Regular Board of Education Meeting 06/13/2023

001let's see okay I'm going to go ahead and call our meeting to order it is uh six o'clock um and this is the Manitowoc Public School District Board of Education meeting June 13th at um 2023 and we will start with the Pledge of Allegiance oh I'll ask um here Anthony Spalding here Terry trash thank you okay and we will start with public input um are there any I have forums here is there any other forms that someone wanted to turn into heaven yet all right so our first um uh guest tonight is Braden Meyer um Braden if you come to the podium and just see your address for us for the record um June is a special time for many people it is this month of which a certain Community deserves a great recognition and

002a great celebration this month the community to be celebrated are the many students who have the experience of receiving their diploma from high school congratulations to all of them looking back to last month if you and those same students were also in Green Bay receiving an associate's degree this was done through the Rising Phoenix program a truly great opportunity I follow about this program in early 2021 after reading about its intriguing aspects I applied for it out of only 25 students who are taken into this program from my high school I became the 25th student to be accepted for the second generation Uprising Phoenix students after being accepted I began my first college courses in the fall semester of 2021 when the pandemic was over yeah masks were still mandated since I couldn't breathe in

003a mask as I always felt lightheaded very quickly after wearing one and actually they did nothing I wouldn't put mine around my mouth and nose once I was instructed too my own advisory even a threatened to report me to the dean of students because I didn't have my mask over half my face only two times in a row students who go to the main campus will find political activism overwhelmingly from one side to give a few examples I'll start with the 2022 Wisconsin Senate race when Mandela Barnes came and spoke at the campus Flyers were handed out urging students to broker him yet nothing for his opponent at my Green Bay graduation the student speakers spoke about fake systemic injustices I did not clap for them in every class syllabus and Public Presentation there is

004a land acknowledgment or the natives of Wisconsin one of my syllabuses said that it's okay for students to be involved and they use that word not me there are Pride centers both at the Maine and local campuses events are constantly held for causes that originate from the left of center such as encouraging climate alarmism there's even a speaker who came into my class to make the false claim that it is hard to get a voting identification in Wisconsin despite the fact that it is free for everyone this year they had an event where students could go ask a quote-unquote sexologist questions about intercourse the most disturbing and disgusting thing I saw was every month posters were hung around which advertising monthly and I wish I was joking when I say this but I'm not sex

005toy bingo sponsored by Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin that is morally degrading in every way possible even though all that occurs nothing even remotely to the right of Center was featured anywhere outside of the main campus all students including Rising Phoenix have to participate in an online sexual violence prevention training assessment this included ideas and pictures from the LGB community which were unnecessary and distracted from the main message another online assessment all students had to take was called The Brave and Bold dialogues diversity equity and inclusion course this course wants to tell students how to speak and what to think it backs them into a politically correct agenda and encouraging them to speak about quote-unquote constructed dialogues around inclusivity another thing that all students have to complete is an ethnic studies perspective class or their general

006education requirements these classes are very biased and I can provide an example with the class I took to fulfill that requirement I took a class called Multicultural American literature outside of the assigned books my teacher was pushing critical race Theory assignments and questions that were unrelated to the course attempting to state that it is true and if you question her you were being disrespectful I ended up being downgraded since every time she brought this up I stood against it even though I did it with respect each time she even said I was calling her a liar and as she has been implementing that intercourses for almost a decade even though I never said anything close to that or insinuated that in any way she also tried saying race doesn't exist in one assignment and when

007I point out the simple logic that you cannot say all likes are racist and race doesn't exist she got frustrated and corrected herself to seeing that race is only partially a social construct and my professionalism great my teacher said I get a B because of my nice attitude toward other students multiple times in the same comment I guess even she couldn't deny my respect in the end something I believe should be different about this program is that students should be allowed to choose their own first year seminar I saw many that I and fellow classmates would have referred over the assigned Rising Phoenix seminar appears and I did not find that class very helpful now I've not forgotten about the positive of this program and they are big ones through this program being able to

008go to more than one school has allowed me to meet many new people I might not have otherwise this includes both classmates professors and guest speakers a few guest speakers I met where read Gribble Timothy worth and Christina Shelton all politicians I could have missed the opportunity to take pictures with both in-person speakers in a bipartisan manner another great thing is I become a member of the college fraternities by Sigma Pi and Phi Theta Capital it is truly an honor to be able to wear their courts in tassel to graduation public speaking is a class I would highly encourage for all students no matter what field they want to enter I had the most one in that class out of all my years of going to school the teacher who told my class is on

009the complete opposite side of the political Spectrum as me but it greeted me very fairly and I ended the class with over 100 percent what he was asked he did say he is a socialist but he did not put his own viewpoints in his lectures the largest were very unbiased he also didn't mind me not wearing a mask another positive to him being my favorite teacher this is the type of teacher which makes students like me eager to get to class like any student my experience was not 100 smooth sailing but overall this program is a positive one I have overcome any challenges and gained more positive experiences than negatives this is a program which will give students more opportunities faster in life every student who enters this program will have their own experiences I

010hope that mine will help parents and students decide if this is a program they want to pursue I appreciate the board for bringing this program to our districts this is a program we should continue for future classes as it gives a once in a lifetime opportunity that should not be missed integrated okay and our next uh guest is Sarah slatke if you could just um say your address for the record uh 904 North 43rd Street I first want to start with a quote before I get into it all young people regardless of sexual orientation or identity deserve a safe and supportive environment in which to achieve their full potential I am reading a letter on behalf of a student that is part of our gay straight Alliance at Lincoln High School when I was a

011freshman at Lincoln High School we were still in the high of coven 19. my friends and I felt disconnected and awkward around our fellow students and we weren't sure what to do I talked with my friends about how we could get more acquainted with other kids that also identified as lgbtqia plus youth we talked with the teacher that we felt the most comfortable with and set up a club called GSA we made a win sign up for May 10 2021 with the description GSA gave straight Alliance a happy place for anyone and everyone because that's exactly what we wanted it to be a club with the ultimate goal of it being a safe place for anyone and everyone no matter their race gender or sexual identity or any other factors the first meeting had an

012overwhelmingly positive response with over 30 students in attendance this was way more than we expected and now that our club has evolved immensely throughout my high school years we've gone from just hanging out to having a set agenda an Instagram page that gives us a wider platform to inform other students about different gender identities sexual identities as well as the club as a whole and small fun questions that help us get to know other members of the club if you were a type of pasta what would you be was an example our first meeting this school year alone had 60 plus members both new and returning I remain part of GSA because I wanted to ensure our club kept our ultimate goal in mind I also wanted to spread Awareness on certain topics about the

013lgbtqia plus community in a factual manner throughout their school community being in a leadership role for this club since the beginning has helped me overall feel more confident as a whole and has developed my public speaking skills I know that this club has helped others in ways as well by the overwhelmingly positive response we get from students that come to this club every meeting thank you for your time um the next guest is Sonia Vasquez so if you could just provide your address for the record please um I don't want to save my addicts okay is it on your Forum here it says okay all right thank you I'm Sonia Vasquez speaking as an alumni of Lincoln High School and a member of Lake Charles United visionary I'm here to comment on npsd's policy AG

0142240 controversial issues in the classroom I speak with an understanding that this policy would be detrimental to many students within the mpsd system and ask the board to reevaluate I encourage the board to recall a time in which they have been called the incorrect name almost it's happened to most of us at one time or another it's corrected most of the time and we move on but what is your response when the person keeps referring to you as the incorrect gender or wrong name what happens when you know they do it purposefully utilizing a person's correct pronouns and names is a basic sign of respect that every student teacher administrator staff and Community member deserves as a 2011 graduate of Lincoln High School and member of the GSA during my attendance my experience was that

015we honored students correct pronouns names and nicknames without question no matter which side of the political aisle you fell on the names nicknames and pronouns section of this policy is just one of the ways this policy falls short of showing humanity and respect to the students and staff of mpsd putting it for us would be a step backwards even from 2011. I encourage the board not to pass not to pass and implement this policy thank you okay and I have one here to read um this is from Jennifer gleichner she could not be present tonight um Jennifer glitner 1313 Flambeau Street manage lock um tonight I call into a question into question the proposal of mpsc policy AG 2240 controversial issues in the classroom general questions I have about the policy are as follows how

016will biological sex be confirmed will any medical or psychological documentation be required for students and families who request certain names slash pronouns if so Hollow barriers to medical and psychological care for some students be mitigated in this process as to not create an inequity in the application of the policy will lgbtq plus students who are not affirmed slash supported at home be able to discuss this issue with school counselors in confidence more specific questions I have include is this policy the reason why the district has recently asking for birth certificates from students who have spent their entire academic career in mpsd my child has access to medical and psychiatric health care that affirms their gender identity if my child has recommendations from a medical and or psychiatric professional that state affirming their gender is what

017is best for their overall health and well-being will that be honored follow-up to last question if those recommendations are honored then why should my child have the privilege of gender affirmation at school while another child who does not have access to the same care be denied validation and affirmation in the educational setting this creates an inequity in how children are treated in the classroom and could be seen as discriminatory the Manitowoc Public School District does not discriminate against a person's sex race religion national origin ancestry Creed pregnancy marital or parental status sexual orientation or physical mental emotional or learning disability Wisconsin State section 118.13 is it not discriminating by sex if you are insisting students disclose their biological sex to you even if it makes them uncomfortable could this also not be construed as sexual

