##VIDEO ID:7mEaYudYFEg## this meeting is a meeting of the Board of Education and public for the purpose of conducting the school district's business and is not to be considered a public community meeting this meeting is an in-person meeting held at 870 coldax here in Benton Harbor in addition a live stream of this meeting is available at the noted link questions may be submitted beforehand to natalie. singer at bhas.org or presented in person during the public comment section as indicated in the agenda board members may be contacted through the emails listed below requests for special assistance including for persons with disabilities may be sent to natalie. singer bh.org I call this meeting to order officially at 6:08 p.m. we'll Begin by reciting the Pledge of Allegiance of the United States of America and to the repic for it stands one nation God indivis andice secretary trip can please call the RO president Robinson present vice president Bowen present secretary triplet present truste me Treasurer Bradley trustee rocket Martin trustee Gavin truste Doyle Madame President quum has been established all right awesome we have an a quorum established next we have approval of the agenda is there a motion to approve the agenda Madame President you have the floor I make a motion that we approve the agenda as is is there a second or support second the motion has been made by vice president Bowen and supported by trusty Gavin questions comments concerns I do anticipate we should be able to get out of here by 8:00 today um we've already had our work sessions we should actually be out sooner but that's definitely the goal secretary triplet can you please call the role president Robinson yes vice president Bowen yes secretary triplet yes trustee rocket Martin yes truste Gavin yes motion carried awesome next is the review of our board Norms the Board of Education norms for Benton Harbor areas schools we will treat each other with respect we will listen to learn we will refrain from side conversations we will use our time wisely starting and ending our meetings on time we will challenge ideas not people we will ask questions when in doubt there will be no surprises at the board table we will practice the seven Norms of collaboration those are pausing paraphrasing posing questions putting ideas on the table providing data paying attention to self and others and presuming positive intention next we have public comment on agenda items is there anyone one present for a comment on an agenda item hearing none will proceed next on the agenda is approval of the me meeting minutes tonight we'll be approving work session 1126 2024 regular session 1210 2024 work session 1217 2024 is there a motion to approve so move there was hold on that was a question you you did say 12 uh so 11:26 1210 and 1217 all right the motion has been made by truste rocket Martin um is there a second or support support the motion has been made by rocket Martin and supported by secretary triplet any questions comments and concerns hearing none secretary triplet president Robinson yes vice president Bowen yes secretary triplet yes truste rocket Martin yes truste Gavin yes motion Carri all right reminder as of 9:13 2022 all comments will be limited to two minutes per trusty per topic our first item of business for board business is our committee assignments to 2025 this was previously emailed out to everyone however to make it official I just wanted to review it at the board table so as a reminder we previously took a vote that um adjusted our committees at this time our 2025 board committee assignments we have facilities and finance operations that is Treasurer Bradley trusty rockat Martin and secretary triplet we have curriculum and student Support Services emerged that is truste Gavin myself and truste Rocket Martin policy and discipline which meets as needed is treasure Bradley trusty Doyle and myself and then human resources committee is vice president bour secretary triplet and truste Doyle now as a reminder this is committees as it stands with the adjustments that we made we do have our committee training next week Tuesday we'll be working on committees as well as learning more about Committee of the whole I did email you all and ask if there's any questions that you have about committee work or Committee of the whole if you could send it to me today um so far received questions from trusty rocket Martin those have been forwarded just want to make sure questions that we have are actually embedded in the training so trusty Gavin president Robinson I did send mine you sent some okay you sent it today okay so I haven't seen it okay so I'll include yours if there's anybody I at least want to get them to her tomorrow because she does have to do the training Tuesday and then that way she'll know exactly what we need answered at the table so if you have anything pressing or something you want to better understand just let me know um if if there's a question that you know you have off top now that you want to give me or if you think about it at some point in the meeting you can write it down and pass it to me that's perfectly fine as well um so that's that and then next we have the masb diamond anniversary giveback I'm gonna um actually pass that to Dr buts were you giving us this information or did you want me to go over it was it more so information for us it was more I'm sorry M president it was more so information for you okay so Dr bus just wanted to ensure that the board um was aware that masb currently has a diamond anniversary member GI B MB is excited to celebrate turning 75 they want their members to be able to share in the celebration which is why they are giving $750 worth of specific event registrations or services for the coming year only select Services listed below are eligible for these funds we hope they hope to see us soon so this is just an idea of the types of trainings that we can utilize um and take you of the actual credit that they've provided so if you all can kind of take a look over those things um these might be trainings that we can do together it might be individual trainings that you would like to take yourself but we may be able to utilize this $750 worth of give back funds towards our required um board training so he just wanted to ensure that we shared that with you all um and if there's no questions about that we'll proceed um up next I'll pass the floor to Dr buts he is going to discuss school board recognition month Dr buts thank you madam president in front of each of you you should receive a a small token of appreciation for your diligent work on this board I want to say that I thank you for your work and collaboration as we've done some extraordinary work over the past year um again we've we may not all have agreed but we've all moved forward in a collegial manner and I just want to show my small token of appreciation and thanks for all that you do and and to know that your your your effort your work and your uh your time your dedicated time to this board which you're not paid for so your volunteer time if I I like to say is really it's it's not has not gone unnoticed and I want to just say thank you and you're much appreciated well thank you kind sir and I can't wait to see what's in my but for the sake of the noise I wait to ramble in it okay and I also want to take this time as well as a as a moment of silence and condolences to Mr triplet and his family Mr triplet has also a family member and I want to say that you have our sincere condolences Mr tripet all right up next we have the partnership agreement update I anticipate if I'm not mistaken Dr bus you're going to give us our update um we're going to present our update to the public in our February regular board meeting yes ma'am so we have not gotten the official um partnership agreement update from The 18mth Benchmark Review I am awaiting that Benchmark Review as soon as I get it I will share it with the board first prior to the public release get your feedback as we uh prepare our public release and then we we will have it ready for the February meeting and just so that the board um the full board is aware we did discuss pre previously having a conversation with um mde specific to the partnership agreement myself secretary triplet and truste Gavin did have an opportunity to have that conversation um on a call we kind of went over some of the status our status as a district um informally and so we are anticipating the results we'll be sharing that in February there is some great news and there's some work to be done so we look forward to sharing that with the community um in our next regular board meeting did you have anything else that you wanted to add to that sir I I think you did a great job Madam president all right next up your strategic Plan update yes ma'am and I know that you have been very adamant at as far as making sure that we give a strategic Plan update I will be updating the Strategic plan to include the 21st Cent Ed um adoption they have um embedded all of their activities within the Strategic plan to meet each to set each uh Benchmark so um I want to in update that to match our strategic plan so that also will be ready for February can you repeat that part again say updated something to match Benchmark so with their with with them coming in and collaborating they've included how that they how that we how we can help um achieve our benchmarks okay on the Strategic plan any questions from the table trusty Gavin just brief um say you will be so is that also so something we'll be seeing in February yes ma'am okay and you were the organization you're talking about is that the which organization did you say was one first sent the one that came and did the AI update oh yes ma'am thank you and when are you are you discussing this later or here are you gonna do this in teaching and learning teaching learning okay any other questions from the board all right hearing none we have the Martin Luther King Jr Elementary report and I am proud to welcome our principal Miss M Shannon raet to the mic you have the floor welcome you didn't even have to wait an hour to speak today I truly counted a