn: Hello there. This

080is Dawn Smith. How are you? Josh: Great. Dawn: Good. What are some issues you believe have been brought on by the pandemic and as a board member how would you prioritize and address these? Josh: Well, I look at the pandemic really in a couple of different lenses. As strange as it may be to say, I look at it as it's forced us to be more creative and flexible which is really an opportunity. But we also through that opportunity we can kind of look at that the lens of how things went this spring versus the changes we saw the summer and into the fall when we began the school year in virtual learning. So I think that the skill and flexibility of our educational staff, our students, our families, our support system really shown through that

081there were improvements but from a personal perspective as well as things may have gone for us I'm not naive enough to think that there weren't challenges for other families in our district. I see every day friends, colleagues and other folks that have had challenges whether it's issues of equity versus equality someone recently informed or educated me on the difference between equity versus equality where if we really give everybody a pair of shoes that would be equality, but making sure that every pair of shoes that fits is the equity piece. We look at the technology that our students all had to begin the school year. Everybody had the same Chromebooks and perhaps the same technology but the ability and support system at home to utilize that technology effectively certainly created challenges. I think we take a

082step further back when I was preparing for this evening's meeting, I think the biggest challenge, and perhaps the largest priority that the pandemic brought for our district. Is the issue of engagement and why is it that that there was a lack of engagement? I've seen reports, and I'm aware that there's a larger failure rate. And I don't think that it's because our students are any less intelligent, or that our teachers are any less able to effectively teach. But I think that the priority needs to be figuring out why there was a disconnect there. Was it a lack of, perhaps resources for mental health and social and emotional wellbeing? Was it a lack of support at home, that our individual learners didn't have the resources they needed in order to make the virtual experiences as successful

083as possible? Or was it a challenge in adapting to the virtual learning environment for some of our learners who are more hands-on learners? Whether it's my kindergartner who loves to sit and do creative art projects, or our technology students who love to get into the shop and, and create things. So I think that that lack of engagement or the loss of engagement really needs to be a priority so that we can move forward and figure out where, you know where that disconnect may have been. And so that not only can we prevent that from happening again, should there be any further need to go back into a virtual structure, but also to improve our learning and educating, educational style here as we go forward and transition back into what used to be our normal. Dawn:

084Thank you. Josh: Thank you. Rhonda: Hi, Josh, this is Rhonda Sitnikau. Josh: Hi, Rhonda. Rhonda: Can you describe your understanding of the school board's role and the administrator's role of the district? I'm sorry, the administration's role of the district? Josh: Yeah, the school board, as I understand it, it really is in charge of developing policy for the district. Those policies can be, it can be brought forward and developed from the administrative staff, from board members, and from our students, staff, and any number of community members. But the board's role is really to make sure that there's solid, solid policy put into place keeping in mind the mission statement to make sure that all of our students are college, career and community ready, and also trusting that the administration can implement those policies. So in developing

085those policies there needs to be clarity so that the administration knows what the expectations are, but there also needs to be accountability in order to provide feedback and follow up if those policies aren't being effectively implemented. Rhonda: Thank you. Josh: Thank you. Andrew: Andrew Becker here. Josh: Hi, Andrew. Andrew: Hello. As a school board member, how would you be an advocate for the districts, schools and students? Josh: Well, as the school board member, it really frankly overlaps with very much of what I do on a daily basis. My job in my role as an attorney is to zealously advocate for my client's best interests, for my client's legal needs. In the family law context, we advocate very often for what is in the best interest of a child who's in perhaps a custody battle, or

086a personal safety situation. So I think that, as a board member you need to be able to effectively advocate. You need to be able to communicate your client's, your constituent's needs and desires, but you also need to be open and receptive to communication from all areas so that you can make those most informed decisions. Certainly there's, If we take a look at all of the conversations that we've had in light of the pandemic, certainly there's a wealth of different perspectives, and a wealth of variety of varied, varied interests, but it's really the board's member, a school board member's job to take that information, take all the information available and make a reasoned and an appropriate decision. Knowing that those decisions frankly are going to be impacting the lives of 20 plus thousand students. Not to

087mention all the staff that is also impacted. So, you need to be open, receptive, communicative and transparent in those decisions so that people can go forward and understand that you made the best decision within, to the best of your ability, when acting on these folks' behalf. Brenda: Hi Josh. This is Brenda Warren. Josh: Hi Brenda. Brenda: Hi. Our last question tonight is could you please identify specific examples of situations where you have demonstrated a working style, communication skills, leadership skills, or decision-making skills that you think would be effective on a seven-member school board? Josh: Yeah, I've had a lot of experience through my role in our local church council. I currently serve as the council treasurer. We're a fairly large congregation on the West side, and we've had a lot of opportunities and challenges over

088the years while I've worked for the church council. In a congregation of our church's size, there's a lot of people that have a lot of perspectives and a lot of feedback on the decisions that are being made by the church leadership. We, not terribly long ago, had an issue dealing with financial impropriety, and there were competing interests and concerns at that time as to whether to exact a pound of flesh, for lack of a better term, or to make the church whole and make sure everybody was able to move forward in effective means. We were able to steer the church through a very difficult time at that time. And I think everybody came out better understanding that we were implementing the church's mission to do what's right as, we're guided by the Bible. So I

089think that as we look at that experience and the challenges, the concerns sometimes the anger, I think it's important to take a step back and be able to balance those interests, and understanding that after some times some of that anger may wane and we still want to make a reasoned decision. In my professional role, I have a lot of opportunities to work with the team at my firm, along with opposing counsel, and to create effective, creative and reasoned solutions to some very challenging problems. And I think that as a school board member, those skills are equally valid. Certainly if we look at the pandemic there's no, I don't think that there's a single right decision that's made, especially knowing that the science seems to change quite frequently. So it's important that we'd be able to

090make the, make creative solutions that address the variety of needs for all of our learners, all of our staff. And, I do have a lot of experience in that area that would be helpful in that regard. Eric: : All right. Thank you very much, Josh. Any other things that you didn't a chance to mention about yourself, or that you want to make sure that we know? And then, after that, any high level questions you might have for us? Josh: I don't think that there's too much about myself that wasn't already put out in my application materials. Again, I'm a product of the district. I have two beautiful girls who are nice enough to let me use their basement office this evening for for the interview. A couple of questions that I have, and I don't,

091I know that the request has been for high level questions, and I don't want to over speak. One of the questions I had was if anyone is willing to share, what do you believe over the last 12 months has been the board's greatest success, and what's been the most significant challenge as you've navigated through the pandemic? Eric: So, one of the reasons why we wanted to try to stay somewhat high level is that all six board members could certainly answer that very differently. A lot of very different takes, and we have to be careful about what we're posted forward to be able to discuss, and certainly would love to kind of all share our views on that, but we have to be careful about getting into too many rabbit holes. So... Josh: Understood. Eric: Yeah.