018harassment w-i-a-a quote member schools shall ensure that all students have access and opportunities to participate in athletics without discrimination based on disability race Creed color gender sexual orientation gender identity gender expression religion age national origin or ancestry end quote as a member of wiaa why would board approval be necessary as a member mpsd is required to follow their rules if the superintendent decides the general neutral space for changing or restroom use will not be granted for a student and this Arrangement causes a physically or psychologically unsafe environment for the student what recourse will the student and family have research shows that lgbtq plus youth who have access to affirming spaces have lower risk of suicidality if the intended outcome of this policy is ever found to be a contributing factor to a suicide will the

019district risk being held liable in some way questions specifically regarding the involvement of board president Dr Stacy selner in the development and implementation of this policy are the board president a licensed psychologist in the document guidelines for psychological practice with transgender and gender non-conforming tgnc people from 2015 from the American Psychological Association there are multiple guidelines that directly contradict what the proposed mpsd policy aims to accomplish they are as follows psychologists understand that gender is non-binary a non-binary construct that allows for a range of gender identities and that a person's gender identity may not align with the sex assigned psychologists recognize how stigma Prejudice discrimination and violence affect the health and well-being of tgnc people psychologists strive to recognize the influence of institutional barriers on the lives of tgnc people and to assist in developing

020tgnc affirmative environments psychologists understand the need to promote social change that reduces the negative effects of stigma on the health and well-being of tgnc people psychologists working with gender questioning 4 and tgnc youth understand the different developmental needs of children adolescents and that not all youth will persist in a g tgnc identity into adulthood psychologists strive to understand how mental health concerns may or may not be related to a tgmc person's gender identity and the psychological effects of minority structs psychologists recognize that tgnc people are more likely to experience positive life outcomes when they receive social support of trans affirmative care question is Dr sellner accepting of the negative impact her Vote for This policy could have on her reputation as a practitioner does Dr selner regularly ignore guidelines from professional organizations does this call

021into question her ability to lead the board if she regularly ignores evidence-based information other facts about gender affirmation and mental health from the Trevor Trevor Project suicide is the second leading cause of death among young people aged 10 to 24 and lesbian gay bisexual transgender queer and questioning lgbtq youth are at significantly increased risk lgbtq youth are more than four times as likely to attempt suicide than their peers research shows that suggests that among lgbtq youth only one-third experienced parental acceptance with an additional one-third experiencing parental rejection and the final ones that are not disclosing their lgbtq identity until they are adults another study found that LG LGB young adults who report high levels of Parental rejection are eight times more likely to report attempting suicide and six times more likely to report high levels

022of depression many lgbtq youths lack access to affirming spaces with only 55 percent of lgbtq Youth reporting that their school is lgbtq affirming and only 37 saying that their home is lgbtq affirming fewer than one in three transgender and non-binary youth found their homes to be gender affirming and a little more than half 51 percent found their schools reaffirming the Trevor projects research consistently finds that lgbtq young people report lower rates of attempting suicide when they have access to lgbtq affirming spaces the community deserves a board and School District that makes decisions based on facts and the evidence not personal beliefs and feelings awesome okay our next guest is um Rory Dean and Rory people just um I uh put your address my name is Rory Beauty and I'm a citizen of manage block and

023a recent graduate of Lincoln High School I am here to speak regarding the controversial issues in the classroom policy that is being brought to the board tonight I have concerns that if this policy goes through it will go against our District's Mission core values and be more harmful than helpful to our students our mission states that we are to engage and inspire all Learners however in this policy we invalidate the transgender community in our district for example we would be creating barriers between students and staff by requiring full parental consent for any discussion regarding gender identity and sexuality this will directly impact people's ability to build positive relationships and demonstrate compassion to students who are going through an extremely difficult time hence going against two core values relationships and compassion for instance students need access

024to Safe adults who can be a listening ear and allow the student time to process how to best communicate their identity to their parents this isn't an easy thing to do for anyone I have a close friend who is fearful of coming out to their parents even though before them they had an older sister who had already come out as transgender and was fully accepted in their family I can't imagine how difficult it would be for students who do not have accepting family members to do the same this policy also eliminates the ability for staff and students to display anything that shows support for these transgender students one walking through schools you may find posters that state safe space for all this is a simple but extremely effective way to show compassion regardless of a

025student's religious beliefs race ethnicity sexual orientation and gender identity by ridding our buildings of supportive messaging and discussion we are excluding our transgender students when people experience exclusion psychologists at the University of California discovered that the part of the brain that is activated in this instance is the same part of the brain that is activated and experiencing physical pain I firmly believe that the school board is not seeking to cause harm to any of our students in order for us to create an environment that supports the mpsd's mission and core values I ask that you vote against this policy thank you thanks Rory okay our next um guest is Don Erdman good evening and Don if you could just say your address for the record please 1824 Abby Lynch please I send board member Tony

026an email in May he was going to pass it on to all of you here I hope you got it if so please raise your hand if you read it okay I used to teach students doing my nursing career so I like to see if they do their homework I just wanted to what was that what was the topic what was the subject I mean I can't I get a lot of names I just wanted to come to actually show you the American creed my mother received that graduation from Lincoln High School in the early 1940s it came from a Wisconsin congressman who was also a past Green Bay Packer apparently they provided it to the students on graduation this is what she got it I'll be brief and just want to summarize my email

027to you in person the American creed States values Freedom equality Justice and Humanity I was also a taught that the United States was a Melting Pot of individuals unfortunately there are those that wish to change these values by pushing diversity inclusion Equity not equality along with the rest of the alphabet agenda etiology I believe we've seen diversion inclusion and Equity cause only Division and probably confusion especially in children and especially the younger children in ending it's time for a return to Common Sense along with the family values and then support your policies thank you thank God okay our next guest is um Colin Bernal thank you um uh my address is 4503 Broadway Street and that is in Manitowoc what is the purpose of schools you may get a multitude of responses but the most

028basic answer is to educate kids this is not mean to take over a parenting role and decide that you know what is best for the child this topic is very important to me I remember being in this room arguing with five other board members with this place packed with angry parents who felt helpless and unheard they were worried about the health of their child the other board members asserted that this was what was best for the kid I remember reading the labels of every mask I purchased in a store but they knew better I remember hearing parents concerned about the fact that their kid was breathing in Cheetos from last week all over their mask but these people knew better eventually they gave parents the right to make their health choices or their child again

029the thing is the damage was done no apologies were given for the Damage Done no admissions that maybe it wasn't the best choice Einstein is 2020. but as a result of telling parents that they know better we had a rise in behavioral issues a decrease in performance and increasing suicide and other mental health issues missed opportunities like marching and slots but remember they knew better parents know better these are their kids these are their responsibilities these kids are theirs they trust them PSB to educate them on proven theories and disciplines not ideologies or to be Pawns in their political agendas trust is the key word there ultimately the care custody and control is being given to you for a period of time in the day to provide a service to the community and educating the

030kids it is not to undo the lessons that a parent may have taught whether you agree with them or not parents absolutely need this Bill of Rights when you have things taking place like they did in Sun Prairie where an 18 year old exposed himself to a group of four minor girls then what is being proposed today is necessary policies like this help protect kids as well this policy addresses the rights that all kids have rights and not just a select fewer political ideology has creeped into every facet in this country from Sports to the beer you drink to the TV you watch even the areas that are supposed to be safe havens through the exchange of free thought have been tarnished with the propaganda of political parties if I didn't keep the property under

031Auto schools and allow parents to instill the beliefs of their forefathers is the right of every parent and it should not be challenged thank you for protecting the rights of of the parents by voting in favor of this thank you Colin um and our last one we have today is I'm not sure if I know Melissa bouchette what's it uh so I have a letter here from a GSA student and student for you guys the student I changed my name in eighth grade but I've been in the lgbtqia plus Community since fifth grade the lgbtqia plus Community helped me become more confident with myself it also helped me with my mental illnesses but my problem isn't with the people who attempt to slander or shut down our club I'm upset because at school I can't

032even be myself because I will be made fun of by my classmates we also cannot hang posters up like other clubs because we may upset someone in my middle school we had a club that went by a different name for lgbtq plus students and they never got torn down or got a complaint but GSA is getting complaints it isn't fair that GSA doesn't get to hang posters like other clubs and it's not clear that GSA gets made fun of it is not fair that it feels like GSA does not have your help with our problems GSA was invented for a reason a reason for everyone to be involved with the lgbtqia plus Community yes GSA has its ups and downs but it has helped many be open with themselves and by not being treated like

033the other clubs GSA can't help others like me thank you for your time thank you okay though um close our public input and we're going to move on to our consent agenda we have one document in the consent agenda which is the special board meeting minutes uh there's one change to uh the one that was presented in board book um Carrie was in attendance at that meeting but if he was not listed but I was not conspicuous so um that has been uh amended in the copy that I have to sign here um so does this um item does anyone object to having this item in the consent agenda okay are there any further discussions or changes about that okay so I would need a motion in a second to approve approve the consent agenda

034Carrie and Matthew Spaulding okay um all in favor of approving the consent agenda say I or any opposed okay motion carries a and then we're going to move into our reports of the superintendent um and the first thing that was presented um from Angela was our payment of vouchers um and this requires a first and second motion um to approve the payment of vouchers that was presented uh in the board book hey motion um hi Matthew Spaulding second and second if I could paint site any discussion about the payment of vouchers or questions for Angela okay see none um all those in favor say aye any opposed emotion carries all right and then also from Angela was our monthly financial report and uh no no action is required for this but if there were any