blessing uh I'm a Shannon rocket I'm the principal for Martin Luther King Junior Elementary our first second and third grade building in Benton Harbor area schools and and I am so glad to um present before the board today or won't be before you long I'd like to say that we have a staff of about 32 um individuals and this includes our core teachers our special education teachers resource our support staff and our office staff um we have uh over 250 families as well as our Partnerships and what we do with our Partnerships is we utilize and collabor at with them to work in engaging our families as well as our students and as you can see we have again over 15 Partnerships that are actively working within our school and some capacity everything from basic needs to academic support to our PBIS reward systems to our um individuals with P public safety we are looking at uh ensuring that the whole family is addressed has interventions and resources for everything they could possibly need can I just ask you a quick question yes ma'am I'm not familiar with our house that's the only entity so our house is a Hispanic um community resource that is located off of Main Street and so they provide similar to what six degrees and Mosaic does home um education tutoring Services home home assistance um food pantry um clothing options all of those things are encapsulated with them thank you and as you see we are making great strides at MLK we are meeting our benchmarks and we are we are moving forward um and at Dr but's um next um presentation regarding this you will see that we have met what we needed to in all of our categories at MLK yes yes and can we clap a little bit louder to that and and the thing is I want you to clap an Applause for the staff that weren't here AR here today because truly I stand on their shoulders I'm I'm just at this point yes I help leave them but they put in the work with our students and our families and our children themselves especially our students they did the work and our staff was there to help support them and I was there to help support the staff so it truly is a team effort to make sure that our students are making those strides to being on grade level uh within that those strides are our curriculum we have our Ela it's our reading Mastery Transformations and that is was adopted this year our math and vision uh that was also here our diverse classroom libraries and that you will see a lot more information regarding coming that way we are looking forward to in um just going the Leaps and Bounds with that because our DCL libraries have been very instrumental in out in allowing our students the opportunity to see themselves and mirrors and seeing them other cultures and windows through the books that they have in their classroom classrooms so these libraries are held in every one of the classrooms and then our Arts and Science our Arts and Science depart depart I I got to say we we are rocking it we have our not only our our um physical education but we also have our our stem program as well as our art program as well as our music program and with our music program we work in collaboration with threads of Hope to do Productions we're not just having the students sing but we're looking to make sure that they can act do and use their voice in every way possible to tap into their social emotional competencies and then also be able to demonstrate that for their families and in a public setting we want to make sure that every Star that we have gets polished to shine the brightest that they can be as you will see because we will send out our Christmas production that we did I just got the edited film back from Miss Bonita Mitchell with that and it was it's phenomenal it really is costumes and all and another piece of our um academic intervention is our multidisciplinary team and with this approach we are looking at changing the way that we do our systems of our multi systems of support approach different so that tier level of support has changed and that we are intentional and making sure that every level from tier one toer tier three is getting that purposeful academic intervention for the students based on the needs that they have according to their assessment scores and one of the things that we use to do that is not only NWA and it's not only as web but we're also utilizing the reading Mastery transformation assessments to ensure that students are identified early and are worked with on a daily basis not just weekly but every day every child is receiving their tiger time intervention and every day those students who need additional tier three support are getting those pullouts multiple times throughout the day to get that extra support so that again we're pushing them at the rate that they're able to sustain with rigor not with frustration to being on grade level and so again with that we have a very comprehensive academic intervention team that includes a multi-disciplinary um coordinator who also Acts as an academic interventionist but this is US Weekly monitoring and progress monitoring our data the students progress how much what is the intensity of their intervention what is their um prescription that is being delivered to them what is the um how engaged are they that's even tracked how engaged is the student in the actual moment that they're doing their reading Mastery signature program and so we track that daily and then review it weekly so that we are making on the spot decisions instead of waiting till the end of the markting period we're not waiting till the end of two three four weeks five weeks six weeks seven weeks we're doing this on a weekly basis to make sure that we are giving the students what they need how they need it at that time I have a quick question for you um so the students that are getting that support is it every student or the students that have shown they need support in certain areas the student students who have shown they need support in certain areas so with that tier level that is our tier three approach okay so for those students that are identified we it's immediate grounds on the uh it is Wheels on the ground in August they start immediately then and they're working with them and then the second question that I have is who who in the building is responsible for maintaining the data like the you're saying you guys keep consistent data who's whose role is that to Doc our MDT coordinator Miss Ashley Williams she's responsible for tracking that but all of the teachers so both of our resource teachers and our two academic interventions are also responsible for making sure that the students that they're working with that information is uploaded and then it's reviewed every week and we work with Melissa and Tay from the um my my my TSS Center so we work with them closely again it is a weekly meeting myself is included we have central office staff that is there as well because again we also look at the academic but then we also address any Behavior barriers that may come in and that includes attendance as well yes sir I when I look at this and look at the from a from an academic perspective and I know that we spend loads and loads of time um is tier three the lowest yes okay we spend uh principal after principal person after person comes in and talk about all of the things that we're doing for tier three my concern is tier two and tier one is even though students are not being successful on the state examination and so to me what do you have what have you all done you have to answer tonight but I would like to know Direction I be coming from is to strengthen and to uh uh address the gaps that these students who have proven to you all time after time again according to the data that they have the academic Foundation to do the grade level work and so a large group of students you know are in this tier three but up here at the top they're not being successful on the state examination what are you all doing as it relates to grade line I mean grade level what are you all doing as it relates to rigor what information do you have as it relates to the data that uh what what Gap analysis do you have to see why they're not being successful not just on the state examination but why they're not being successful academically because we have report cards with all A's and B's and then we have 1% 2% and we know we discussed it we are very very proud not to take away from the fact that um this is one of our schools that everybody met that did a phenomenal job as a relate well we also feel that we're lowballing and just because we set that standard uh we set that 1% because that would give us an opportunity to make it but we should see tens and 20% because it's it's still a very low percentage of our students who are be who are proficient so I guess I'll wrap it up and and do it like this the students who have shown at level tier one and tier two what are you all doing what as it relates to rigor as it relates to um looking at why they have not been successful on the state examination so I would like for you to take look look at that and be able to come back and give us some information on that well I can give you some information as far as our tier two and tier one because that's our tiger time and that's a daily intervention where all of our students are broken into their abilities and they are worked with for no less than 30 minutes on their skills and these are fluid groups So based on the skill developments and our as web progress monitoring and our NWA and our our consistent progress monitoring we move the students as they need to into those with those teachers and the thing is this all of our staff work on so we are related arts teachers work in collaboration with our core teachers work in collaboration with our academic intervention teachers so that every student is getting intervention every day so this and I'll close with this the the information um just from past experience from from teaching and what do you have your our students struggle with application the actual application what do we have in place that even do our teachers aware of how the state examination looks have we um developed and created some