092Josh: I wasn't trying to bait anybody. Eric: No, I appreciate the question. Josh: And, and I guess a little bit less baited question I suppose, would be, How do you feel that the board works collaboratively together? Excuse me, there's a lot of work that the board certainly does behind the scenes, in order to prepare for work sessions and monthly board meetings. How would you describe the board's relationship? Eric: I mean, I'm just speaking for myself, but as the entire board, I think we have a good working relationship. Obviously we have to be careful for walking quorum issues when discussing things. So that presents some challenges. But overall, as a board, I think we have a great working relationship, and all dedicated to helping move our district forward. Josh: Very good. Thank you. Eric: Anything else

093for us, Josh? Josh: Nothing further. Thank you so much for having me tonight. Eric: Yeah, we appreciate your time. Thank you so much. And we should have an answer before the night's over. Josh: Sounds great. Thanks everybody. Eric: Goodnight, Josh. So we are running about 20 minutes ahead of schedule, if you need a stretch, stand. It doesn't look like Chad is here yet, but we'll, if everyone's ready, when Chad enters we'll keep moving forward. Eric: All right, Beth, we're all set. Beth: Okay, thank you, here's, Chad. Eric: Good evening, Chad. Chad: Hello. Eric: Thank you for joining us. Chad: Yeah, thank you for having me. Eric: My name is Eric Vanden Heuvel with the Board of Education for the Green Bay Area Public School District. Obviously, you're here to interview for our vacant seat. So

094we'll go around asking, each board member will ask one of the five questions that we sent you ahead of time. At the end, we'll give you an opportunity to say anything that you may have not been able to get out in the other questions. Chad: Okay. Eric: All right, so we'll start with Laura. Laura: Hi Chad, I'm Laura McCoy. Our first question is, Why do you want to be appointed to the school board and what are the contributions that you think you can make to the leadership of the district? Chad: I guess why I want to be on the school board is I see our educational system in the community as a community-wide effort, and even though I don't have children in the school district, I think the school district itself, our education of our

095community members is vital for creating a successful community. And I believe with my background in education, teaching, and also with my background in having like foster children, with dealing with the more at-risk kind of youth and the individual educational plans that I've had to deal with with my foster children, that definitely kind of engaged me more into the educational process and understanding the overall educational challenges that some students face and the overall districts themselves that can face those same challenges. And I guess my background and coming from like an inner city school, in Milwaukee Public Schools, also saw like the diversity challenges within high schools and saw that that is a big barrier for a lot of students whether they're, you know, from a minority or the majority of the students that are in there.

096And then also just working on curriculum and budget management within the college level of education, just saw how challenging that can be and I feel like I could possibly address or like help out with some of those possible issues that come up with any like border kind of like curriculum or budget kind of matters within the Green Bay public School District. Laura: Thank you. Chad: Yeah. Dawn: Hello Chad, this is Dawn Smith. Chad: Hi. Dawn: What are some issues you believe have been brought on by the pandemic and as a board member how would you prioritize and address these? Chad: Well, I think the pandemic highlighted quite a few things that are very similar among all aspects of areas of business and within school districts. I think one of the major ones was financial kind

097of issues, whether it be just financial on the side of the districts themselves with funding and trying to manage the overall budgets and how to like work with like in-person versus, you know, remote learning issues. Also the families themselves dealing with financial situations of, just getting kids access to the overall remote kind of learning platforms. Also with like food, we saw like many chances for getting maybe like lower income or in-need families of meals using the student lunch programs. I also highlighted the access, so we saw many students having troubles accessing the online platforms, either, it's because they didn't have like a device to access those platforms, or it was the wifi issues themselves. You know, like the Green Bay Area is fairly good with their overall wifi, but more like the rural districts definitely

098had an issue with the wifi kind of access. But sometimes families who just, affording the overall wifi itself can be a big barrier to kind of like work with that online platform. Engagement was a huge issue, I think, with our students using online platforms. Doing in-person, speaking from experience, just engaging students is a whole lot easier doing it in-person versus an online format where people tend to disengage and try to either multitask or just do something else altogether. And especially, if we don't have to share our camera view like we are right now, if we're just like, you know, not showing our camera view and just showing like, say, a picture or our initials, we could be doing something totally different and not even engaged in the overall learning process. And then kind of compounding

099that with the access and engagement is language barriers in some other families, because we have a diverse population within our district. Just sometimes language itself is a lot easier to see and engage with in-person versus online where that, recognizing our overall facial expressions and things like that, the language kind of like translation sometimes just isn't there. So I think as a board member we definitely have to address those issues. Access would be trying to get our students all like uniform access, whether it be a device, or programs or resources for getting families that access to wifi possibilities. Engagement is possibly me working with the families or parents themselves. I mean, even when we're in-person, we should definitely be promoting engagement within our families because a lot of learning does go on at home and we

100really should have the family or the parent kind of like working with us for engagement, especially if we do come to this situation again sometime in the future. And then language, I think that's just going to be an ever-present barrier within a school district that has a diverse population, just trying to work with the different kind of language barriers and try to find ways that we can either provide translations or translators or something like that, where we promote kind of like diversity and, or bilingual kind of language speaking. Dawn: Thank you. Chad: You're welcome. Rhonda: Hi, Chad, Rhonda Sitnikau here. Describe your understanding of the school board's role and administration's role in the districts? Chad: I guess, from what I kind of looked, the school board itself, I guess, is to, it's overall job or

101role is to establish goals for the overall district itself. Also establish like guidelines, share information with the community, engage the overall community and the overall process, create a policy for the district itself, allocate resources for the district. And as for like administration, like for the superintendent kind of level, I guess the communication between the board and superintendent has to be ever-present, transparent, and clear and kind of both ways to make sure both entities are communicating well with each other. And the administrator role, I guess, is more in the direction process, implementing the overall policies, allocating or like giving those resources or finding a ways to use those resources that the board kind of like allocated those funds for. So I guess that would be my definition of the board versus the administrator. Rhonda: Thank you.

102Chad: Yep. Andrew: Hello, Andrew Becker. As a school board member, how would you be an advocate for the districts, schools, and students? Chad: Okay, I guess, being an advocate would be definitely meeting with the schools themselves, as best as I can, especially the educators since they're the first line kind of with our students and our parents, so getting their viewpoint of what kind of needs or issues that are present in our school district. Being part of a board, sometimes, we can get a step away view kind of, so it's hard to sometimes step into their shoes unless we really engage with them and find the actual like personal or familial kind of issues that are present within the classrooms themselves. Listening to the community needs that are out there. There's definitely platforms for listening to

103the community, whether it's online, community forums, just chat rooms, things like that where the community can express their overall either pleasure with the overall board or displeasure, and just trying to address those especially displeasure kind of issues that the community has. Also promote like active learning. Passive learning is okay but if you're not actively learning the material or actively present within the learning environment, you're definitely not going to retain that information and it's definitely not going to be a fun engagement process for you, and its just doesn't work as well and you definitely can disengage a lot faster if you're not actively kind of in the process of learning and being a participant in the learning process yourself. And then I also wanted to highlight the overall well-roundedness of students as an important or vital

104kind of factor. Good grades are excellent, but if you're not a well-rounded student, we're finding most higher universities or colleges, things like that, they're kind of steering away from looking at overall grades and ACT scores as like an end-all kind of like, you know, admission factor where we should be looking at this student as a whole. What other things are they doing? Volunteering, community activities, overall outside activities, sports, all those family kind of engagement opportunities, religious opportunities as well. Looking at those as part of the student as well I think is vital and promoting those as a very important aspect of our overall education and growth as a human being. Brenda: Hi, Chad, this is Brenda Warren. Chad: Hi. Brenda: This is our last question. Please identify specific examples of situations where you have demonstrated