035questions for um at all um would you take them at this time and Angela I just had one um how are we doing uh this time of year so just kind of a yeah there's so many numbers in there so it's just kind of what uh how are we doing um at this time of the year um during it during May there is not too much uh special activity and as far as the financials are concerned we've received like some sort of miscellaneous AIDs that we get from the state like personal property Aid those are part of uh just general aids would received annually so in the month of June there'll be a lot of activity because we'll have the settling of State AIDS um you know open enrollment in and all of those types

036of things so there's quite a bit of activity that actually you know encompasses um you know about 10 to 14 million dollars during that month so um overall it's a low cash points as well for us and we have final payrolls so um overall we're doing well we're projecting out for the end of year and working on Final claiming uh closing out purchases for the year so it's a very very busy time with what we do by that um you know everything's going is scheduled and we'll work and do it okay excellent um so no action required our next one is the monthly donation list um and evangela presented this there's no action required because there's no donations um that are above that 5000 mark oh okay okay so there are two uh let me

037open this just uh and there is a miracle Splash donation but that's just what's in board book actually there isn't a document in board book oh okay sure thank you there was a miracle Splash explanation and I can have uh you know Katie explained this a little bit before 7 500 if you'd like to speak to that a little bit sure um the miracle Splash is a local organization that raises money to support students with disabilities in our community um they offer monetary donations so that we can purchase unique equipment to support students so our goal is to purchase some adaptive swings for our playgrounds um a communication board so many of our students um that uh are non-verbal students with disabilities use a picture communication system so there's a cool huge board that can

038be part of a playground setup that uses it with your communication so that students can communicate out on the playground um so it's a unique opportunity for us um just to have some great equipment that you know we might not be able to purchase on our own and have readily available excellent so that one would would require action and the second one that uh the information will get back to you is that it doesn't need by our policy formal approval but it's for thirty three hundred dollars and it's from the James E Dalton foundation and it's for uh projects and signs at the school for us so part of the requirements of this grant are to have it acknowledged and improved by the board so that's why I'm including that um they also have pretty

039clear stipulations for um just proving 501c3 status now the district is not a 501c3 whole facility is a government organization So and I've already forwarded this onto the foundation board because the foundation has a 501c3 can accept it and as a beneficiary we just have to it's a means of routing it to meet their requirements okay so uh the way it'll be used in the district it'll be used for the school Force for these um signs and then I will be forwarding the information for you to review so it's really exciting and Kelly Warren works very hard to uh you know secure any additional funding that she can she does a great job with that so I really appreciate her efforts with that and then the only other um donation to be acknowledged uh Jayden

040and stamping had donated 2500 towards obvious apprenticeship and I did it occurred less or further in the month okay so okay thank you so um I would need a motion and a second to approve Miracle Splash and also the 3300 Jamestown project great okay and second by Kerry Trask I just have a question can we do this if it's not on the agenda it wasn't posted I mean is it going to hurt anything but like it was listed on the agenda because I'm trying to pull up Android yeah I can I can email them to them that's not a problem so so it wasn't publicly known before now is that attached it doesn't have to be publicly and we know my other government jobs you have to post it before you can do anything with

041it now I maybe the rules here are different but that's we don't have to do it you know the the items in Katy can help directly too I mean I you know we're waiting to purchase other items but I mean we would purchase we can purchase some in July too in advance of the school year so I mean we're okay if we repost this in in July you know we'll have our meeting at the end of the month so we can add it then and do it there yeah oh okay thank you okay so um would you rescind your motion if you want to do that okay and then um do I have a motion to table this and just add it to the next I'll motion the table it and we'll add it to

042our second meeting of the month special meeting which is the 20th okay and then um our next one is uh personal report and um the HR Director had a the Personnel report and that would require a person second motion um so guys a person a second to approve the um Personnel report as presented yeah I'd like to move and I'd like to say I'm really pleased that it might just come back for a second so Carrie trash first second for Matthew Fitz any other discussion I'm just wondering and I was talking with Michael a little bit before the meeting can we is there a way to do exit surveys so we found out why we're losing we're losing a lot of people yeah yeah that's pretty labor defensive we do an exit certainly have any

043data yeah and we plan to present something I don't know it could be the end of June could be sometimes July to look at that and try to compare that with last year I would appreciate historical data on that also I guess we'll get as much as you can okay School perceptions is who's going through okay we essentially have a retreat you know where we were discussing the staff current student and exit surveys I know some yeah some of us that were on the board you know before I mean we kind of we kind of felt shut out of knowing this kind of information which is pretty germane to what we do and and it all gets mushed together and we get sort of general you know General Trends and tendencies etc etc um and

044and we you know when we asked before when we had a different superintendent we were always told like well this is confidential well come on it can't it can't be both it can't be both you know I mean we we either have to be have this information to do our job correctly to know what the hell really is going on why people really are jumping in jail or you know let's just forget about it I mean you know and just like pretend you know we're in we're in Wonderland or something so uh I don't I don't I you know I feel pretty strongly about this and I know a number of people at the table here felt strongly about it at least at one time yeah just some um just some background if we used

045to do it in-house and the board felt like um we just we didn't know if we were getting what we needed so we had school perceptions take that over and we also do a um we do the exit surveys we do a survey for students a survey serving for parents and also a survey for um staff and so the plan would be in August to have a presentation on all that in line with our uh strategic plan of wanting more of those things good people um experienced that have been around and if there's a why it'd be nice if we knew that so we could try to change something yeah absolutely yeah I mean my last government is I'm not been living under a rock for anybody else in the room here people are moving

046jobs at a tremendous rate right now Market is very volatile um the market is just completely people are moving jobs every week it's more than it's ever been uh obviously I will say there's been a bottleneck because of covid and now it's uh people have moved on and changed professions completely so that's my opinion you can find the data supported I could if I'd like to but it's been crazy and just to add on uh yeah it's a volatile market number one we did have a good amount of resignations here but we also have like three pages of almost three hopeful pages of new hires some great work so just to make recognition of that so I I mean like you said they're going they're coming it looks like we've got a lot more coming

047we've got going so that's good now I just like to observe that most of the people coming are one year I had no experience whatsoever they're right out of college uh they're at base salary they have no experience whatsoever not that I'm discouraging want to be discouraging to find people in like hindering profession but you know we're losing a lot of talented on an appearance in this system and I think it's you know it's important for us to know I mean I I you know there are suspicions and rumors of course why they're leaving but it would be good to know you know why that is and um uh if there's you know because we did in the in the in the in the the planning program the planning plan uh say look you know

048we want to we want to we want to work to retain yeah and and improve and encourage and then you know make teachers want to work here and especially we want to restore this system to to the Excellence that it that not so long ago had and I think that geez I you know I mean people are free to leave of course but I think this is more than the job just to touch on what you said though I was kind of going through and looking at this we got a 22 years 14 years 11 years we got some good experience coming in too Carrie I don't I don't see anything that supports all of that but I do agree and I'd like to see the new people coming in as well too to be

049honest with you um you know it's it's good to have new people coming into the profession any other discussion I just wanted from a Ministry a point where we totally support uh providing as much information that we can collect uh if that's into our strategic plan in terms of obviously um understanding as much as we can in terms of what we're doing to attract a retain so we're totally supportive yeah good okay hey Mike yeah I just want to share that I think it was in January when I shared when I looked at the uh School perception exit surveys that they had at that time and I shared them with school with the Personnel committee there was none at that time there was nothing that jumped out that said okay it's this it's this was

050this um I I do think that um when we looked at the next round of everything we need to look at probably mid July or so because they will catch this whole thing instead of cutting it off at Midview or something of that military um and one one of the things that the thing that has one of the things that has changed since act 10. prior to act 10 if you left the district you totally lost your seniority the seniority was a big thing back then the second thing is if you left your District private plan most often a collective party that came and said the highest important salaries together is schedule schedule may be step six or seven today because there's no seniority they move and that's not a factor and the other thing

051that happens today is that for the most part if you're making X in this district is move to another District they're going to offer up these decks of positive one you know a little bit more and so every time they make a move they seem to do this financially engaged um so those are just some factors out there but at the end of the day we need to examine our access surveys to determine is there something that jumps out at us that we can control and change or do something better and uh I just want to say real quick and Tony um you know Mike and I have talked to about you know historically and we we want to look at all the data whether it's not favorable to the school board not favorable to

052him um it doesn't matter um it's always any feedback is important so that we can look at it and do better we should always want to do better so um we're gonna look at it and we're going to look at it all of it um The Good Bad and the Ugly so Tony what you were saying Stacy I I agree 100 we should we should certainly take a look at all that and as part of that I think we need to go back too and look at the historical data as much as we can because I don't think the problems that we're seeing today with staff turnover are unique to Manitowoc I don't think they're unique to uh the last year or two um from what I've observed and learned uh just being on the

053board the last year it sounds like this is prevalent throughout education so uh I'm more than happy to have that conversation I just want to keep things in context and make sure that we look at the big picture and then once we understand the environment that we're in at that point we'll be better positioned to make the changes we need to ensure that we're attracting the best people we can to help us move forward with our objectives and and you know the only thing that I'm going to say that's going to be unfortunate is because we were doing in-house and then moved to school perceptions we probably only have a year and a half's worth of data so we're not going to get a five-year picture um but you know because we wouldn't be comparing