formative assessments that are in alignment with even the structure of how the test looks so they can know when they're writing the paper that they have to write something if it does not have a line on it what me you know just what type of things are we doing because for them because they have proven according to all of the data that you have part of the the intervention that you have but they're still not being successful and so that was something that's something that what are you all doing as it relates to application because we teach these things in isolation but the application pie but thank you so much you're welcome all right go trusty Gavin thank you so much for this um detailed and exciting presentation it I'm really excited that they're able to maximize that tiger time I'm not sure I'm I'm totally not sure I know that you work with a younger group does your age group work with Zillow at all or is that more Middle School Z no zel is more middle school so our students are first second and third I think zel comes in around sixth grade okay so yeah that comes in that way my question is because I'm I hope I I believe and I hope trusty Gavin they can't hear you can you speak a little bit can you hear me now is it okay so I asked that question because I believe that Zillow does like a learning style test um and I know that our kids our students have different learning styles kinesthetic Audio Visual and it's so important for them to know for them to know their parents to know what that learning style is and for also the staff to know how to interact with them um according to their learning style do we do anything at that age level to test their learning style and to provide that input um to them their families and to the staff yet you're talking about an inventory learning inventory yes like so they would know if they are a audio auditory learner a kinesthetic learner a visual learner that has a a big impact in terms of how they're able to take in that information and comprehend it I know some of our our teachers have seen that have done that done an inventory I've seen them actually use that at the beginning of their um of the year uh now as far as everyone when I go into to monitor I see different lessons done at different times but I have seen teachers use those learning inventories to say okay I know who you are I know the best way to teach you and again it one of the fundamental um habits that we have as teachers is we teach how we were taught right versus what is the best learning style for our students and so that is something that again with training and continued professional development we make sure that our teachers also are learning every day to refine and hone their practices it is not something that is going to happen and it's not a one-time thing again our staff at MLK is about ensuring that they are constantly understanding what is the best practices and then applying them and then again practicing practicing practicing to make permanent those applications that are going to help the students perform better in the classroom and on those State assessments now for us at MLK I'll be honest I feel a little lucky that we only have our third graders who do state assessment and that gives us our first graders and second graders time to work with them to make sure that hey this is what you need to train your mind to think about when you are taking the test and so we do have applications and and our programs within our curriculum that actually places questions in such a way that it REM that is similar to what they would see on the mstep as third graders we also do extended day for our third graders second and third graders so we um intentionally make sure that during that time we are working on assessment practice how what questions are you going to see let's get a copy of the mstep test that is a lot you know available through mstep and MD e put it in front of them let's work on this let's work on your writing sample let's work on how you think about this problem let's work on how you write your response before you type your response so those things are actually happening in the classroom and after school and just to because I don't want to um um waste any more time we do have a couple of videos so that you can see I will say this the first video you're going to see is our students in application with the stem program and they are coding this is what our focus is on we're we are giving them the fund fundamental building blocks for programming by going through the coding process and this is every student at MLK so first second third it does not matter if they have an IEP if they don't have an IEP 504 they go through this program e yes it is something phenomenal when you have a first grader six-year-old who's showing you their animation that they created for themselves yeah that is something that they are very proud and and the thing is they're teaching me because you think about it when I came through school coding was a you know a different language but it's becoming second language for them and the second video we have is um I got to say it was a a blessing and I felt it as an honor to have um Martin Luther King Jr the thir Martin Luther King III come through and talk and interact with our students this was a legacy moment it was an awesome moment that our students I don't know if as young as they are if they really um appreciate the impact that they have but I will say this I know our staff did and this is what we were able to experience I m e e e e just one antidote I I kid you not we found out that we had the opportunity for um Martin l 1 the thiri to come by like at the last minute it was like literally the day before and then the day of it was like he's going to come by are you was like everybody is going to come outside and we were expecting him to just drive past and wave he made it a point to get out and interact with our students and so I I I really felt app I I really appreciated the fact that he wanted to connect with our students and they have this experience no one else can say that they met the son of the name of their school so that's an awesome thing I got one last thing and then I can take your question one of the Foster grandparents that you saw Miss Mary rson she's one of our foster grandparents and I would be remiss if I did not give her this praise and Accolade but she has been nominated by the to be the representative for foster grandparents for the state of Michigan yes so we are waiting to hear if she has won that award and so if there's any way and I will um reach out to the area agency of Aging to find out if we have to vote or anything but anyway we can push that for her because she has dedicated decades to Bon Harbor area schools her family is still here with us she has come through and I kid you not she tells me all the time how her Legacy she's seeing it from to her great grandchildren her great great nieces and nephews coming through so um again I wanted to make sure that this board and a staff of Bon Harbor area school knew that we have uh a bit of an we have such greatness in our building and we have such greatness in our district that we want to continue to uplift that um I enjoy what you guys are doing um that moment with them being with Martin Luther King III um don't want to tell my age but no I'm sry um 2007 he came up to the high school and um it was the moment that will forever I forever live and I still got pictures of me with him and I was blessed with the opportunity to travel with him and got to meet Reverend Joseph lry so and it was with me and another student from bitton Harbor so those moments will forever be embedded in them um I personally have went to your family nights and I've seen the action um with your parents I've seen the engagement and you know I do my school tours and pop up and I have no complaints I enjoy the vibe and when you guys have something you guys make sure you reach out to me and I just want to say job well done thank you all right if there's no other comments or questions from the board I'll tell you thank you great job today all right so we're moving right along up next we have business and finance we're going to pass the floor to director Brock Carter she's going to begin with her monthly financials and then she'll present the MLK kitchen equipment you have the floor good evening everyone I will be presenting staff report F1 do do we need to review the report did everyone I think you did so in the work session I did you can so you can just present the staff report and then if there's any questions we can get them then all right so um monthly staff reports a set of financial reports is provided to the Board of Education each month this evening it is recommended that the November 2024 payments be approved for all of the district's funds policy reference 6470 payment of claim strategic plan goal reference facility operations vent Harbor area schools will develop Implement and evaluate a physically responsible plan that will ensure physical and psychological safety recommended action that the Board of Education approve the November 1st through November 30th payment for the following funds General funds 1,471 26428 Food Service fund $421,000 6975 sying fund $250 $1,149 180 Student Activity fund $2,359 for a total of 2,145 38283 all right is there a motion to approve staff report F1 Madame President I make a motion to approve staff report F1 is there a second or support yes I support the motion has been made by vice president bows and supported by trusty rocket Mar any questions comments or concerns from the board hearing none secretary triplet president Robinson yes vice president bow yes secretary triplet yes truste rocket Martin yes trusty Gavin yes motion carried up next we have staff report F2 staff report F2 is for our MLK kitchen equipment MLK is in need of a new Walkin walk-in refrigerator so the subject is the approval of walk-in cooler purchase reasoning for board consideration the Board of Education shall approve all purchases over facts and Analysis the Food Service fund ha has ex an excess fund balance that has to be expended extended for expenditure