105a working style, communication skills, leadership skills, or decision-making skills that you think would be effective on a seven-member board. So with working with a seven member board or smaller kind of board, like seven members, definitely you have to have a more open and kind of transparent kind of communication between all board members. I found that using a more of a ask, kind of like get opinions from all aspects of the board and, you know taking all those opinions into the overall kind of like way we can to kind of work through an issue, either like jotting them all down on a whiteboard or something like that, getting it all out in the open so everybody's able to share their overall ideas. And then if you have the expertise in any of those areas, provide the

106coaching for those other members of the board to kind of like get them onboard with the overall plan, or just try to educate them on what your views are and what your overall expertise is on those areas. Also, I've worked on many committees within higher education. So I've worked on our overall alumni committee. I'm the chair of the Alumni Council here at Bellin College. So I'm definitely dealing with the alumni and working with engagement opportunities with the overall alumni planning events, working with the overall budget. I speak at a graduation opportunities within the college and homecoming events. I work with the Workplace Culture Organization or committee here on campus as well, looking to increase the overall diversity and inclusion and the overall workplace culture itself here on campus. So I'm kind of co-chairing that as

107well. So kind of working with other members of our faculty and staff and just trying to develop ideas on how we can increase the overall value of being an employee here at Bellin College. Also leaning on our overall expertise that we have in the room. If I'm not the expert on any material or anything like that, I'm first to say that, and I will definitely lean on people that are expertise in that area and look for the data that kind of like help support the overall processes or any ideas that were kind of like looking for to kind of improve our district. So that's my answer for that one. Eric: Chad, thank you very much. I want to give you the opportunity to mention anything that you may not have been able to fit into

108our five questions, and then if you have any high-level questions for us, I'd be happy to answer those. Chad: I guess, I feel like I do have quite a bit of experience, again, with education. I've been teaching at the college level for seven, eight years now more as an adjunct for the like the first two years, and now full-time after that. I've spoken at a few national conferences on student success, so just trying to increase the overall student success through various online or hands-on kind of methods in teaching. I've also spoken to like creating greater opportunities for healthcare career engagement or exploration within high schools. As part of my role here at Bellin College I do have a great connection, or a lot of connections with our area high schools in bringing out a hands-on

109kind of activity to area high schools to promote healthcare careers since we see that healthcare is going to be a major opportunity for job placements within the United States with the overall aging population that we have. So healthcare careers are going to be ever-growing and there's great diversity in healthcare, whether it be patient care or like IT. There's a place for everybody within there, so highlighting all the different careers, I think, is totally vital. So bringing that out in the open, which I think a lot of our districts are doing, but providing it in more like a hands-on kind of a method or a hands-on learning kind of opportunity is definitely a good way to kind of engage students so that they are more present in the conversation versus kind of like a passive learner

110in that area. So I guess that's my overall expertise, is just bringing in a, I guess, a relationship to education and expertise and kind of like diversity and student success and things like that. Eric: Any questions for us, Chad? Chad: I guess, if, or whoever gets on the board, when you first get on, is there like a training kind of opportunity for like when you first become a board member. Is there like mentorship kind of opportunities or kind of like, how does that process work with like just getting on board with this situation? Eric: Yeah, that's a great question. In fact, I talked to our superintendent about that today. Definitely something that he'd be willing to help out with, I would be in contact and could provide any basic information to say that we have

111a formal training or mentoring program is not accurate, but certainly want to get this person up to speed as fast as possible. There's a lot of work in front of us and need this seventh member to get up to speed. So we'll definitely no shortage of supports to wherever this person might need it. Good question. Chad: Okay. And, like, how soon is this vacancy? Like is this person going to step into this role and how much time is going to be like required of this person to be part of board meetings and committees and things like that? Eric: So the the first part, the first part of your question is soon, so we would look to have this person, take the oath of office tomorrow, and then be ready to attend our first board meeting,

112which is next Monday, March 8th. So we would like them to join us for that meeting. In terms of the amount of time I don't know that I can accurately answer that question. Obviously, this year has been unlike any other. And really, it's the amount of time that you wanna put into it, it's definitely could be a full time job. Chad: Okay. I guess that's it. I guess my major concern is just getting on board and getting up to speed as fast as possible and just making sure that I do the best job as possible with the current situations. Eric: Sure. Alright, thank you so much, Chad. Appreciate your time. We should have an answer before the end of the night. Chad: Okay, thank you very much. Eric: All right. Good night. Chad: Good night.

113So because we are running a little bit ahead of schedule, Beth made a few calls and just moved a few around. So we're going to move Laura Layton in up to 7:15 and then Denise, wait, excuse me. And then Rachel will be at eight o'clock so we'll just basically bumping Laura. So Laura will be next at 7:15 Denise will be at 7:35 and Rachel will be at eight o'clock. Brenda: Thanks, Beth. Beth: No problem. Eric: Is everybody ready? All right, Beth, we're ready for Laura. Beth: Oh, that's great here she is. Eric: Good evening, Laura. Laura: Hi. Eric: Thank you so much for joining us. Laura: Absolutely, thank you. Eric: This is Eric Vanden Heuvel with the Green Bay School District Board of Education. Appreciate you taking the time, we will have each board member

114ask one of the five questions that we gave you ahead of time. When we're finished with those five questions, you'll have an opportunity to mention anything else that you may not have had a chance to say and ask any high level questions about, do you have any questions right now? Laura: I don't, thank you. Eric: Alright, then we'll hand it over to Laura McCoy. Laura M.: Hi, Laura. Laura: Hi. Laura M.: Question number one. Why do you wanna be appointed to the school board? And what are the contributions you think you can make to the leadership of our district? Laura: Well, the serving in that capacity of the school board is something I've been interested in. I've done other types of volunteer activities I just haven't had the time and I've tried to volunteer in

115different capacities within the district and at a local level with my school neighborhood school, but I haven't had the chance to really dedicate myself to a position that would require that the school board. So right now, it's something that just it came up and it was a great opportunity for me to explore it because of my time available, and also just my desire to provide leadership at this level. Something that I could contribute would be, I have a commitment to lifelong learning. I am currently pursuing my doctorate degree in the School of Education studying leadership. And it's also something that I think my education and experience would contribute to I have employment as a manager, supervisor, and a formal leadership role. But then also, I've worked frontline employees, positions, all the way through, and I've

116done some executive coaching. So I feel like I have a well rounded experience and education to bring that in. Also, I have a certain level of professionalism that I'd like to bring and that's probably one of the, those are some of the strengths that I will definitely bring to the board. Laura M.: Thank you. Eric: Laura, can I ask a follow up? You mentioned that you hadn't been able to do this before because of the time. Can you speak to it? Has something changed that you feel like you do have the time now? Laura: Yes, actually, yes, I had, well, I've been employed with the United Nation for 20 plus years, and actually with I was my past position, my most recent position was with the tribal chairman. And it was a contracted position. And