054the same things but again I think it's a start the data that we are going to have though is what we've kind of always collected is how many people resigned how many people that so many people that and and that is comparable and I think we can get a good historical picture of that um and I do want to vote on this first um but then I also would ask Mike to present kind of a little bit of where we're at uh with um our current uh personnel and hiring so if I could be broken just to elaborate there or clarify it it sounds to me like in the last year and a half we've made changes to the process that'll better position us long term to monitor why people are leaving and make modifications

055where needed did I hear that right correct yeah I just wanted to make sure that nobody I would love if we could take and say let's look at the last five years of exit data um and it's not that we don't have it but it's that we change systems and to compare those two um would be difficult I argument maybe we are we are in uncharted waters with employees and my example that would be a transportation contract went up maybe a percent or two for the last 15 years and it's going to go up six and a half percent tonight so we I believe from that data we are in our chart of waters for employee forces and where people are going to make expenses to everything because of our spending that's okay that's my

056opening okay one last comment just just in terms of some of the other things that we're aware of is we have some people who will let there coming back this district is this one principle one that we had in that career and then she went somewhere and obviously is coming back now obviously so this is the better place grass isn't always greener oh that's good go ahead that this person worked for the facebook.com is a teacher and she was maybe at Washington for a couple years and she was she took an opportunity to go to Chilton as an elementary principal she's been there one year she's a Manitowoc resident a big baby named longer accident and she cannot agree to come back because she's very excited to come back to the lead River we're excited

057to have her how many positions are we still trying to build well let's we're going to get there can we pass the Personnel report there's no other discussion yeah okay so all in favor say aye aye any opposed okay won't you carry okay so then I'm gonna have Tony um hold your question because I've asked Mike to just give us uh where we're at right now with regard to your question if he doesn't answer it then you're first okay yes did you take the personal report any of them I did not so we do need a motion this second for the um okay so Carrie you're making a motion to yeah we'll just do a new one since it's already gone through okay second by Tony okay all those in favor aye any opposed great

058all right thank you so uh over the weekend I went on weekend and I think I've talked about week 10 in the past weekend is the Wisconsin educator career Access Network that's all 422 school districts use in the state of Wisconsin relative to advertising their positions and then we as administrators program looking at all the applications and there's some really positive things about weekend one of them is is that every individual app flies gives authorization for everybody for any administrator to do a reference check without the pure litigation so if there's some real positive work that we can it's through the University of Wisconsin-Madison um it's a good it's a very good system and here it is um and I'll just kind of go through this currently half their vacancies posted on weekends we have

059seven special education positions five elementary one high school one Middle School we have two art and element school one sign language interpreter one speech language pathologist One Security called Circle Middle School two social studies positions High School Middle School two reading positions Middle School Spanish at the middle school grade five or grade four and two five paid positions two science Physicians a high school and middle school a school site through ell this language their positions at the middle school one Tech edit the Middle School those are our current vacancies no with that being said when I look at that um there's probably only really one area where I'm extremely relaxed and that's the social studies the Social Studies have come in at double digits no problem with the positions we've had we've had 20 30

060people at one you don't see that anywhere else with any other positions the ones that I'm really concerned about seven special education here that's been a problem for a number of years for a number of districts and we're working very hard and diligently to as soon as we have people we look at we looked in the interview with the room as fast as we can so that we can be the district that that uh gets the offer out there and gets accepted and you have that person um we have the speech and language pathologist remember this year we were once each arranged pathologist shy but you know that means other people in the district are speak Spanish Pathologists have to click on them and have a little bit higher workflow to get to get everything

061covered we have these are these are the four that I'm really most concerned about the school psychologists remember you approve the school psychologist position um we have three candles uh one went half of them one went to Green Bay and one it didn't work out and and now we're struggling to get any applicants so that's a concern and a tech edits in middle school we made an offer person accepted a week later said I call my dreams with dream job sorry so those positions are probably the most concerning um however in this market as we taught there's such a shortage in everything you know even even the grade five and the great Horrors um yeah we have candidates but if you know I remember I remember the days when we had 100 candidates so now

062we're single digits a lot of times so um so that's what we currently have relative to Cathedral administrators um I I think we've done really well we filled two directed positions with three and five central office you filled the high school principal we filled the Wilson principal Wilson associate principal Washington associate principal and we filled Jackson Riverview Jefferson and was we basically are going to be filming the road this week so then what do we have left Madison and Lincoln High School associate principal so we have done with how do I say that good work we've done good work and we've got some good people trust me and we really feel good about where we're going we think that we think the future is right we truly do you mean any further questions yeah I

063would just say great work I know it's a busy time of year for you guys and I appreciate everything that you're doing and your team uh if possible I would love to see the you know if we can maybe with these Personnel reports if we can get something ahead of time just to kind of digest what do you unloaded on us that would be great but I thought you did a nice job summarizing it but um yeah that would be my only feedback but you guys are doing great work keep it up so help me out a little bit so with the Personnel report we'd like uh well just that summer you just gave us at the end you know just how many vacancies uh you know you went through it pretty quickly and you

064know I got up at five this morning so I Rings full of slower than normal but I'll get through it and I asked and I asked Mike to put this together um maybe just get that as an attachment too uh that would be great I can keep the price of positions and where we're at some of those things is just yeah okay all right great job um okay so we next have our strategic Plan update uh Justin that we're continuing to work on this you know every time we're working on the veterans and refining it uh between now and in August um you know we are regrouping uh we're collecting our Trend data on some of the metrics that we have we're going to look for the format to put it in we have a

065template there that we left with a strategic plan whether or not there's a better one to make it a little bit more informative uh but we're on the final stages of that you know in terms of being able to make sure that it communicates well with everybody in terms of how we're doing excellent and then um District activity update um you know just a few things that I might start off with um you know occasionally when we're making changes we'll receive questions one of the changes that we've made and we've communicated that out to to parents uh was we uh you know through covet um we there was adjustments both from the federal you know in terms of some funding things you know to the local level one of the things that we did was

066uh uh Foods you know we were providing breakfast to all people and we were feeding them we moved feeding into the classroom um our focus is getting back to instruction as our primary uh area of work uh and and we are still continuing breakfast program okay uh but going back to the original rules in terms of obviously as somebody as eligible for having that Finance would that will still be available but we will provide you know that but sometimes questions why are we changing well you know there's a constitution there's no pre-launch you know taxpayers pay for that so at the end the responsible here in terms of what we're doing in terms of when people can't afford the help you know we can provide that's great uh but there there's a cost and anytime

067we're incurring more costs that isn't going into supporting instruction do shall learn that that's where we're going to try to leverage and direct our funds of the any of the Covenant Minds still still on that no no no funds yes we still have about 900 000. so we had a file a report with the state to say that how we were going to use the excess funds and mainly for Capital needs as well as the focus so uh some other things done in terms of I it was a wonderful graduation yeah we had uh a great representation from the board and it was it was just an honor to be part of that uh you know recognition that tradition uh the Heritage I would agree but that was that was wonderful I'd also like to

068recognize our uh ships uh baseball team in terms of uh who were able to um uh acquire the regional uh being Regional Champs and then they would advance to sectional assembly finals but they lost to Beaver Dam there but one of the recognition um you know again our uh you know to what we are accustomed to uh and also recognition to our eighth grade social studies classes from West and uh um Washington you know here in DC right now you know as part of you know this is American history so um you know Persian experience in terms of how that got played out in our Capital so it's really nice to be able to have that uh so that's kind of our my opportunity report excellent all right okay there is no unfinished business uh

069we do have several new business items um one the first one is the WIA annual membership renewal um this was presented by our athletic director um and it was in board book for everyone to review and um I have it here to sign if it passes so um I would need a first and second in order to um and this would be a person a second or I'll be looking for a motion to approve the membership into the Wisconsin or wiaa okay any discussion about um this document at all okay um seeing none all of those in favor say aye aye aye any opposed okay motion securities um okay and the next item that we have is uh we do have an out-of-state travel request um and looks like just in some emails that um

070this kind of got to us a little later so I apologize that we didn't get this to Spanish this is actually a June um trip but they start doing uh the planning um now so um this uh had a very nice presentation in it uh if everyone was able to look through that PowerPoint looks like a great experience um I got to do this when I was in 10th Grade uh we went um Señor line took us on a trip so I think it's a great opportunity for our students um so this would also require a first and a second to um approve the out of state travel request okay any discussion or questions about the trip or any of the documents that was presented okay all right see none all those in favor say

071aye any opposed motion carries okay the next item is the Pupil Transportation contract now this is the bus contract and I believe it is the second biggest expense in our district one of one of the largest it's been one of the largest expenses um so this is the contract that um if you remember uh the way that this contract is set up the uh Grant buses um always likes to have a five-year contract so we're already in a five-year contract with them but one year has passed and so we add on another year so we are always at five years so um I would need a motion and a second to approve the Pupil Transportation contract as presented in board book um by yeah okay see we help you all the time okay um any

072discussion about this oh we were talking about wow it's a pretty good joke but uh you know they pay their they pay the bus drivers so little it's you know it's probably a deal so right um I don't know do we we don't have any choice I mean it really is kind of not financially but um I think Grant bus is great I think my daughter uses it they pick her up right in front of the house whenever they don't just pass on by and I end up having to give her a ride I'd like to uh I wish there was something I would tell them to hold on a little bit with the kids other than that um you know it's financially there's really like you said there's no choice yeah I I would