policy reference 6320 purchasing strategic plan reference facility SL operations Ben Harbor area schools will develop Implement and evaluate a fiscally responsible plan that will ensure physical and psychological safety recommended action that the Board of Education I mean that the Ben Harbor Area Schools Board of Education votes to approve the purchase of a walk-in cooler from Great Lakes West for $81,900 48 and this is coming from the Food Service fun all right is there a motion to approve staff report F2 make a motion to approve staff report F2 La can you say that a little bit louder oh I make a motion to approve staff report F2 is there a second or support support the motion has been made by trusty rat Martin and supported by secretary triplet questions comments and concerns from the board vice president bow um I I understand that we need to update the equipment and the purchasing the refrigerator I guess I'm we have a facilities mapping plan or asset plan are we putting the car like is it a extreme Le right now so I I'll open the floor up to Administration but my understanding um um director Brock Carter when you say we have fund balance that has been extended like we have to spend this this monies right now these monies currently yeah we we had it it was originally supposed to be spent by June 30th of 2024 we have gotten an extension to June 30th 2025 so um this cooler will the food the new furniture in the cafeterias was part of that spend down as well so with that spin down and this cooler we have we be completely have spent down our excess fund balance in our food service fund okay and then uh vice president Bowes was asking was this a current need for this for the school is something they need currently yes um the condition of um the walkin cooler at MLK is practically inoperable at this time and it will not um sustain another school year according to our director of food service so I I'm go ahead glad that it's said that we need it I guess my fear is in my understanding um I've seen it as being a taxpayer where we put and this is before you guys time but we build additions onto buildings we put new roofs on buildings we put air conditioners in the buildings and then we shut them down not saying that this is going to shut down but we have a facility assets plan coming and if they're saying oh you guys can shut this school down or we have to do some decisions moving the kids I don't want us to waste the MLK kitchen supplies other buildings with their food so you know I don't want to predict the future or you know say anything that might be incorrect but you know that kitchen has to function it still will be open if that building was shut okay thank you my question I guess is this a a builtin thing that can't be moved Dr buz yes so thank you madam president thank you uh director Brock Carter that freezer when they put it in it is a lock in uh freezer so when they when they put it together it's locked together so with the tools you can actually unlock and it can be it can be removed to it can't be removed to relocated excuse me any other questions from the board I I do uh we'll go secretary triplet and then trusty Gavin yeah I just you know for me what's very con concerning is that we have all of this money that should have been spent in a timely manner and I'm just concerned why it wasn't spent why it hasn't been kept up and I know you know I don't know how long we can continue to lay back on the fact that Transitions and all of this because this did not just happen this did just not occur and so if we have this additional money that should have been spent by June and we're keeping we we're we we have buildings and places and spots that are in not in great condition that we need to make sure that we meet this deadline so all of the money spent that was supposed to have been spent in June of 2024 for food services from this department that's correct so there's no more money to be spent no this walk-in cooler will exhaust all of our excess food service balance so a question is the appliances in the high school cafeteria are outdated they were actually recently updated through with the furniture purchase that we made prior to the furniture purchase we did um equipment um a lot of equipment in various buildings um because the balance was that large that we had enough and um the walkin cooler was not something that we did when we did the initial replacement of upgrading of equipment in our kitchens um so now that this walkin cooler has been discovered to need to be replaced the remaining funds that we have we want to use it for that a a question so we walk into our school with this remaining fund we walk into this High School all of the equipment in the high school is working and up to date if I may jump in and answer that you can uh so prior to um the exit of Miss of our previous Chief um Chief finance officer excuse me Chief finance officer and under treasur kraton what we did was we rfpd those um the equipment so the high school every school received new equipment so when when taher came in they did an assessment of the equipment and each building where they saw the need for the equipment to be replaced that was a uh purchase it was a million it was almost a million dollar purchase that that the board approved back then so we had we had over a million of excess fund so with the with the purchase of with that initial purchase of the equipment for each school building and then the furniture um and now the cooler so the cooler was one of the things that we were looking at in the beginning right um it was assessed at the time that possibly because we were entering the master facilities plan at the beginning stages so it was a possibility that the freezer could possibly last but uh as they when they came in they shifted a lot of the preparation over to MLK because of the um conditions of that kitchen is is in in great condition that Frieza has been in use a lot more and it's it has come to its expiration of his lifetime yeah well MLK has always basically been the Hub of food service many many meals and many things that come out of MLK go to other schools so I just wanted to make sure that we're not just we got this money and just making a a a decision without having had some full thought and it would be good to know and I know like you said we voted for these things and there things that we have voted for that then we come here we see that we're so far behind so hopefully you all we are trusting you all to make sure that everything that we have with all of this excess money that we had at all of our kitchen are update are updated all of the equipment in there is current and we won't have this problem later onong High School fairplane MLK wherever they cook that they have every that they need yes sir and thank you and we we have a few more uh upgrades and updates in the in the high school cafeteria after then we we are we are there okay thank you trusty Gavin thank you president Robinson um director Brock Carter okay so you said a couple things that kind of had me thinking um when you said that the this will Pro this will possibly service other buildings or this investment will service other buildings my question is when we're calculating our um per pupil student can you hear me yes when we're when we're calculating our um per pupil student dollars is that where the funding for um feeding them comes out of is it the like the 9,000 or much we get per student or is there a separate dollar amount that's coming it's separate um the I don't I don't want to say the wrong abbreviation for the fund uh but when it comes to food service and U meals it's separate than our per pupil money that we received in in state funding okay I'm thinking about our alternative school students do we receive funding for fee eating alternative school students well it goes by the number of meals that we serve so if if they are getting meals and are included in our meal count then yes and I I can't say 100% for sure I will have to check with our food service director um on our meal counts and to know how many of our Cape students are included um because I'm not sure so we can be receiving funding to feed our students at Cape yes okay are we feeding our students at Kate Dr bus thank you madam president so they do have they do have that opportunity if they come in we can feed them so they it's just it it depends on each family so they are eligible for a breakfast and a lunch um from our food service and we are reimbursed for that um at a at at a rate um it's it's a re we work on a reimbursement r on the food and nutrition side so the state of Michigan um has designated us as a title one school and being that um at as of now all of our students 100% receive uh free and uh free lunch free and what we call free and reduced lunch but it's actually free um lunch breakfast breakfast and lunch so they are eligible they just have to come and pick it up that's exactly what I thought because I also thought that the the state of Michigan did something such that so that every student will be eligible for free uh breakfast and lunch and so my question is what can we do because I know we're doing all these assessments of our buildings I I think our alternative student school students are not in that number are not being considered what can we do in our process to make sure that though that every one of those students also have an opportunity to take advantage of the um breakfast and lunch um servings how can is that something that we can put into action how can we make sure that that's happening for our kids moving forward and that's a great question so what I'm what I am doing is taking notes and one of the things that we can do in the immediacy is put it out on our district website and and and push it out through that way but I will do a followup with you with the entire board as to other iives we can do to ensure that those families know that they are available to them those the breakfast and lunch are available to them thank you and what I would say is like what's most important is if there's a if there's a strategy to get that information to them directly um you know like as soon as