117that changed actually I was with the chairman for the last three years. But with COVID, they've had to reduce a lot of positions. So the position was changing to work with nine members of the Oneida Business Committee, which is our elected officials. And with the end of my contract, with virtual school, my husband and I just made a decision that I would not renew my contract, and that I would stay home with our children. I have a first grader and a fourth grader. So with virtual school, it was just worked out to be a perfect opportunity for me to focus on them with virtual learning, and then also to focus on writing my dissertation, which has also been something that's kind of been hanging out there, I've been done with the coursework for a couple

118years. So I'm on target to graduate this December. Eric: Perfect, thank you Laura. Dawn: Good evening, Laura this is Dawn Smith. What are some issues you believe have been brought on by the pandemic? And as a board member, how would you prioritize and address these? Laura: Well, one issue, I think that is clear that's come out is just the challenges we face of social isolation, and those needs for human interactions. But I think most importantly, what's come forward are the issues that have sort of always been there, but they're just more at the forefront now because of the pandemic. And that, for me, I think would be the role of schools in our society and how they have such a greater role than beyond education. And how, they're for many, they are the place for

119meals, for mental health, much more beyond just an education. So I think that's really become evident and the need to have that support there for our students. And if it's not in the academic setting for school I think that it's also a greater need to look at where is our money going for tax dollars? How do we support our community members? And, you know, is it fair to have this entire burden with the school system? And I also think that another thing that's come out of this has been the need for Wi-Fi, better access for Internet. You know, a lot of people have fast Internet connections but some don't, that's a struggle. And I think also I know that the city is looking at racism as a public health crisis. That's definitely, I think that's

120been illustrated by the challenges that many of the communities have faced during this pandemic. Oneida, the native community has been hit hardest with number of deaths, percentage of cases resulting in death. And also I think the cultural awareness of multi-generational homes, and I know so many people that are, you know, have extended families close, generations of families living in their home and you know they're unable to take the risk to return to school currently and are trying to make things work in terms of making sure that their children are able to do virtual education but being aware that everybody doesn't have that, you know the opportunity to attend school out of the risk for the rest of the people in their home. Dawn: Thank you. Rhonda: Hi, Laura, it's Rhonda Sitnikau. Laura: Hi. Rhonda: Can

121you describe your understanding of the school board's role and the administration's role in the district? Laura: Well, I look at, the school board is there to set the vision, create a shared vision for the school board, for the district, and they oversee you know, the administration, our superintendent I look at it as like the CEO of you know, the school district. So the board is there to support and get, you know feedback and listen, you know marry the communities, the teachers, the students, the administration to kind of hear everybody and pull that all together and make sure that everybody's moving in the direction to meet the vision that's created by the district and by the board. Also, I think the budget responsibility is important and to be able to look at where are we spending

122our resources, looking at how we work together, you know having that ability to cooperate and collaborate as a team for the board is very important and also accountability you know, to hold ourselves accountable and to hold administration accountable and just having that does important pieces of any board for any type of organization. Those things are important, especially for one over something as large as the Green Bay School District. Rhonda: Thank you. Andrew: Hello, Andrew Becker here. Laura: Hi. Andrew: As a school board member how would you be an advocate for the district's, schools and students? Laura: I would be an advocate I think, first of all, you know, one of the things the strengths that I'll bring to the board and also any position is that my ability to, I think of big picture and

123yet detailed. So to look at, what is our data telling us also to look at the voices behind the data so I also think it's important to look at the systems, the policies, but then also go down into the people. So for example, one of the things I looked up the district's report card from, I think the most recent one I was able to find was 2019 in which only, I think nearly 45% of the district is white. So we have a very diverse district and I think as the board we want to help support having teachers, administrators and materials in our schools that looks like our community. So I think that's something, you know I'm a huge advocate for diversity, equity and inclusion. And I think that's another thing that I would bring in

124that needs to be considered in advocating for the schools and advocating for the students. And I think also you need to make sure that we're being mindful of the data. And then again, like I said earlier, the data what it's telling us, and then also what are people saying behind there, is everybody contributing, looking at the full picture? You know, survey data is great, but if everybody's not responding or people aren't willing to reply to a survey, how do we dig deeper and get the feedback? And especially from areas in communities where we need to build trust. Brenda: Laura, this is Brenda Warren. Our last question, could you please identify specific examples of situations where you have demonstrated a working style, communication skills, leadership skills or decision-making skills that you think would be effective on

125a seven member school board? Laura: Sure, I think my most recent role with Oneida Nation working with the chairman I had not worked in government prior to that. I'd worked with the gaming division and with the Nation. And so it was kind of a business environment and then going to a government. And so one of the things that I had the opportunity to do was to work a lot with the community members, create communication pieces for a wide level of audiences, so that was something that I was able to do. I think one of the big things that we did at Oneida we continue to do is a form of our decision making is by consensus. So as you can imagine having a vote is a lot easier than I think then consensus. Although I

126kind of think that that's and also another good way to do things, but through consensus what we did is we had you discuss things and this was for major decisions, discuss things to the point where everybody could live with the decision. Maybe it wasn't the best decision I always said, if everybody's on the same page it might be different paragraphs, but if everybody's on the same page and could live with that decision that was how we operated through consensus. And that was through discussion a lot of facilitation and communication. So I think that bringing that experience in addition to just overall facilitation, which I've done is a positive and could be a positive for this board. And also having been a manager for 11 years I'm able to talk with people about performance. I've had

127to do the hard things in terms of firing and hiring. And I just have that experience as well that would be good. And a lot of experience in strategic planning, I've done, conducted strategic plannings with executive level leaders, as well as government officials for the last 11 years. Eric: Anything, I didn't want to interrupt you. I didn't know if you were still okay. (laughs) Laura: (laughs) Eric: So anything else that you wanted to mention that you didn't get a chance to in any of the questions that we asked and then any questions that you might have for us? Laura: Okay, let me think I'm gonna think of, you asked about working style, communication skills, leadership skills, decision-making. I can't think of anything else other than you know, I think I would bring a good perspective

128from my background and again, my education experience I'm eager to do my part to try to contribute and to support the direction of the district. And I really think that's the main thing I can think that would be a great addition to the board. Eric: Excellent thank you. Any questions for us? Laura: I do. What is the culture of the district overall in terms of like an organizational culture? How would you best describe the district? Eric: Yeah, so it's a great question. It's difficult to answer in this forum because as six elected board members I'm sure we would all answer a little bit differently. Laura: Yeah. Eric: So I probably can't get into that today but if you are selected you certainly would have the opportunity to come in and be a part of the

129board and start to assess that culture. Laura: Okay, and how many hours a week or I'm sure that varies by people's availability and involvement as well, but is there an estimate of about hours of week spent on board related work? Eric: Yeah, it's hard to answer that given everything that we've been through in the last year. Laura: Right. Eric: Definitely has been an overwhelming experience. I don't even know that I could speak to you what normal looks like, what I would say from my experiences is that the more time you can put into it the better board member that you're going to be and it'll be each of your individual situations that determines how much time you put into it. Laura: Okay, thank you. This is really hard to talk to you guys when you