073also add that you know I ran Transportation departments with 120 buses on the road uh and they're they're you know it can get very complicated very quick and it can be a very um uh you know some kinds of students are left on the bus I would tell you I not have any concerns or you know uh expressed to me um you know in terms of our transportation and I'm well aware of the the challenge making sure that you have employees that you can depend on uh and I've not had any problems and they work well with me in terms of school closings uh so it's been very favorable for my uh bringing two large Transportation departments I really do believe in this it's really a good return for the money and it's local this

074year I was very happy with the communication that I've had in the cooperation and just the cause of attitude with the drivers and when I had to call in and say that he was going to miss the bus everything's worked out really really well so I've gotten but good things to say about client buses and the relationship we've had with them or over almost I mean 25 years I was just going to ask God Angela I know it sounds like this relationship's been going on for a long time and they've done a really good job I know there's the recent increases but it still sounds like overall we're getting a really good deal relative to the market is that right for sure and I included an analysis in here that uh you know just looking

075at comparables with other school districts I mean our routes the amount that we paid per route compared to uh you know other school districts is very very low so uh you know if we would be paying but some of the other Regional School District contracts with their larger carriers uh Liam Rose culbasin are paying around 268 dollars uh per relative and we would be paying two 2.7 million dollars compared to the 1.5 million dollars that we're paying so uh you know her road is is more than reasonable and and we have a great relationship with our with our school bus service with brand buses and Steve's here to you know answer any questions that you guys may have as well I asked them to join us tonight so uh you know so he could he's

076happy to answer any questions as well and they're just so dependable reliable and we're just um we were just very lucky to have them the the rate increases that most school districts have faced have been close to eight percent in the area and so uh while we've had higher increases in the more recent years uh you know they've been very you know we've had very small increases historically so that's we've been very fortunate for that so uh you know I just they're excellent to work with and I you know just uh yeah I just like to highlight uh some of the things he has in here because the bus prices going up 15 It's relatively around thirty thousand dollars a cost and maintenance of the buses or 10 which is twenty one thousand dollars one

077thing I do want to highlight is insurance has increased it and he drug tests all his employees now that might not seem like oh everybody should be doing that but actually state employees that are unionized in the state of Wisconsin don't need to be drug tested anymore or operators so um I would like to say thank you for you know having our you know a investment of our children being drawn around by a competent adults that are doing drugs you said we do have a representative here yes thank you oh maybe he's gonna leave early I don't know all right it sounds like again a really good deal for the district which is great um I'm curious as far as the budget impact did we account for that increase for a second and throwing curveballs

078knowing it's such a large amount looking at the variables that have been shifting since the referendum it's it's uh figured within the budget okay I just said one question about the contract and this is just a educationally um it says uh special education Transportation will include five morning and afternoon buses and morning slash afternoon CWD bus is that a children children okay thank you and um boss for Riverview is that where all our children with disabilities are located is that why it's just to Riverview um it's likely for Early Childhood purposes that's where it's retainers okay okay thank you and for high cost Transportation Aid and special education Aid costs you can get Aid if you transport them separately uh and it's handled differently if they're mixed with regular education students so that's why we

079have to uh separate some of that out for those purposes just uh further contacts uh you know there's always guidelines in terms of when you apply transportation and we don't provide transportation within a two-mile radius because that's considered a walking distance and it's important to note that we don't transport within the city for the most part that we we handle its real contract with the city uh where our students can ride a city transportation buses just so that you know the full extent of what we're doing here to provide um uh in getting kids to school and I believe I don't have it in the analysis if I had included it unless I I'm just listening to make quick scan but we pay around 170 dollars per route per day so that is about the

080so we really are you know well below what the average school districts pays so I was able to pull several contracts to do the comparison and share that um and just final I mean Angela thank you for putting the extra comparison in that there I know last year um you know we were just we know that um you know branch has been serving us but always want to look out to the market and so I appreciate the extra information that you've added here um just to give us some more context so I appreciate that all right um if there's no further discussion um follow those in favor of entering into the 2023-2028 Pupil Transportation contract uh signify by saying aye aye any opposed okay motion carries all right in our next item is our uh

081student accident insurance and this will require a first and second motion this was presented um in board book for everyone um so do I have a first and a second to approve the uh student X accident insurance coverage and do I have a second okay and any discussion about the documents or questions about the student accident insurance coverage it's the second point of coverage for students so we usually uh you know if if a student gets hurt we have an accident report that's filed with standard procedure and then uh and then they can if they file a claim it would go towards their regular first kind of coverage their personal insurance first and then this coverage and so um and there's also an optional coverage for um WIA sports that parents can also uh purchase

082as well and what was interesting is that work at the same uh you know same broker for several years for the student accident insurance and we've always used this guarantee life and uh when I came up with the last finance and budget committee meeting it was asked of well it's a bit on this and uh so I had requested that and I will do that for moving forward because then he went out and he rebid it and uh so we had a problem good call to do that and then I wish I would have done that sooner so uh it was just nice to get it put out to Market and so we can get the best price available for the same exact coverage so it's a 1600 decrease from the original proposal from I

083believe April so and they're great to work with so we really have very I don't think in hardly any claims last year or in this current year but I think we had like twenty five thousand dollars worth of claims the year before paying eight thousand dollars we get values for what we pay for coverage so um so it's good to have that do you know how many years oh gosh that's a great question I'm not sure I could look into that okay any other discussion is seeing none all those uh in favor of the students accident Insurance motion by saying aye aye any opposed emotion carries our next item and I know you guys talked about this a little bit at our last meeting the property liability and workers compensation insurance coverage renewal for 2023

0842024 so I would be looking for a motion in a second to approve that Matthew Spaulding is our second any discussion um regarding the uh coverage renewal for next year okay see none all those in favor signify by saying aye any opposed a motion carries okay and then um superintendent file um submitted an administrative guideline this would be administrative guidelines to a policy that we already have which is 2240 controversial issues in the classroom um and so um we have a motion in a second to approve the administrative guidelines a couple of things you know in terms of uh our policy um uh identifies that administrative guidelines are My Prerogative you know to implement to go for either having them required or how I'm going to carry out on Foothill policy uh but I also

085have the opportunity to seek your approval on any given one and I'm I am on this one because I think it's important that we all make sure that we're all on the same page in terms of what those parameters are that we're working in and so um you know I'm trying to convey and obviously I'm working on documents that are out there that other schools have considered you know to to to build on this and I also have that you have in front of you some some additional edits because I had the attorneys look at this uh and so uh that that's red checked on your and that's been Incorporated in the final one that's here recommended for you uh but again it's it's you know what's the definition of controversy and you've discussed some

086of that when you set down policy and so I try to establish a little bit more detail what does this mean from a parent's perspective you know in terms of what they might look at in terms of what they could uh understand that we are looking out for the interests of all students and so that's um you know this is really to open up that discussion to make sure that I'm um staying within the parameters that you adopted that policy any uh discussion questions yeah I have a few but I I do think that the the the graph here still needs some editorial work okay there are places where the sentences are are vague and aren't clear and um you know I would be happy to be you know talk to them specifically I mean

087privately on this but I don't think it's I don't think it's ready to be adapted adopted in the prisoner but in addition to that I mean I have some some I don't know if you'd call them philosophical questions or jurisdictional uh questions about about the very strong statement of you know the the role of parents in in education and uh I mean to the point where it's the parents which shouldn't have the apostrophe there play the primary the primary role in decision making in this in in the students K-12 educational experience I don't think that's a true statement I mean that doesn't reflect fact does it as a parent of an MTSD student I 100 agree that I play the primary role in my child's education absolutely how how is that how is that how's

088that and how do you involve yourself in that way I mean well what I what I would ask you guys is what would be um Carry what what role does the if they don't have the primary role what would you replace that well you know there's a bit of a confusion because in in further down sends on on item 11 it says strengthening Family School partnership Partnerships plural you know you can't have primary primary role and principal role in the in the sentence below 12. uh I mean it seems to me that it's got to be at least a partnership it's not a primary thing I mean I I I I you know I I just don't think that we all right and you know statement two is parents are the children's first teacher to

089remain remain teachers and Role Models throughout their child's educational Journey it'd be nice if that was true but I don't I don't think either of those questions I don't think either the states okay so I what I would ask though is um what would you what would you change it to I would change the first sentence too you know the partnership with parents and and and and uh the parents and and and the district okay as as as decision makers as decision makers and students students K-12 educational experience I mean it's it's you know we have to assume a professional responsibility for providing an excellent education it's not just a matter of opinion and then you know we we have people stand up and I certainly think they have every right to say whatever but

090the fact is is that there is a difference between just having opinions about you know what should be and I know that I know that Colin is very strong on on Aaron rice and you know honestly I I think parent rights are not absolute and this would suggest that this is the case if you talk about if you talk about as a primary role I think there's you know I think there has to be a professional a professional responsibility taken here which I think we do we take that we try to the best of our ability to to to uh be sensitive to student needs both the intellectual and and and and and and in terms of sports and extracurricular um and there may be some agreements about that some parents may may say well