possible um is you know is there a way I kind of feel like we're behind the aball on it like is there a way to you know I don't know is there what would be the process would they I would say they can utilize the same they so as a parent I and you I'm sure you do too we get a thousand text messages and emails based on building so I'm pretty sure that they can isolate cape and send automatic messages and automatic emails use social media so the director capee can actually do that um they have each building principle each director has that uh that capability through thrill share our new platform that we use for our for our district website so that there's the capability to immediately do that okay and so what would happen with those with those would the food be delivered to Cape and the parents pick them pick the food up there would it be Del like how would we service them we can leave it up to the director we can have them to pick it up there if there's a concern we pick it up there we can set up a designated place where they can pick it up okay almost like the summer um distribution the different sites so we can set up a site for for for Cape students thanks you so much and so you know if MLK if this this walk in what is it freezer if this is something that can serve other schools I know that Kate doesn't have what the other schools have um you know I'm in support of you know one facility service and another I don't know if that's how you would use it but um I'm also hoping that in the future you know at the next meeting we will have a update as to how you know we're making we made sure that those students and families were serviced okay um vice president B you actually already already made a comment do we have a plan if go ahead what's the question do we have a plan I if free lunch is eliminated J I'm not no I don't have a plan I don't even know if that's something that's coming down the pike but I don't think that I don't know that that would be an individual District plan it probably would be some some governance coming from the Department of Ed on how to do that but I would rather not think about that right now if it's okay okay so um in the absence of secretary triplet um I'm not ready trm I'm Vice pres uh Miss singer can you please call the vote for is she there for F2 please yes we have four vice president Bowen yes secretary triplet yes Tre Bradley yes Bradley's not here yes gav yes make sure there's no all right motion passed um and just in case the mics didn't hear secretary triplet is in the room and did say Yes um so we're going to proceed with our next item on the agenda thank you to director uh Brock Carter for providing her report um I just want to add that I think that the comment that trusty Gavin made regarding Cape is an excellent comment and observation one that I've never thought about and I know in some of the the data that we received we have all discussed cap being a priority um and so any level of supports that we can provide or increase for the students at that building I definitely support that um as a potential option so we'll keep it moving student Support Services we're going to pass it to director Nichols regarding the student support services update yes good evening um so I know every month I mean excuse me every meeting we wanted to um have peer mediation um numbers um the high school number is um six they did state that they had won um but it was cancelled um due to probably one participant not wanting to participate because you do know for peer mediation they must agree to participate um the middle school there still have not been any um participation I did um do a follow-up email I believe it was received okay great um so that's with the p mediation I did ask again the buildings to you know make sure we put that in our tier ones and tier twos um with our students um the next thing is our chat with a pillar we did have um 20 203 students participate um with that which was awesome um 33 from our Discovery Richmond Center 45 from our Martin Luther King Jr 45 another 45 from fairplane East and then 45 from fairplane middle school and then the high school although they probably didn't go with them they were able to receive um gift cards 35 students and that concludes my report okay so the one thing that I will say I mean this in the best possible way I know that there is a lot that you do even with the the students and the care you've shown me the care packages and all the stuff you should I was highly impressed I want to make sure that you have a voice to tell us those things so I know sometimes when we get to you we we didn't went through a lot but I just want you to make sure I don't want you to feel rushed do your presentations and show us your work that that you actually do and forgive us if we're drained by the time we get to you but I know that there's a lot that you do and I don't want your I don't want your work to be pushed under the rug because we're trying to have a quick meeting okay okay all righty secretary triplet I you know I to um with director Nicholls I've seen down through the years um where you've sat in the shadow and um of others and haven't really had the opportunity to go forth and make it yours and so you know the for me it's not really clear totally of what student services actually does all the way it's like student services is all over the place student services with security student services with the nurses student services with the doctor student service with that's what I'm saying it's a lot she has to hold down you know we haven't quite narrowed it down you know in our discussions about how that looked so that even you will be able to do some monitoring and be able to give the reports necessary again I push this thing I think that and when we talk about uh peer mediation and what you have you it's very that's a very powerful thing and I remember and I want to share this with you briefly I remember the uh a high ranking state official had come to Benton Harbor High School and everybody it was uh secret Ser you know they had protection and all you know just coming in they were speaking in Performing Arts Center outside over here on this corner right here was a major girl fight on the outside of the school students have been suspended and it was a m it was huge and we were trying to make make sure that it did not get down to this end for our visitor and our guest long story short the pure mediation team and I I struggled with it as the principal at that time because I wanted them kicked out I was angry I was upset but it happened the timing and everything but a long story short um at that time uh we had a a powerful peer mediation team here at Ben harbard High School those young people right now have graduated from U Big 10 University the across this uh State and this country but we did a peer mediation it was you know we brought parents in we had conversation a peer mediation was held at a pep rally these girls ended up acting out what actually happened outside in front of the entire student body atep rally and it was so powerful because the school got an opportunity to see the these girls these two groups of girls who were adversarial at that particular time and shake hands and so pure mediation is is is very very very important and it it is not just when things are bad it's a lot of work and your peer mediators must have the proper training you know it's kind of concerning if you will that there's nothing from Fair playing and the reports that we hear of incidences and what incidents that are coming out of these schools that but there's still no report from that particular school and so I think again I don't think that is not your responsibility and I'll keep saying it it's the principal's responsibility to handle and take care of those things in their school and so I you know as a person who's in charge of it this is no reflection on you but I would like to know um what are the principles doing are they knowledgeable do they know exactly how this look and what it can be because it's not just when they get into it one another Pam mediation teaches and develop leadership and it has followup so I would like to know more and just talk with you but I just want to say to the Board of Education that's not her responsibility to organize the pure mediation what are our principles doing in these building in order to report out to you so thank you again I'm I'm quite sure you talked to the Middle School principal and talk to Mr Morant about what's actually happening with peer mediation thank you I think that um you all can decide what month you'd like to do it no pressure I think it'd be a good idea for you to kind of just give us a quick presentation on what your day looks like because there's a lot that you manage that you have to do that doesn't necessarily translate here because we rarely vote on something you're requesting but I just want to make sure that your work comes before the table because there's a lot that you do to support our students most definitely okay so thank you so much I'm gonna shift really quickly because oh go ahead go ahead you have the floor thank you um thank you so much director Nichols you said six were you saying there were six meetings or you said a six and a one and I didn't quite understand what you said um remember I reported last month that they had six um last month I stated that that the high school had six um peer mediation um sessions reported to me and session yes six and then there was one that was supposed to take place but it was cancelled got you okay so they had six sessions in which there was um a per mediation that took place with some type of conflict um that or six sessions where they were me meeting where the peer mediators were just meeting in terms of learning sharpening the saw I guess I'm asking was it a actual mediation or was it meetings with the peer mediators yes so it was reported that it was actual mediation oh that's awesome that's awesome okay um I guess um I I saw the email and so I guess yes I am wondering kind of what secretary Tri was was talking about as well just in terms of I don't know the do they report to you do the do