130can't see your faces. I mean, not the mask, but even your eyes 'cause like right now you're just kind of all little. Eric: Yeah, we have to look kinda (laughs) off in the distance at the television screen. Laura: (laughs) Eric: Where we're used to being (crosstalk drowns speaker) up on the screen with you for the last year and this is our first time back in person. Laura: Yeah, Eric: Definitely. Laura: and it's really where we are now so. Eric: Has its pros and it's cons. Laura: Absolutely. Eric: Laura, thank you so much for taking the time to speak with us tonight. We should have a decision before the evening is over. Laura: All right, thank you so much. Eric: All right thanks Laura. Laura: Bye-bye. Eric: As soon as everyone's ready, Denise is here. Are

131you all set Eric for me to elaborate? Eric: Yep, it looks like everybody's ready. Beth: Okay here she is. Eric: Good evening Denise. Denise: Hello. Eric: Thank you for joining us tonight. Denise: Thanks for having me. So we will spend time asking the five questions that we gave you ahead of time. We'll go around the room each board member will have an opportunity to ask the question. And then at the end, we'll give you an opportunity to share anything that you may not have been able to share during the questions and any follow ups that you might have. Denise: Sure. Eric: All right, with that said, we'll hand it over to Trustee Laura McCoy. Laura: Hi Denise. Denise: Hello Laura. LAura: Question number one. Why do you want to be appointed to the school board

132and what are the contributions you think you can make to the leadership of our district? Denise: Well, I would say first and foremost, I am a Mom to a special needs student that attends the school district here. So I have a little bit of a different perspective of the inner workings of the district here. I deal with some different people that not everyone gets a chance to deal with and create relationships with which are amazing relationships. I can't stress enough how amazing the staff is here and what they've gone through virtual learning and the pandemic to try to meet the needs of these kids it's really incredible what they've done. I would also like to say that I am a big listener. I love listening to what people have to say, what their ideas are.

133I like to be a person who is open to both sides of any conversation going on. I like to collect all the information and make a educated assessment. I guess I could also say a lot of friends and family have come to me in the last few months and asked me why I haven't decided to take on a role like this yet. And this one just happened to come about with Kristina, sadly leaving. I really enjoyed her as part of the board I thought she was a really amazing advocate for our students and I would really like the opportunity to take her place and be that strong advocate for our children in this district. Laura: Thank you. Denise: Thank you, Laura. Dawn: Hello there, this is Dawn Smith. Denise: Hello Dawn How are you? Dawn:

134I'm good, how are you? Good. What are some issues you believe have been brought on by the pandemic and as a board member how would you prioritize and address these? Denise: Again I would say coming from a spec ed point of view I'm just going to talk about that for a minute, if that's okay. It was definitely an uphill battle for our families to try to get our needs met here in this district. Not for lack of the district trying and for lack of resources, it's really hard to have your spec ed students sitting in front of a screen. And I'm really appreciative that our district was able to accommodate a small percentage of our students to get back into in-person learning for those hands-on therapies and things that they really need every single day.

135And I know that even getting to that point for you guys was a real struggle. You guys just do some really incredible work under some really intense pressure from the community and you continue to advocate for the kids and just keep pushing forward. And you've really done a nice job in the face of adversity especially with what seems to be a community that kind of at some points wasn't very supportive of us. But you continue to be supportive of the district and the students that are in here and continue to advocate for their safety and their health and well-being and I appreciate that about the board. I also think as lot of the other people have said mental health was, an always has been an issue in this district and I feel that it's something

136that we should continue to address and talk about and be advocates for, you know a safe mental space for our students to be in. Dawn: Thank you. Denise: Thank you, Dawn. Rhonda: Hi, Denise, it's Rhonda, hello Denise: Hello, Rhonda. How are you? Rhonda: I'm good. Denise: Good. Rhonda: Can you describe your understanding of the school board's role and administration's role in the district? Denise: I believe that the board has, in my eyes a very supportive role in trying to navigate a sense of compassion and a sense of respect to every student and the teachers and people that are a part of this district and trying to be like the ship's captain here, you know, you lay down the law and I would say also working together and trying to create a positive forward moving solutions

137for all of our students, whether it's like in a virtual setting or a personal setting you know, we're in school in person now, or you know, trying to collaborate being on the board, making the big decisions in that way. I would say just generally being a good present, open transparent advocate for our students and staff. Denise. Yes Rhonda Can you just maybe elaborate a little bit more on the administration's role then comparatively to the board. Denise: I would really love to see a better relationship between the administration and the school board as far as transparency is concerned. I've watched a lot of board meetings. I've been very attentive for the past year and a half or so and kind of have a good idea of the relationship between the board and some of the upper

138administration. I would really love to see them come together more at the same table and have those conversations about what we can do to make it a positive experience for everyone in the district at an equitable level. I think maybe there's a lot of talk going on in separate parts of the district that maybe you haven't been privy to or maybe you didn't know was happening. And I think it would be really great to just have everybody at that table and have a good conversation about what our goals are. Rhonda: Thank you. Denise: Thank you, Rhonda. Andrew: Hi Denise, Andrew Becker. Denise: Hi Andrew. Andrew: Hey, as a school board member how would you be an advocate for the districts schools and students? Denise: Like I've said I am member of SEC which is Special

139Education Council. It's a group of individuals both parents and staff members that are working to better educate and disseminate information to the families in the district about how to navigate school. How to navigate your IEP, you know what kind of services we have out in the community for them. Basically just be an ear and like I said before I'm a big listener, I'm really a huge advocate of getting out there and you know, getting your hands dirty per say, meeting families and just understanding really where they're coming from and how we can truly help. Another thing would be equity for all schools. I know that there was some discussion that's been tabled I'm assuming for the redesign 2030. I would love to be part of that conversation and make sure that all of our schools

140are being, you know equitably distributed things that they need, upgrades they need to accommodate class sizes. I know class sizes is a huge thing right now. Make sure we have enough space for those students and they feel safe and comfortable in their learning environments. I think it's a huge thing. Brenda: Hi Denise, this is Brenda Warren. Denise: Hello Brenda. Brenda: Hi, could you please identify specific examples of situations where you have demonstrated (clears throat) a working style, communication skills, leadership skills or decision-making skills that you think would be effective on a seven member school board? Denise: Sure, I previously have sat in on my neighborhood association council as secretary so I have a little bit of an idea of like organizational level at a board like this. Trying to have conversations about making your neighborhood

141and your community better. Bringing families together. Making it exciting to live where you live. Getting to know people, you know getting out there and trying to make it more of a community. That was something I was super involved with for the last couple of years. I also sat on a board for Infinite Wander which is a nonprofit here in town. We were able to donate I believe it was nine different kinds of swings to different parks in the community. So if you go to Perkins Park or if you are a family that goes to Colburn park or maybe Bay Beach there's a few adaptive swings out there for families to use and exercise and have that face to face interaction that's like really important at those young ages. I've also sat on SEC like I

142said. I'm just a board member on SEC trying to move things forward for us in the district to make things happen for our families and make them feel like they truly understand where they are and who to reach out to for resources. And they feel knowledgeable in providing resources for teachers or when they sit down to their IEP they feel comfortable advocating for their students. They don't feel stuck. They feel like they understand what's going on with their IEP and what's going on with their child's program and what's in their future. (sighs) Yeah, I've also sat on KEYS which is our school PTO. We also did a little bit of a revamp of our playground over there. Also sat on the committee for that and we were able to get some new swings and some