091we don't we don't agree with that and I think that um that has to be kind of that has to be kind of adjudicated in a way I think that's the role of the board um so I don't want I you know I just don't buy into what's what's it what's it really a political which is which is really a political issue on the parents the parents uh parents uh you know Bill of Rights I mean I don't know I don't know you know it's like what parents and how is that expressed and how is that implemented and it seems to be a wide open barn door for all kinds of like quote unquote to use you know to use the Terminus being kicked around here special interests special interest involvement and interference with our

092professional responsibilities parents are I I would say that's professional that parents know of rice is very much a political very much a political issue which has been interjected into you know education and I think that the real facts of the matter is is there's a partnership here and I think that we shouldn't do anything to weaken the respect the professional responsibility we have as a school system to provide in our professional judgment the best education we can afford and we can produce for all the children all the children of the district and I don't I don't you know and if if there's questions certainly if there's questions about religious or value issues you know under the under the the whole the whole stuff that deals with sex education students can be excused from certain parts

093of courses but they can't be you know we're not going to be changing the courses because you know we're not going to be changing the courses because you know somebody three people get up in public and Public public stages and say they don't they don't like the way we're doing sex you know sex education there are there are opportunities for students to be excused from certain aspects of the course of study but I don't think that you want to have you know a down meeting to discuss to decide what the curriculum of the Manitowoc Public School System should so that's my best listen specifically to touch on what you said is that you know um I think you're getting more into the the educational curriculum type stuff but this is the key like it even

094says the number four the school days to keep the school day focused on Educational Learning this right here is for those specific controversial issues and those parents I.E me have a right when it comes to what a teacher is going to teach my daughter if it's regarding any of those controversial issues or anything that's in here for you to state that the parents control of their education is not Paramount I believe that was the exact word to use it is well I don't know a Paramount I believe it is pretty is is outrageous I said it I said it before I was even on the board when I was standing behind that podium that my the control of my daughter's education I am the ultimate Authority when it comes to that period And I will

095always give power to the parents when it comes to what their kids are being taught and this just solidifies it and it takes out a lot of confusion and question on on what can and cannot be this isn't it it's not a an entirely different policy this is what he said it's like guideline to help with the policy that we already have this is a very very necessary because I do find a lot of people have questions we've even had people in public comments come up and ask about certain of the controversial issues you know do I have to worry about that I believe it was last month do I have to worry about that with with my kid in school you know with whether it's the bathrooms or anything else and this is a

096way for us to communicate and let them know these are the guidelines in here this is us telling you solidly in our policy that that's not going to happen here so okay well I'm trying to understand this because being an administrator in the district going through the school district Whenever there were issues there were controversial in a classroom if a parent called I called back but we'd sit down and I don't want Johnny in there during that time fun teacher would come in there'd be an alternative assignment something else they could do it they weren't going to be in the class at that time that has always been there my concern with some of this is be it three or four or five people come in do is a whole curriculum changed there are controversies

097you know we talked science last month and adopting that program I got home and write an article there's a group not a flat Earth Society that wants that taught in science because they have a group and it's a special reference group so so do we have to do that now that's a controversial issue no no is it we're not so so like my question is my question is why we have the ability for parents if there's something you don't like that your daughter is going to have in that class to say hey can I take her out for a week or two was when you did that when you were there wait a second actually when that happened or um many times after a day or two they'd come back in and go hey Rick

098we talked at home and he wants to go to the class and find out what's going on okay but part of that also is trust that that teacher you know I keep caring about indoctrination and it's like this our prediction doesn't work or the Soviet Union would still be allowed we had 45 years of indoctrinating kids and people and people are smart and they want information and when you get information on both sides you get smarter you get more intelligent you can make a decision and my fear is if we start doing too much with this are we going to take away the ability for our kids to think and make a decision later on in life and is a vocally large group of people or vocal small group of people going to change what

099the mpsd is going to teach and it it has to come down to the professionals on this board within schools in classrooms on what is part of the curriculum we need to teach our kids so I agree parents are the primary person right I have done that with my kids but I have to have that partnership with the school district and some trust in what they're teaching my other concern with this is what if there isn't a good guy like Matt at home taking care of his son yeah what if there isn't a stable home that doesn't have parents that are there and Karen so does the school just has Hands-On that's not our job because the parents are there and that's so much sometimes those kids need somebody at school to be there for

100them because there's nobody at home that cares what do we do for those kids are we going to handle those kids I don't know but it scares me when we start saying we're gonna can't do this can't do that it's a Paris writer well we gotta have we have to have that ability to trust the professional in the classroom we have to have that ability to trust the kids that are learning that they're going to learn and they're going to discuss they're going to learn from that perception I learned the morning we went out for coffee Tony I learned that day even though we probably disagree on a lot of stuff I learned because we talked and if we don't have those discussions I think school okay mpfc is going to have some problems they're

101gonna problems with the kind of gets returning now yeah great discussion so far I just kind of want to bring back a little bit of state law and how this affected our expulsion here and I won't talk about the expulsion hearing but state law says that any minor under the age of 18 cannot give consent to anything so no matter what and in that framework who does make the decisions for a minor in the state of Wisconsin under the constitution of Wisconsin it's the parent or guardian of that China China and with your answer with the parent um if there was no parent at home uh I can't think of the the term right on top of my head but I've known other children that have asked for their rights to be given to them

102because there had been no parent at home if somebody answers thank you that's the term and that has happened numerous times in this district with students in the last how many years I don't know exactly but that's that's so that's that instance to answer your question so if you don't have a parody Or if you do have a parent the parent has given the accountability to the child to make sure that they are being protected so how we regain accountability to our children is is having a parent regarding Infuse correctly 100 giving them the authority to make decisions for their children because children are growing and learning and developing and until they become what the state of Wisconsin is required as an 18 year old their decisions can be made by their parent so with

103that thinking the parent needs to be the glooms that holds a child otherwise obviously they shouldn't have kids but that parent is the one making the parental decisions the educational decisions for that student so just in along those lines to to try to pull the strength away from the parents anymore than it already has and try to use different language like I mean I understand the certain situations it's just the legal definition is not being followed if we're starting to go off on a limb and making uh minors uh make their own definitions of what they think is right for them until they're 18 years old I know it sucks I remember I was 17. I don't want to go buy my cigarettes so I could say I gotta smoke a cigarette well that's the

104state law at the time but I couldn't go vote or I didn't sign up for the service but that's what the state of Wisconsin has made for the long why don't we just follow along and give the parents the rights that they're supposed to have let's not go great and start giving the parents give the school system more rights than than they should Tony I think we have to look at this in the context of the policy the guidelines and tenants and that policy specifically released the controversial issues right so how do we Define a controversial issue you know anything that's got different sides of support per policy or you know in the community that's economic political religious or social you know so there's a wide variety of topics that can fall into that category

105in ultimately I think we need to tread very carefully you know there's some good points made on both sides here and I think you know I would like to think that everyone on the board is United and wanting to help students that need it they may not have the family support at home where I'm going to push back a little bit is relying on the government or the state to uh to take that spot right so I I think we should look at you know if that's an issue then that's a a separate issue that we're probably not going to solve here right and I'm not sure what we can do with policies for that and I just don't like the idea of suggesting that parents don't have the final save and and there can

106certainly be collaboration and suggestions uh in input but ultimately parents should have a final statement well I guess what I'm saying is when it comes to controversial issues and what their child is exposed to in the classroom you know they should be in the know on that all right that's what we should say that we shouldn't say they have absolute authority to make decisions very upon their child's education I mean all I'm saying is honestly it's not for like 40 years wait a second okay we need to let everybody get their points out before everyone goes against okay yeah so again my thought is we need to be mindful of them and just ultimately I think it's going to be very difficult to convince the community that the parents rights are going to be equal

107to or or less than what the the school thinks okay come on can I is it my turn now no I just wanted to clarify one of the things that's been missing in our school district is is really um uh uh defined and guaranteed and viable curriculum that the board has adopted okay and that's much what we're talking about and you've also by the controversial policy have identified that in proper context of certain curriculums this controversial issue is you know could even be something that's beneficial to discuss but when you have something at least find and again remember uh what we're doing here is we're going through and identifying what curriculum is missing so that we get those curriculums posted and then those and the materials that go with it and that stuff is even

108available on the website so all can see it uh and and also this policy is not at all uh intended to uh do anything other than what the wall requires of us also you know so it's within those parameters but I I think sometimes by having a Clarity of what are what our agreed upon curriculum is uh will solve a lot uh you know in terms of and then then it provides opportunities that it is controversial and parents obviously you can see I don't you know they could opt out of something please okay um I wanted to say uh just a couple one of the things is that when I look on here the the idea that first of all number five all students deserve to feel welcome at school regardless of religious release rape

109race ethnicity or sexual orientation so I don't see where having this administrative guideline specifically saying that um would have people not feel welcome at school kids don't feel welcome at our school all the time for lots of reasons um I just talked to a student the other day that has dropped out and Gone full virtual because the amount of bullying that has happened to him so no no student um should be treated uh in a manner that some of the public came and talked about any student for any reason and part of the problem is we have created a culture where we do not um have reprimanding students for the amount of bullying that we're doing regardless of the policies we set they're not being enforced and I think that this says that I I