the trainers report to you they don't okay so they report to their um their building principal correct okay is this a part and you know forgive me I don't know all the details of the dayto day is Pam mediation something that's is considered a part of like PBIS um connected to that in any way I'm not sure so pure mediation would be more so of a intervention response so an alternative to you know say something that would be probably more punitive um so that's why I stated it will be it P pure mediation will be a response to intervention so if there was a conflict so say like Mr triplet stated if there was a fight you could use Pam mediation to solve and to work with the students instead of saying we're going to send them up for 10 days we're going to work with them and see if we can solve the conflict as far as the with the students but again they have to agree right they have to agree to participate so it'll be more of a tier one um peer mediation hear me my understanding is that it's it can also be a proactive approach oh for you know okay so is it so it is connect it can be connected to um PBIS or no not at all there's no connection whatsoever so it all depends on how the building has that set up in their buildings so I have to lean heavily more on the buildings for how they have that just like how they have their whole um referral process plan how those things go in levels and tiers how it gets to then the building principle so maybe it goes to the youth Advocate first and you know different steps so we do um Progressive discipline so that's why I'm saying that when you think of pure mediation that is something that the building should be should use um and put their plan together how they use that peer mediation gotcha gotcha my role was to ensure that there was properly trained and that they had training for their um students who will be um mediators so it's up to the building level principle to make sure that it is prioritized within their scheduling and things of that nature yes okay thank you so much okay so as a part of because Athletics falls under Miss Nicholls correct okay so I'm going to take a quick moment under the athletic date and just make sure that you guys have referenced um the one of the attachments that Dr buts um gave to the board so as you all are aware if you've been paying attention to the media we got a random announcement from wsjm and I think it might have been one of those other mishana Hoops or michana Hoops about Mitten Harbor area schools being dropped from an Athletic Conference which came to a huge surprise to myself as well as other board colleagues so what you have before you is an appeal um that Dr buts framed he and I worked um on an appeal so what we actually did um is we went through the bylaws for the bo Board of Governors for the Lakeland Athletic Conference and so what you see before you is the appeal that we actually issued because we we noticed that there were some gaps um based on what the bylaws indicate should have taken place before we even got to a position of being let go from an Athletic Conference um for those that weren't on the board at that time Ben Harbor area schools was one of I believe four districts that joined to create the Lakeland conference and then we are notified via the press as a board regarding it and they did send some form of notification to Dr buts late into the end of December um regarding such I just wanted to make sure that you all had that update um the Press has been very excited to indicate that we have been dropped so what we did was outlined our concerns regarding lack of due process um confusion regarding notification of organizational issues um what particular impact on conference expansion did we have um there was no formal review lack of communication and transparency and then we also have some things that we want to do as a district to make sure that we have the participation at a level that it needs to be for our schools so I just wanted to ensure that you all were aware um I know that heral Palladium today had a statement from um director Jennings regarding us moving forward from the conference however according to Dr buds he was never a part of a conversation or decision to be removed from the conference that was done under the previous um leadership and so we are appealing that um and we will update the board once we have further information trusty Gavin president Robinson I'm wondering if the board can be maybe not here but if we can be informed you know whether it be via email or whatever what happened why like I see this and I respect it but I don't even know the background as to why we were you know removed or what that means so I can try to the simplest way Dr bus might be able to better explain it it's more so regarding our the numbers of athletes that we have the sports that we offer and the participation that Ben Harvard Area Schools is able to engage but I'll allow Dr bu so thank you madam president and you're exactly right it was the number of sports that we have and also um the participation so we had um some low participation um at the U subv Varsity level which which when they when they when they say subv Varsity is at the middle school um so what we're we we're going to make sure that um being part of the conference the conference was originally created in 2022 so we we technically have not been dropped from the conference there there's a proposal to drop so that's why we're doing the appeal and and to give us time to make sure that we are not only just compliance but to show the things that we've already done to support our Athletics such as the two new gym floors the track that's being put in um and making sure that um we have that participation so a lot of things weren't completely uh revealed to the Board of Governors I should have been Port of part of the bo Board of Governors that was not given the opportunity was not afforded to me so there were several things that were not done per the bylaws so we we want to make sure that that everything is Equitable so so we we're doing the appeal to make sure it's equ Equitable across the board and that I would most definitely give an update once we go through this process I guess what my request um president Robinson and Dr bus is the the the raw data like I would like to see the notification of you know what that is I do appreciate the summary but I would also like to see that for myself if possible and then also some clarity around what that means does that mean that we're not able to continue to participate in sports if they decide to drop us is it just we're not with them but we're able to do other things like we you know what does that actually mean so we so we would still be able to play sports we would develop Sports schedules and things like that but we wouldn't just be a part of this conference and compete for conference competitions and things of that nature we have a we have a basketball program that is strong enough to stand alone in itself which you may have seen C statements on Facebook indicating that when when you think about other programs like track needing a track team needing a soccer team needing a volleyball team that are unable to compete in this conference with teams that do have with schools that do have those teams or hosting um track tournament for example not saying they've outlined this this is just an example hosting a track tournament B Harbor area schools previously was unable to do that because we did not have a track so those are examples of the difference between being within an actual conference versus working on your own planning your own schedule we would still play some of the same teams but we would not be within the actual conference that that we're in we would still play Conference teams some of them am I correct you're correct and also they would not get be able to hold the accolades of a of a conference Champion if if you would um without being in a conference they could we could play them but we we we would not be even if we won all the games we would not get the accolades it would go to the next to the next person so I want to make sure that again everything is Equitable we're in the conference it consists of four School four of our surrounding um districts and I want to make sure that our students our our our children are represented even though we're playing they should still get the recognition that they deserve if we are winning those Sports thank you so we did um and there is an actual letter that was sent out Dr buskin Ford to the to the to the board so that you all can actually see the letter but it came to a major surprise to me um you know I I normally try to keep it very py at the board table but what I will say is that this was something that I was I I am not um happy about at all in the way that it was handled um by the conference or by the media and how they um chose to do their breaking news I also know that what we've discussed at at the table before is that we are a district that has had its concerns and issues um for historical years and so School of Choice has taken advantage of that we also see where we have coaches previous alumni that work at B Harbor area schools or previously worked at B Harbor area schools that are now working for these area districts and we have students at athletes that were once on the field or playing for B haror area schools that are now playing for other schools and winning games with our athletes and our coaches and then all of a sudden you get a notice from the same conference that you're being dropped because of certain participation and things of that nature however maybe if we didn't have individuals recruiting our students to other districts we would have the amount of students that we needed in order to compete and so you know I I'm all for giving respect to my colleagues my other board presidents other athletic directors of neighboring communities but I am and superintendents but what I am not for is Benton Harvard area schools being kicked while it is trying to get up and so I want to make it very clear at the table that I see I am not blind we are not blind and so that's why I informed Dr bus