143new equipment installed there. Kids super, super enjoy it. Probably the best thing to happen at my son's school (chuckling) at quite some time. We were also able to install a couple of ADA swings for the kids in the moderate to severe autism department at my son's school which is makes up about 20% of the population of students over there which is a little bit higher than some of the other schools in the district. And I love seeing them everyday. I've been dropping my son off for a month now for in-person learning and I love their faces. I love seeing them. I love that we're providing an amazing place for them to just thrive and continue to be those kids that are moving forward, you know. Eric: Denise, thank you for taking time to answer all

144those questions for us. Is there anything about yourself that you wanted to mention that you didn't get a chance to and then any high level questions that you might have for us? Denise: I don't really have any high level questions for you guys to be honest. Like I said, I've been paying attention to the board meetings for some time now and I know maybe some of you recognize my voice from calling in for SEC. I've been a big advocate for them to try to disseminate some information to our families and try to be a support system for them. And I'm going to continue to be an advocate. I'm gonna continue to be on SEC. I'm going to continue to push forward and get what's best for our kids. It's very important to me. So, I

145really appreciate your time tonight guys. This is really cool (laughs). Eric: Well, thank you so much for applying to Denise. For stepping up and we should have a decision before the end of the night. Denise: Sounds great Eric, you guys have a great night. Thank you so much. Eric: Goodnight Denise. All right, we'll keep an eye on Rachel the last candidate. She comes in before eight o'clock we'll get started when she gets here. Brenda: (coughs) Beth: Is everybody ready for me to let Rachael in? Eric: Good, yes. Thank you Beth. Beth: Here she is. Good evening, Rachel. Can you hear me? Rachel: Good evening, I can Eric: Are you able to turn your camera on, Rachel? Rachel: Wait, let me see? Is that better? There we go. Eric: Yeah, there we go. Rachel: Sorry about

146that. Eric: No, no problem. Thank you so much for your flexibility in joining us tonight. Rachel: Of course. Eric: Thank you for your time. Yeah. So my name is Eric Vanden Heuvel with the board of education. What we will do tonight is take time to ask you the five questions that we sent you ahead of time. We'll go around the room each board member asking one question. And then at the end, we'll give you time to mention anything that may not have come out in your answers and give you an opportunity to ask some high level questions at the end. Rachel: Sure. Eric: All right, then with that I'll hand it over to trustee Laura McCoy. Laura : Hi Rachel. Rachel: Hi Lori. Laura : The first question is, why do you want to be

147appointed to the school board and what are the contributions you think you can make to the leadership of this district? Rachel: Yeah, thanks for asking the question. I am a teacher at heart. I was especially a teacher at Green Bay for about seven, eight years. And when I was student teaching 20 years ago, one of the principals at the cooperating school had said to me, "you have qualities that just can't be taught." And what does that mean? I don't know but I think at the core of it is that I want what's best for kids. I wanna advocate for them. I wanna meet them where they are and provide them what they need to meet their goals. Where they want to be in their goals of my life. So how do you do that? You

148have proper curriculum, you support teachers, you know, try to support families so that families are healthy and work with community for a strong community. And I think those are what I would love to advocate for for students. I'm also one that is not afraid to use my voice and to jump when there's a need, for example, when Green Bay was implementing READ 180 and they said, "anyone want to teach READ 180?" And I said, absolutely, I will jump in and teach READ 180. When common core was being adopted. And they were looking for a math representative to come to the district office. I said, "I would be happy to participate in that and be the representative." So I think those are some of the qualities that I can to the school board. Laura: Thank you.

149Dawn: Hello, Laura. How are you? Sorry, Rachel, Laura. Rachel: (chuckles) Dawn: I'm sorry. Rachel: I think I said Lori. I'm sorry, Laura. Dawn: This is Dawn Smith. What are some issues you believe have been brought on by the pandemic and as a board member, how would you prioritize and address these? Rachel: Right, good question. Thank you. I think three, come to mind. One mental health, two, again looking at the discrepancy in achievement. And I think its too early to know, but has that grown? What is the extent of that I should say. And number three is I think of broader societal issue of trust that will eventually kind of... As we start interacting some more kind of be more pronounced, I should say than it is now. Number one... Going back to number one, being

150mental health. I think that Green Bay is so fortunate to have so many resources. So with school nurses, school psychs, school social workers, great student service departments. And I think that we can use them to try to identify if students are struggling. What does that look like? Maybe a curriculum that's implemented. I know if you're... If you are aware of trauma informed care, there are things like Es or caps that can be used that may be school psych and school nurses can work together to identify within staff and within students that we can kind of identify those when students are back. Number two, larger gaps. I think that's gonna take some time. Looking at discrepancies and achievement. And may I ask if... Did you guys get waivers for standardized testing this year? Or did the

151do that online? Eric: From the federal level, they did not grant us waivers. They give some flexibility but they did not give waivers to not implement the tests. Rachel: Okay. So yeah, I mean, I would tried to advocate for that. I know that as a teacher, obviously you work with what you have. So yeah, I know student services is often bought down by standardized tests but if there's a way that some collaboration could happen so that whether you use those standardized tests for data retreats and kind of see where kids are and then make long-term planning or, you know, use teachers kind of anecdotal records and use their voices, to listen to them to see what they recommend. The third is societal kind of fissures that might be apparent in school, around trust. And that

152is something I think we all need to look at. Every piece in this community and how we rebuild after a pandemic and while we were separate for so long. And that is when I think we would all have to put our heads together. Dawn: Thank you. Rhonda: Hi, Rachel. It's Rhonda Sitnikau. Rachel: Hello. Rhonda: Hi. Could you describe your understanding of the school board's role and the administration's role in the district? Rachel: Yeah, I sure can. I liked this one. I understood or I kind of came to understand that as the school board is the glue that binds the the Green Bay schools to its community. And I think that administration is... They kind of look out for any areas that might need re-gluing or some more areas of interest. Some more areas of attention.

153So that they would come to the school board and say, "we need this area, this area." And they also help people do those two things together. Rhonda: Could you just, guess, tell me more about the glue when you mentioned the school board. Rachel: Yeah. Sure. RHONDA: when you said, its the glue to the community. Can you just tell me more about that? Rachel: So I think the community looks to the school to provide obviously the education for their students and that is staffing and curriculum and all of the things that go into school. So the school board is really the glue. They have to come up with all of those things to put into place that the community kind of, you know, looks to the schools to have in place. And so that is the

154glue and then administration and the superintendent kind of make sure that that glue is applied so that everything is cohesive. Rhonda: Thank you. Andrew: Hello, Andrew Becker here. Rachel: Hello, Andrew. Andrew: Hello. As a school board member, how would you be an advocate for the districts, schools and students? Rachel: Yeah, you know, I think often for schools funding comes up and obviously I am happy to be a voice with our state legislature in increasing funding, meaning the funding. I think the last time I looked special ED it was that 20% in their funding. So those areas of course need to be addressed. I think it's really exciting to think about opportunities for the students. I love the collaboration and how the community came together with pre-K at the wildlife sanctuary. It's a great way to