110expect personally if this goes through that Jim mandates to his team and administrative team that it stops teachers that have sexual orientation are bullied and have left here by being called things because of their sexual orientation so I have a I have a huge problem with any kid that is treated poorly in our school system and it's happening now and it's happened for the existence of Education so that's one thing I want to say so if we specifically say here that that's what I expect this guideline to do um I also number eight consideration of controversial issues has a place in the instructional program of the district when related to instructional goals of the course of study and when introduced and conducted properly the aid the content is age-appropriate and is without bias or intent

111to otherwise cause harm or disruption the fact of our policy controversial issue policy says number eight it says specifically that that if a teacher wanted to bring in Flat Earth if they could as long as they're also talking about round earth so there's no reason why you can't bring I will I will talk about one student ask me to help with an assignment that they had and I still haven't had a chance to talk to him but um Mr saraki at Lincoln he teaches history he had a his project was he gave them a list of controversial topics one which is abortion they had four now a lot of people oh my gosh I mean College divisive in this country is abortion anyone want to argue that correct quite okay so Mr saraki for the

112past however many years has been running this assignment so for students two kids take the position of pro-abortion and two against now has Mr saraki that anyone know of been disciplined fired no I think he had a long career here and I I applaud Mr saraki for having an assignment like that where what Biff said right every controversial issue that is out there is for students to debate and discuss in a collegial manner and that is what we are asking the controversial issues policy to do is just that it doesn't say we will not talk about any controversial issue but number one it needs to be relevant to our curriculum and and let's look at our science curriculum for the last 25 years we haven't looked at our science curriculum to the point where we

113had to quick do it because no one's looked at it so we don't even know what's in there second of all would it surprise you that in our elementary schools in the science Arena at some Elementary's teachers don't even teach it you know why because we don't have a curriculum so so there's a lot of things that we can be outraged about about our curriculum if you want to go there but it is not controversial issues and I will say it again nothing in our policy says that we will not talk about controversial issues and this is right it's not about indoctrination and I don't think that our teachers have overtly been indoctrinating our teacher or our students I certainly wasn't but what we did in our policy was to say there are two sides

114to a story and we want those both presented and I think that that's fair and that's what we want our we don't want to give them what to do we want them to look at both sides and and that's all we've that's all we've ever asked so I don't have a problem with that um and the other thing we talk about here these rights include curriculum appropriateness and transparency parents should expect their child to be appropriately challenged and supported we get a lot of times people parents saying I have no idea what my child is being taught so we're gonna have an actual uh database where you can go and click of button and you're going to know exactly the topics exactly the assignments it's going to be more transparent than Manitowoc has ever seen

115and I've seen a demo of it and it's going to be created we are going to rotate and look at our curriculum and parents will be able to look at that curriculum and say I want to opt my child out so again I don't see anything oh I guess the last thing I would say about student privacy and safety you know you know someone talked about safe spaces if every single room in our school is in a safe place then there's something wrong with our district there is no teacher that should not be providing a safe safe for our students regardless of what they believe and and so again that is something that in my opinion is not changing by this policy but saying that we respect all students um there's another one on here

116or or maybe somebody asked about it are am I going to be able to go to a teacher and talk about my sexual orientation if a student comes up to them and says that of course they're going to do that they're also going to talk about rape they're going to talk about drug use they're going to talk about a lot of things but it is not the school's job or a teacher's job to take that on themselves that is why we have community outreach that is why we have school counselors we have how many people dedicated in our district just for discipline alone we have a mental health coordinator a safety coordinator all that is there when you say kids don't have a stable home you know what we do we feed them we provide

117lunches in the summer we provide food when a kid comes with dirty clothes and the student feels bad you know we have a whole room and our nurses go and they provide them with clothing so to say that we aren't doing anything for kids that have a stable don't have a stable home is ludicrous and everything in this policy assured that our district and our administrators know exactly how we feel what about the bathrooms that's all I understand I couldn't agree more with everything you said I couldn't agree more with everything you've said I feel just only misunderstood in the issue that I broke out I brought up and I noticed that you you know you looked at me a lot when you were when you were when you're when you were making a presentation

118as if I was in disagreement with any any of any of the points you were making I mean I think you know the specifics that you refer to like all students deserve to feel welcome in school or separate couldn't agree more you know uh the the the statement on consideration of controversial issues number eight couldn't agree more okay I was even the one that that's that when we adopted the the policy I I agree wholeheartedly the teachers shouldn't put their fingers their thumbs on the scales and and personally declare what their opinions are I mean I think that you know so the only thing is is I want us this policy statement to say what is what it's about and it's not about parents being the the primary role the primary decision makers it's about

119controversial issues that's what the topic sends number one should be it shouldn't be anything about you know the absolute power of of of of of parents this should be about you know the proper the proper relationship of of of you know parents and and school regarding controversial issues that's what it should be about it shouldn't be an absolute statement about you know you know parents being being you know lifelong models that has nothing to do with this so I I was just suggesting an editorial change to change the focus so that everything else down the line is consistent with the opening statement that's called like topic sentence you know and consistency yeah so I think we should get out of this get out of the debate about what what Authority parents have and what they

120don't have this is not about this is not about Authority this is about how we manage how we deal with the relationship you know our our you know the way we deal with controversial issues and and whatever role parents have in that can be clearly stated among the among the things you know among the states so thank you that's that's it anyone else Phil I agree with much of what you said and one of the things that came up tonight there are stickers I think I have mine on my drawer when I was at Lincoln uh same place for all you are absolutely right that school should be a safe place but sometimes the student has to read then it's okay if I go to that person for that teacher because not all the teachers

121are the same and not all the teachers interact with kids the same but if they see something they know that's a good place to go you just it's a it's a validation that hey I need to talk to Dr traps because something came up so those kind of things is is we got to go back and remember what we were like at high school or junior high or even even grade school that sometimes when I start reading policies like this I worry that teachers aren't going to be open to help when somebody comes up okay that they will go I don't know if I want to go there because I was told not to ask questions or I'm just glad that nickname thing of it in here because I would have had the wrong name

122all through school but but I we have to design this so the students and the teachers will still feel safe if somebody asks a question and not go I'm not gonna do that because I don't want to get in trouble you know and and I think that's what happened you're right that could provide a lot of services for kids that don't have parents we aren't scratching the surface okay there's a church in town that lets people sleep in their basement because they have no place to go and and you're going to be 18 to go there but I remember being an AP and there were kids they would just hop from bed to bed to bed because they had no home to go to and there was no social services that said hey you can

123stay here so we have to be we have to realize there's kids like that that aren't going to have the Mr Spaulding to go home you no that's going to give them a hug at night we got to realize that that this this can be said a different way parents parents have the right that you know my three kids those are my kids they have that right but again it's it's it's a partnership hey come on in and talk to us I love the idea the curriculum online good parents in the past did that without internet just to get more people the opportunity to do that I love that I just think we could rework this to make it said in a different tone yeah I uh I agree with the safe space for all

124honestly I would propose that we put this that various thing you're talking about I'm in front of all of our schools it'll have to be honest the teachers because like Stacy said he and her school should be the same space and then when you're talking about uh where children are sleeping at night and things like that I think we're we're mixing up two of these boards that you're on because that's the city council issue I mean we can't as a school district control certain one of those things um like Matthew had mentioned earlier you know people if the child doesn't have parents or if they become emancipated and they're in charge of Their Own lives at that time I can understand but you may not think that that person is a good parent yeah not

125really I don't think they're very good but it does not matter they are the parents and they are in control of what does what they do it does not matter when you think they're good parent or not I know you're looking at me funny like that but the fact remains is if that's their parent whether you approve of the way they prepare it or not it's not the school's decision to have any make any decisions about that so I mean I mean it seems funny to you because they're minors what are we you know there's a lot of documents attached here and I noticed that yeah attorney threw up as there's some parts that are missing can we speak to that a little bit sure so you're so in in board book there is um

126The Memo from Jim and then there is the current comfortable issues um I'm sorry there's the control controversial issues in the classroom Administration guidelines that Jim uh originally sent us then there is use the time on title that it would be four o'clock so 439 right right so then um we got back today the legal edit from uh the attorney that was at uh today at 4 43 so that is the one that is in front of you and then be the attachments are going to additionally just the time is it's how I uploaded them I won one first yeah but the final that we were looking at is the one at 439 correct with the legal audit yeah okay I didn't see that yes and then um that's the yes that has it all

127so you're right this one in front of you doesn't have every page and then the final thing on there's the actual policy right so we would be we would be voting on voting weekly voting on the guidelines with the league yes I know I don't know if you have any other yeah okay I just want to clarify which one was going to be on there you know just looking at the administrative guidelines you know I feel we might want to consider and I'm going to want this back to the administrative team on it but the section on student personal and gender identity yep we may want to consider a separate policies for that absolutely yeah that's got nothing to do with controversial issues well well it is well it is a controversial issue but it

128doesn't have anything well I'm just I I think the administrative guideline is not policy right so there's a policy correct and then then there's an administrative guideline correct so the administrative guideline the way I understand it is I'm just saying legally and again we might need to talk to an attorney I'm sure it had a policy that states we may need a an actual policy that addresses that and then again you know I realize there's strong opinions on uh of various sides of this issue but you know in public input tonight we heard about what happened in Psalm 3. and I think all of us would like to avoid that from Anthony yes right we're we have a biological meal and there's there's women in them right there's little girls so I I think you