that we are not just taking this suggestion that we be removed from the Lakeland conference we're going to appe it and so I know that these are Dr but's colleagues I I I respect them as much as he does I'm not trying to make his work with them nor the appeal Difficult by any means but the rec the respect that I give people is based on what's due with all due respect and not an ounce more old than old so or than earned will not be given and I want to make that very clear so I just wanted to ensure that the board had that update that the media had that update being that they're so thirsty to um make announcements and have breaking news you can include that um and I just wanted to make sure there we try to uh remove any confusion that may have been present for the board um there may be additional conversations and discussions that you all will need to have with Dr buts but um director Jennings is has been um on top of it with us um and trying to work with it over the weekend he is prepared the way the conversation goes Ben harbard Area Schools is great no less whether we are in a Lakeland conference that we started or not um and so however the cookie crumbles we're going to we're going to Roar as we always do but I just wanted to ensure that um we did have an opportunity to discuss it at the tap vice president B so Madame President I have two questions my first question is when we look at I I wish we had an attorney at the board meetings because how does it look and let break it down into plain terms say for example I work for one washing machine company and then I decide to go teach the other washing machine company how to install agitators does that make sense so I've actually already asked that question and so what I found out is that as of May of 2024 um it is against the law to have a non-compete clause and that would prevent an employee from working for an alternative school after hours so I I get I get what you're saying as far as like working for B Harbor area schools and then maybe working part-time for with a um surrounding District we can't legally prevent that okay we can't legally prevent that but we can do some mechanicism and stuff no because we can't always the way around the law but my other question is um so I'm going to say on behalf of the board of there is never a way around the law I apologize what we can do is be Innovative and creative in how we retain and attract coaches and our staff at V Harbor area schools and so what I did um what I am looking into is is what ways we can do that but I just want to make sure that it's noted for the record that we're not doing anything that is not do ex and my next question was I want executive order uh but by next question was the guyy that released the news is a podcaster are we letting those podcasters coming to our games for free so I would say I would assume yes we let the media in for free or do we charge them Media or podcast so media does have a pass and the podcasters are typically not considered um the your your your mainstream media so I I wouldn't because the picture that he used and the messaging that he used made you think it was something wrong with our coach Sterling and it was just it was enough it was not something that I agree um I did ask that Dr bus communicate our my disdain our disdain for the way that the that the message was communicated as well okay thank you to both wsjm and missana Hoops so there I'm not just talking about that the per yeah I give it guy Facebook that's michana who right oh yeah Mich okay um so there was a lot of behind the scenes discussion between myself and Dr bus and and secretary tripet gets me all the time because sometimes I'll he'll say I'll carry the load and deal with the fire before it hits everybody else but um yeah that was one of the things I I told him to make sure the Press knows how I feel about the way that they reported as well so I'm I and I like I said I have no ill will towards anyone no ill will towards Lakeland conference some very awesome individuals and in school districts and so I know that Dr Buzz has to work with everyone and I have to go to the bean County uh board superintendent and president meeting at the end of the month but I mean what I said and I say what I mean um and so I want to make that very clear in light of this we were also invited to another board meeting okay and I will be there secretary chiplet Madam president just like uh they have to work with Dr bus have to work with them they have to work with Dr buz too and this ain't no joke he represents Ben Harvard and I don't take this lightly CU we're not sitting around here uh a lolly gagging when it comes to Ben Harvard's business they are not they are not paying him we are paying him to take care of our school district you so on that note I'll stop right there number one he leaves Ben harber Ty number two this is not new from a historical perspective because it's just my strange that all of a sudden when the previous athletic director leaves then everybody gets kicked out or Ben hary get kicked out and so it and and I'm not going to sit up here and play any games with anybody we know exactly what happened but this just did not just start when they started the segregation when you uh the the dag plan and what have you every place that they hired they hired coaches from Benton Harbor to pull students out of this District it has been going on for years and we have allowed it and then we've allowed some people to even come back every every every school around here has staff and people who work in this District on their coaching staff all around and we've allowed it and and and and it's unfortunate but also on the flip side many of those people have expressed that they've tried to get into our district and were denied and so it's it's it's a whole bunch of conversations that need to be held this is disrespectful it is inappropriate and it is not right and I would like for our attorneys to be called immediately to the table to handle this situation it is not a laughing situation people will not come in here and do our kids any kind of way they might know how to manipulate our kids at Middle School levels and what have you we are not playing they are not going and it has absolutely nothing to do with our facilities we got to pay attention this board must pay attention to everything and stop sitting up here like with our heads up in the cloud like we don't know what's going on when we talk about athletic department our music when you look at when you look at Ben haror area schools traditionally the most powerful thing that we have going for us was our instrumental music department our tiger marching band they put block scheduling in knowing if that would dismantle our band They Knew it and that's what they did what else did we have we have our Athletic program what did they do and think about it there are tigers sitting at this table and enough is enough and our kids deserve us our right you could be cool with them all they can be your partner but let me tell you something just like they stand strong when I look at our kids and I look at staff coming in working with our children and I look at our kids competing against their friends their the the citizen the people that they grew up with is very difficult it has nothing to do with winning or losing absolutely nothing because Ben haror has won forever but it's a this is disrespectful this could not happen without signatur from superintendent so the superintendent from Baran spring whomever he may be the superintendent from Buchanan whomever that individual may be the superintendent from D Yak whomever they may be and our superintendent was not included so this cannot happen without signatur from superintendent so again I urge and I appreciate you madam president um for the way in which you explained it but I want it to be understood I want our attorney at the table immediately I also requested that I requested that Dr bus fool original contract that I voted on to join the Lakeland conference and that's and asked that he review the contract and the bylaws which is what we use for the appear well and the thing about it is it's not just when they talking about sub team you got a varsity football team which the football team was dismounted we saw it two weeks before we know what stop I can't sit here I cannot continue to sit here meeting after meeting knowing when we had individuals in these spaces and places that were not working on our behalf how do we have an athlete director and all of this stuff because this stuff did not happen just happened how do we have somebody sitting in there that we PID that we knew nothing about any of this is going on the superintendent nobody this is a serious matter that's come anybody cannot sit at those tables can anybody coach our kid and so we get ready with this transition with this athletic department there need there need to be a Hal and a discussion on how we going to move as it relates to Tiger Nation moving forward thank you thank you and in closing like I said a lot of times I keep it PC I know I probably shock Dr bus a little bit because I let him know that I was going to discuss it but at the end of the day they never have any hesitation by with how they choose to deal with B Harbor area schools they have no hesitation with how they choose to report on bit Harbor area schools and I have been doing my best to be the most gracious and patient president uh feasible and I'm still gracious and I'm still patient but I'm not playing about my district and so um I look forward to receiving the updates uh moving forward and uh getting updates regarding the athletic director our interim athletic director's vision for Ben Harvard area school so if there's no other questions I'm going to move forward to teaching and learning Direct cups I believe there's a document in your packet that should be what you requested president Robinson in regards to um the layout of the various programs for curriculum this shows you um schoolwide responsibilities and teacher team responsibilities it's divided the first section is um one second everyone is this one it's a stick in page y okay you