155have the community be part of educating its students. So I think it's exciting to think about other opportunities of collaboration. Something that comes to mind is great. UWGB has that new STEM center. And providing maybe an additional high school opportunity to the high school kids. I don't know if its 11th or 12th grade or maybe just working in partnership that way also expanding dual enrollment and just looking for opportunities. I know collaboration is so important and Green Bay is wonderful for those opportunity. Brenda: Hi, Rachel. This is Brenda Warren. Rachel: Hi, Brenda. Brenda : Please identify specific examples of situations where you have demonstrated a working style, communication skills, leadership skills or decision-making skills that you think would be effective on a seven member school board. Rachel: Yeah, thanks for this question. I am really

156proud to be a founding member of Journey to Adult Success. We were recently in the big Green Bay at some nonprofit that provides housing, mentorship advocacy for those who have a shot of foster care. And it started with just an idea that a few of us had in the community of the need that was there for these young adults. And we started from the ground up. We started with this big idea and met diligently every week coming up with a bold plan. And we were patient and, you know, we divided it into small things that we could to do to build and we just kept going with it. And five years later we are ready to expand to our second house. So I'm really proud of that. And if any of you have questions on

157that or if I left something out I would be happy to answer that as well. Eric: Thank you so much, Rachel, anything else that you didn't get a chance to bring up in any of our questions that you wanted to make sure that you got out and then any high-level questions that you might have for us? Yeah. I don't, I would touch back on the pandemic and I think that, you know, you guys did so much logistical work and I'm wondering how you feel is like your next step in approaching the pandemic and where, you know, the next role that you feel like you have to play. Eric: Yeah. I mean, its tough to answer that question here because we have six board members all with probably six different ways that they would answer that

158question. But I think that that's the work that's in front of us. Today being day one that our students came back. That's what we have to continue to examine is what's the next step cause we're certainly... This isn't over. Rachel: Okay. I guess other than that, I don't have any questions if others have questions for me. Eric: No, I think that that's it. Well, we really appreciate you taking the time tonight. Appreciate you adjusting the schedule as we were a little bit ahead of schedule. So thank you for joining us and we will jump into deliberation and hopefully have a decision by the end of the night. Rachel: Okay. Thank you all. It was nice to see you. Eric: Thanks, Rachel. Rachel: Thank you. Eric: All right. So that brings us to deliberation. Does anybody

159want a minute or just jump right into it? Ready to go? Okay, take a minute. Dawn: You are gonna ask us for top three, is that right? Eric: Yes. So I'll ask each person to identify their three top candidates. Beth will kind of take that information. One thing that I wanna share as each of you are thinking through the process and I know it came up a little bit earlier with our candidates Jessica Franco Morales. So the possibility of a potential conflict of interest came up shortly after we selected her. I had a phone call with Jessica to talk to her about it. She agreed that she would go back to her employer and ask some questions. And then we took our contract with NWTC and sent it to WASB for their opinion. And you

160can see that Jessica tonight share that NWTC didn't see it as a conflict. However, the legal opinion from WASB raised some red flags and an in compatibility issue with Jessica's position and working in one of our schools two days a week as a career coach. And specifically some language in the contract that makes this a potential conflict of interest. First of all it says, "the Green Bay Public School District agrees to allocate 20,000 dollars annually towards the salary of the career coach." Which means that the district reimburses directly for a portion of her salary. Although it doesn't go to her directly. Secondly, it also states in the contract that, "career coaches will work under the direction and expertise of an identified main point of contact for the school district. And that the school district has

161the right to provide performance feedback to a career coach assigned to any green Bay public school. If such a career coach fails to substantially perform in a reasonable manner the duties defined in the contract." Which means that not only will Jessica in her role as a board be the ultimate supervisor and the district overseeing the superintendent in all other positions throughout but then also somebody in the school district would supervise Rachel, excuse me, Jessica in her duties within the school district. So those two issues create a potential conflict. And so, you know, I told Jessica ahead of time that a couple of options would be to either see if there's a different position or to see if she could be placed at a different school. And obviously the position from NWTC was that it wasn't

162a conflict and so that she wasn't looking to do that at this time. However, the legal opinion from the person that we reached to at WASB pointed out those two things specifically and said that it would be an compatibility issue. So just wanted to put that out there. You can still list your top choices but wanted to make you aware of that opinion. So we'll go in the order that we ask the questions. We'll ask each board member to give their top three. They don't have to be in an order. Just the the three candidates that you would... You found to be the top in your mind. Beth will take those all down and then let us know sort of what the results were. What the tally was. If there are multiple candidates towards the

163top we can have a discussion from there. So with that said, Laura I'd ask that you go first. Make sure your microphone is on when you speak so that people watching can hear us. Laura: I don't know if I'm, honestly I don't know if I'm ready to do that. I... Eric: If you have it down to four, I guess there's no rules we have to follow if you have to give us a fourth candidate because you can't decide I think that would be okay. Laura: I am very, very torn about Jessica. I'll just be really honest. That's a real blow to know that this is this could be problematic. And we had so many good candidates I just want to say that. I'm just really grateful for people stepping up, so many of them, and

164then this last, you know, the people that we, we interviewed were just, you know, terrific. One after the other. It's just been really hard. I, okay. (laughing) Eric: You know if you need a minute I can give you a minute. Laura: I need a minute. Eric: Okay. Sorry, I need a minute. I mean, I'll just echo Laura's words. It certainly takes a lot of courage to apply to be on the board of education. It takes even more courage to to be a part of the interviews tonight. And, as we all know, it takes a lot of courage to sit at the board table. So, yes, very fortunate that we had the number of community members reach out and apply. Very fortunate to have such a quality group of people to interview and speak to tonight,

165and although we can only pick one person, I would highly encourage everyone who interviewed to consider running for the board of education at some point because we know that we need our community to step up and support the work that we're trying to do here in our school district. So yes, very difficult decision that we're gonna have to make. You know, we're going to be splitting hairs between some really great people, and again each board member has their own individual perspectives and priorities on what makes a good board member and so that's why there could be some differing opinions here tonight. So how was that for a filibuster? I'm gonna have to eventually put you on the spot. (inaudible) If. (inaudible) Laura: Okay, can I give four? Eric: Sure. Laura: Okay. Number one. And this

166is in no particular order. Eric Hagedorn, Josh Koch, Laura Laitinen-Warren, And Rachel Cloud. Beth: Thank you. Eric: Dawn. Dawn: Can I ask if Jessica would be appointed, what are the potential repercussions of a conflict of interest? I mean, are we looking at being back here in a month? I guess I don't know what that looks like. Melissa: Eric do you want me to weigh-in on that? Eric: Yes that would be great. Melissa: Under the Incompatibility of Office Doctrine, if it's, the opinion of W.A.S.C. is that the two offices are incompatible. So when you take the incompatible office, then you automatically vacate your other office. So if she were to take the oath of office for the board position, she would automatically vacate her position of N.W.T.C. That's why it's so critical that everyone understand that