129know let me finish please yeah my point is that I think a lack of good football seed can result in situations like that and that's not me making things up that actually happened absolutely and it's just a few hours from here so I think you know these are things that we need to address and you know content-wise I agree with everything out here I agree with parents being notified of the pronoun issue I I don't think there's any way that we can Advocate to hide things from parents when it comes to that so I really like the language in there I just wanted we may want to explore a separate policy on that and I'll contact you guys to figure out the best way of structures anyone else um well but if anyone else that

130hasn't talked a second time is what I'm looking for everyone okay I agree with Tony I mean I think we should I think we should cut this off after deeply held Family Values and and and have a separate policy for everything below that and that should be because that is that these are controversial issues but the thing is is that the the this this this document here from you know from page one is halfway down three quarters of the way down to H2 deals with how the Manitowoc Public School System will deal with controversial issues how you know and that you know and the state the statement of of you know what's what's what the assumptions and expectations are about the dealing with controversial issues not about you know who's who's you know and then

131after that student personnel and gender identity I think that's a different that's a different thing that's not it's just like fishing you know and and Buffalos or something it's like it's not the same stuff it's apples and oranges I guess it's the normal way to say that so I just think that we you know I think this everything from student Personnel gender identity on down deserves a separate discussion that is you know in a separate in a separate statement of policy and implementation okay you can have both okay I I uh would like to offer um a suggestion in reference to that um since this is an administrative guidelines and administrative guidelines can um be for many policies which I think you've identified that uh I think this would cover many policies that we have

132um or don't have um but I I think that um what I would propose is voting on the administrative guidelines um and then have our Administration um identify the policies that we do have that make a reference to these guidelines and then um put forth any other ones if we don't have them um at this time because I think that um the I don't think the guidelines in my opinion wouldn't change um I think that they probably help craft the uh policies so so when we approve these they become a policy correct so guidelines no this is this these are just guidelines it doesn't have to be the superintendent but but Jim Jim brought it Forward because he because he wanted it he voted on so that's why um there's a motion in a second

133to adopt the guidelines so we couldn't send it to the court policy the um many of the whole discuss and try to work that out before we vote on a finished product yeah why couldn't we do that we could possibility I I just I mean personally I don't think that it's going to to change well I I just say if you're gonna if you're gonna do this so this was given to us okay there has been a good discussion about it and and if we're going to adopt it I think it should reflect some of that discussion we have rather than just taking this and that's why I'm saying if we sent it to the committee of the whole which is a discussion group and sit down with Jim go and go through this I

134just feel more comfortable with that rather than just adopting it and looking at it let's go see it oh I'd like to vote on it right now this is kind of I said beating down so I will take my opportunity the emotion was already made a second all I can do is call the question we're not going to do that right now we discussed it well there was a there's a motion and a second to um to adopt the administrative guidelines and mine really wasn't I really didn't make anything different except that I that the administrative guidelines will need to be reflected in lots of different policies um so it's not just unique to um the confidence through issues in the classroom and if there's Grandma if there's grammar errors it's under the purview the

135superintendent in our policies to make the corrections if there's needed to be Corrections on a grammar side that's already in our so that's not pertinent to this discussion how do the guidelines work is there like first read secondary no no this is this is technically a superintendent files if I can clarify it even says adopt your policy uh there's policy in there for administrative guidelines that policy on policy it requires you know a first and a second rate uh yeah there could be emergency situations where you could actually vote on the administrative guidelines or the preview of the superintendent but the superintendent can also ask for your approval and I did hear just because I thought it was significant enough to make sure we are on the same page okay and the motion is up

136to to approve or adopt the drafts admin guideline board board of education policy this one that we're looking at he seconded it more questionable right and I would um I I would support the votes um with the with the directive or just I should say the understanding to Jim and his administrative team that um we want to see how each of these are going to coincide with um existing policy that we already have and also um any new policies that we might have to adopt that those will be discussed and formally I I totally agree you know this is an issue that that's been very challenging to navigate through uh yeah and that's why I wanted to bring this to your attention and I appreciate the The Exchange that we've had already you know today

137great for any further discussion yeah I'd like to I'd like to say I I you know I think we should vote against this number one I don't think so I don't think that the final draft is in good enough shape to adapt undock it as is I mean there there's stuff like you know that that needs to be inserted needs to be clarified and secondly I think that the superintendent is making policy for the board on student personnel and gender identity stuff and on you know pronoun stuff and on bathroom stuff that you know we have to have a say about that in terms of a policy what do you like about the bathroom stuff I didn't say I didn't like at all about it I just said it you know I just don't think

138that I just don't think that the superintendent has the authority to make that policy he's not making a policy these are these are guidelines either students or staff this is this this has to do with you know the the whole the whole content the content of of of of of of the of the Manitowoc Public School System in terms of these issues I mean these are not just guidelines these are like Declarations of of policy and I and I think that I think that we shouldn't vote on I think we should vote no on the on the policy take up what Biff said and then have it have a further discussion here where we can refine and we're in confined to refine things that need to be defined and to to I think you know

139exert our responsibility in terms of dealing with the issues of gender identity Etc I would like to I'm gonna amend I'd like to amend the uh current motion on the floor to say that we would um that we would approve the administrative guidelines as is um and they will uh with specific to the um I have to grab this other page here because I want to say it correctly um where it starts on page four so student personal and gender identity that um we would adopt the guidelines but that the um superintendent would not act on these until a policy is set in place that says uh reflects what the guidelines do the lessons it's my motion I don't want to admend it and the reason being is because it's still a guideline and if

140he puts a guideline in fact I expect him to back it up now I do believe that we should develop a policy that includes that but I could take the next couple months and it's all summer vacation anyway right now I guess to my birthday my personal opinion we should work on that and get it going right away but the motion that it's been motion and seconded to approve this guidelines and again it's a customer so without a second that motion fails um so we have the original motion on the um floor paint no further discussion um all those in favor vote I I any opposed no okay all right motion carries Shane okay um the next item is just uh remarks um I just did anybody plan on attending the events is anybody um

141one does anybody um plan on going to the leadership conference in July well thanks all right and then um future meeting dates so our next meeting is June 27th um at 6 PM um but I would need to be virtual for that meeting which is fine um I just didn't know what does what everyone wants to be virtual it's easier to hear if not um we'll just do as we usually do and I will just remote in I like being in person I'm sorry no perfectly fine okay 40 seconds this is 27th June 27th at 6 00 pm I'll be virtual that night okay [Music] um it's probably going to um we might have some hires and things that we need to have I can't imagine right and the donations um so um so next

142meeting June 27th at 6 and then um there are a lot of vacations and stuff in that first two weeks of July with Administration so um there will not be a first meeting of July we will not have that first meeting um but we will meet um July 25th um at 6 pm will we have public input on July 25th if you like it so the next thing so that would be at 6 p.m that would be um our only meeting that we would have um in the month and then we requests and we request a public input so that'll be on July 25th at 6th and then um August 8th so that's our first meeting um um Administration and we're going to try to keep the agenda short business meeting um but we'd like

143that to be uh probably calling the strategic planning session um uh to look at kind of the things that we talked about with Mike we're going to look at a lot of the data that we have we're going to be setting some goals for the school year we're going to sit down with the administrative team um giving a report on you know where we're going uh for the school year I'd like to change that to five o'clock if everyone is okay with that because I think that's going to be a a longer meeting yeah so we could start that at five o'clock um so we'll you know we'll try to keep our um business meeting short and then go right into that um the other thing I wanted to say was this June 27th um

144meeting um that I will bring um some information we talked about having our uh Committee of the whole um talking about our governance model um so I will also bring some information on that that we can talk about at that time okay so I believe those are all the meetings that we have coming up um okay so um the next item is we do need to go into closed session on the board of education will vote to convenient closed session for the purpose of considering the following matter considering the employment promotion compensation of performance evaluation data of any Public Employee over which the governmental body has jurisdiction or exercises responsibility this meeting is authorized pursuant to section 19.85 subsection 1C of the Wisconsin statutes um we will be covering the superintendent evaluation progress rules and

145objectives and the superintendent contract uh and we do need a person a second to go into closed session and Publix and we do need a roll call vote to move into closed session thank you handsome yes yes Stacy selner yes Matthew Spaulding yes yes okay um we are now in closed session and could we um can I have a motion a second to have just a brief recess options second all in favor 1971-61.72. yeah he was one of the last classes who was the who is one of the last ones Steve when McKinley was in an elementary school Brady are we ready we're on okay so we do need to um vote to come um out of closed session does that need to be a roll call vote Lori uh no not to come okay

146all right so um Spaulding made an emotion do we have a second to come out to close okay it is uh 9 41 we are back in we have to say yes or no oh that's right all in favor say aye thank you any opposed any discussion okay good all right so um we have one item that we want to bring out a closed session and that would be to um uh uh do we have a motion in a second to um offer any type of uh raise for our superintendent unfortunately given the same point out for something to use okay I'll second okay all right um any discussion about that okay and um so all in favor say aye aye any opposed okay motion carries good and um do uh do I have emotion

147that is all our agenda that we would have for tonight and I um you know clarification with a contract are you extending it we are going to wait till January what do we normally would yeah that's what we normally do it so right now so once my contract go through 2024 June 30th of 2024 sure yeah yes well we're required to let you know about the extension in January and that's what we've decided to do okay all right um okay so any other um anything that needs to come before the board otherwise I'd look for emotional to adjourn okay all right all in favor thank you and seconded by Biff okay all right so that's all we got um right but we have until