167if she is appointed and she takes the oath what the repercussions would be. (inaudible) Andrew: So who would make the binding ruling on that? Cause W.A.S.C. can't make a ruling obviously, nor can we. Melissa: The ethics commission, the state ethics commission makes that final ruling. And we did indicate that she could have asked the state ethics commission before (inaudible). Eric:Ahead of time we made her aware that they would be the board that the state ethics commission would make that final decision, and if she wanted to reach out to them ahead of time she could. There probably wasn't enough time, but at the time I let her know about that to today probably wouldn't have gotten a ruling back in time but. That's all. Dawn: Can I give two? Okay, Eric Hagedorn and Laura Laitinen-Warren. Beth:

168Thank you. Eric: You heard that Beth, we're good? Beth: I did, thank you. Eric: Okay, go ahead Rhonda. Rhonda: I would also echo the thanks for the amount of people that have actually applied, as well as were willing to interview publicly, which is probably something most people never imagine they would be doing. And that is very difficult, so I greatly appreciate that willingness. My three would be Denise Seibert, Chad Dall, and Laura Laitinen-Warren. Beth: Thank you Rhonda. Eric: Alright, I can't filibuster myself. I had a hard time with this as well. I will narrow it down to four. Eric, Josh, Laura, and Chad. Beth: Thank you Eric. (inaudible) Andrew: I will I will go with Denise and Rachel and Luke. Beth: Thank you. Brenda: Alright I will go with Rachel, Josh, and Laura. And while

169she's tallying I also want to echo this was a really impressive slate of candidates and it was really hard to decide between all of them and I would also encourage anyone who interviewed today to think about running in the future, 'cause we always need good candidates. Beth: Okay, Eric would you like me to share my screen? Eric: Yeah that would be great. I took notes too but make sure that ours are the same. Beth: Are you able to see my screen? Eric: Yup, so that's what I had as well. So Laura Laitinen-Warren had five, and then we had three candidates with three votes. Given these results, only one member received a majority of the support, which would have been four, and in fact actually received five board members' selections. Then we had three people tied

170with three. So, while there's certainly a case to be made for all of the people on that list, it appears to me that the recommended motion would be for Laura Laitinen-Warren. (clicking) And unless somebody has other comments or wants to say anything else, I would look for a motion. Rhonda: Eric. I think it would be a good idea, I mean clearly we all put her into the category for consideration, if we would be able to speak to, for transparency, maybe something we could all speak to the reasons why we did or the reason why we did just so it's clear and it's out there. Eric: Yeah certainly I mean, if you feel comfortable and want to share some of the strengths that caused you to nominate Laura, feel free to do so if you'd like

171to go first. Rhonda: Yes I will, I will definitely do that. (shuffling papers) Let me find. Basically I took notes when she was speaking and I also have some notes with regards to her letter of intent. A few things that she mentioned that I can appreciate, when we talked about the question about the pandemic issues and how would you prioritize issues coming out of the pandemic, the fact that she noted social isolation and other issues that have obviously have been I believe exasperated, not necessarily resulting from the pandemic but something that has the situation has exasperated from the pandemic, she spoke to the role of schools, and that's something that I personally have been speaking to quite a bit about, and I like that she noted and she recognized that the role of schools beyond

172education has become evident. And that the value of public education is, there's academics obviously, but then there's also the social-emotional community support that public schools deliver so well. So that was important to me to hear her say that. I did like that she noted when it came to school board roles, she noted accountability, as well as budget responsibility. Where are the resources going, I thought that was very important as well, and that she recognized that. And that the ability to see the big picture with regards to the data that is collected and the voices behind the data and the details behind that, and really trying to be mindful of the voices that are included in that. Eric: You took very good notes. I had a lot of those things written down, the only thing that

173I would add is that she has a first and a fourth grader in our district. So, something else that I noted. Dawn: One of the things that I looked at, when we vote for school board we vote at a city level. And I guess I look at the members of the board, and Eric I think you live in the preble quadrant, Rhonda I think you moved, so you and Andrew and I all live within a mile of each other, and we're all in the west quadrant, and Brenda and Laura are both in the east quadrant. And we don't have any representation from that southwest quadrant. And all the things that Rhonda had talked about, I mean her commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion, I think she brings some things to the table that, you know

174fill a bit of a gap for us, but our schools are all very different. And the fact we had quite a few people that fell within that southwest quadrant. And I do think it's important that we have representation at the board table for all our schools. And, well, yeah our high schools. But our quadrants, right? They do look different and that was something that played a part in my decision. Brenda: I had very similar things. I also liked her experience as a facilitator, and also just, she's had a lot of experience with strategic planning, and so she talked about, you know, the importance of looking at the big picture and then drilling down to, you know, what are the pieces of that picture and talking about the analyzing data, and making sure you're getting the

175data you need, and all those kinds of things. So I just feel like she's had a really long, lots of experience in her life with a lot of the things that will be helpful on our board. Eric: Brenda may I ask, you're no relation to (laughing) Brenda: No, no relation. (chuckling) Go ahead, Andrew. Andrew: I didn't have Laura on my list initially. I have no serious negatives or anything like that. I was really hoping that we might be in a position to take someone who has first-hand, not just advocacy, but first-hand experience with special needs students, because of, you know, parents of special needs students who we have often talked about wanting that perspective, at least I have, I've heard it before from people other than me as well, people who have actually had to

176navigate the systems which can be complex. That's why I have stressed other candidates more, but that being said I think Laura would be a good, certainly would be a good advocate for various communities. Eric: Go ahead, Laura. Laura:I took a lot of the same notes. She has a lot of experience, just a lot of really stellar experience, and I feel like she could, we need someone who can transition quickly, and we don't really have the luxury of a lot of time. And so that's, I feel like she could do that and make that move. I would echo Rhonda that something that resonated with me was her acknowledgement that our schools take on so many roles that haven't always been the case. And this pandemic has exposed that in a way that shows how urgent the

177need is in our community around food and security, mental health, and a lot of things that are not actually traditionally about education. And this is a topic that personally for me is something that I feel like we can never talk too much about. So I appreciate her mentioning that. I also liked how she talked about big-picture, big-picture thinking, but also systems and people and individuals. Being able to do both. That also resonated with me. That's about it. Eric: Alright, thank you. With that I thought I would look for someone to make a motion. Brenda: I move that we appoint Laura Laitinen-Warren as our school board member. Laura: I'll second that. Eric: Beth do you want to take a roll call vote? Beth: Yes please. Beth: Smith. Dawn: Aye. Beth: Vanden Heuvel. Eric: Aye. Beth: Warren.

178Brenda: Aye. Beth: Sitnikau. Rhonda: Aye. Beth: Becker. Andrew: Aye. Beth: McCoy. Laura: Aye. Eric: Alright, motion carried six to zero and I will be in-touch with Laura soon. Alright I'll look for a motion to adjourn. Brenda: So moved. Dawn: Second. Eric: All in favor? All: Aye. Eric: Opposed? Alright and that adjourns our special board meeting. Thank you everyone. ♪♪ Announcer: You have been watching the Green Bay Area Public School District's Board of Education meeting. Please visit the school district's website, www.gbaps.org, to view the program again. ♪♪ If you cannot fully access the information on this video, please let us know the accessibility issue you are having by calling (920) 448-2025, or by email at [email protected]. We will try to provide the information to you in an alternative format and/or make the necessary improvements to make

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