have the floor the first section is considered tier one this is access to essential grade level standards for all students uh the orange side on the left shows the Universal screening and diagnostic assessments that are being used for all students and then on the right hand side is uh specific Universal screening and diagnostic assessments based on subject and grade level and then the Core Curriculum resources that have been purchased and funded by the school district um and these are items that are accessible to all of our students no matter their specific needs um or interventions that may be required um based on um various assessments and learning losses the next section would be considered tier two this is intensive Remediation in Universal skills there are qualifying criteria listed on the leand side this would be a schoolwide team responsibility to identify from all students which students are um experiencing learning loss or learning delays in the core content that's being uh taught in the classroom and uh which of those criteria or uh which interventions then would be applied to the students and on the right hand side you can see the in-classroom qualifying criteria as well as the supports programs and resources that would be utilized at the different grade levels in the different subjects and then the third section is tier uh I'm sorry tier three this is additional time and support to learn the essential behavior and academic standards this is generally considered a very small three to 5% of the student population that would fall into this category and we have some specific interventions that are currently being used um at different grade levels and in the different content areas okay I am I'm looking and I see T tier one and tier two but I don't see three on my hand out am I just overlooking it I can print that out it may have been on a backside of another piece of paper there was a um triangle that was part of this also so maybe all of the pages didn't come is it there yeah the triangle here I guess I just don't see the yeah so for example tier one and T where you see it right okay let me let me explain I see that let just pause for a second what I'm saying is tier three is the smaller rectangle right here that says tier two it does say tier two but it should say tier three so that's tier three I apologize bifocals in the computer screen don't always Collide as you need them to okay okay so I know I need a little bit more time to look over this um it's it's different looking at it in physical form versus trying to understand it on the computer um so I do appreciate you starting on this I'll take a little bit more time so because I know I requested it but there may be individuals who have questions now but I know I need a little bit more time um any questions from the board currently at this time um if not we'll I'm sure you'll have some questions we'll come back um so you can proceed with the Ben Harbor area schools course guide updates so as presented previously the course guide um was given in electronic and a hard copy the link that is on the agenda uh gives a quick synopsis of the specific changes additions or things that were removed from the course guide there was a team of Middle School and High School staff and administration that work together on this project um we did review the current course guide as well as four previous iterations of the course guide and we had relle Bowman from mde who is the state expert on MMC credits come and present to our group and a uh answer questions that we had uh so there's just a few um Staffing changes and updates in that way um some specific things that are listed would be related to the proficiency credit language for World Language as described by relle Bowman uh students must earn a novice high level of proficiency she correlated that to about a kindergarten reading writing and speaking level and that can be earned from any work that the student does kindergarten through 12th grade she also said that uh by and large there is no one credit it's either zero credit or two credit because the way that the MMC language reads for World Language is you are novice high or you're not navis high so we did change that to be the two credits to reflect uh the recommendation from Miss Bowerman we also included the reading strategies one through four and pre-algebra based on our data and studies of student performance uh we need to have reading interventions for high school students at a variety of levels and we'll be using the corrective reading program to do that there are four different levels of that program um we do assess the students for their decoding level and then their comprehension level which may not be the same so we would use one semester for decoding and another semester for that um comprehension and for pre-algebra based on our uh student performance rates in our math classes it's evident that we need to have a track of math that is slower and makes sure that our students are proficient in their foundational skills before we push forward with the additional algebra skills okay so I have a quick question for you and sometime we do so much I just want to make sure I'm connecting what you have in this chart here we've seen the full book right we did this in December yes so you've just given us a concise version yes I just want to make sure that what I thought was the case okay so I'll proceed is there okay so if you can go ahead and present staff report T1 and then I'll open the floor for questions okay reason for consideration the board annually approves the high school course guide and any changes or amendments made to it facts and Analysis the guide includes information on all available courses information on personal curriculum individual development plans and options for earning credit policy reference 5460 graduation requirements 2230 course guide strategic plan goal reference Benton Harbor area schools will increase student achievement as measured on local state and National assessments recommended action that Benton Harbor Area Schools Board of Education approve the recommended changes as presented to the Benton Harbor High School course guide is there a motion to approve staff report T1 Madam president I make a motion to approve staff report T1 is there a second the motion has been made by vice president Bowen and supported by secretary triplet I'll go to Gavin for your question oh was it rockat or Gavin that had a question rockat Martin what uh level would you start the pre-algebra what grades would pre-algebra started the course guide is for grades 9 through 12 so pre-algebra would start in n9th grade we have had um conversations about using the NWA math scores um to identify students that are uh really needing an accelerated level of math we could begin that at the end of fifth grade with those fall NWA scores and then have kind of a math six plus math 7 plus and then a pre-algebra in 8th grade those conversations were had during these meetings together that's a big reason why we included the Middle School um as well as making sure that the Middle School knew what their students were going to need to be prepared for in high school so we can vertically articulate our curriculum and instruction one question secretary trip oh go ahead rocket Martin and then trip we'll go triplet and then G to do pre-algebra like maybe for those that were advaned seventh grade eighth grade and then when they got to high school they could just take regular algebra and then do the four the other three maths that they needed and and that certainly would help them with their their mstep all right we'll go to Gavin and then triplet okay um thank you director CBS uh can you hear me okay a little louder please is this better okay good deal um I don't know if it's related but I know that we approved Taekwondo for Middle School and I'm wondering you know did that happen is that a part of the course guide so the Taekwondo at the middle school and fair playay East is a special program like threads of Hope is a special program and it's not part of the course guide uh the electives in elementary or specials in elementary and the electives in Middle School um there's no set standards or criteria that those fall under and there is no Taekwondo proposed for the high school so it isn't in the course guide um we did ask questions of relle Bowman regarding a program like taekwondo and she directed us back to the standards for physical education and we can offer Taekwondo as long as we also include instruction during that course about health and wellness and the other specific topics that are in the state standards for PE and health we can but we're not offering it yet or we are offering it we are not at the high school we are not offering it are we offering it at Middle School yes it is a a special program at the middle school and at Fair playan East okay thank you my other question was about um the other question was about I see you have uh office Aid and teacher Aid is that any way connected to what used to be the teacher Cadet program program or is this something totally separate so last school year and this school year our teacher cut up program had two students that were registered for the course so we are still working to build the interest and promote that program the office Aid and teacher Aid would be um probably more aligned to the business aspect of working in a business uh managing um sensitive information um building responsibility and workplace skills that would be transferable to any sort of office or management type of uh career field so right now we're not offering the teacher Cadet option that's correct okay because I know I'm not against teacher Aid it's just I know that the I mean in terms of pay we want to make sure that we're providing opportunities so that they can get those U positions that pay um um you know pay pay a little more um so I don't know I'm I'm just hoping that there can be and maybe we can talk about it in committees I think the office Aid and teacher Aid option would be more appropriate for a student that only has one period available to them whereas a student that has a block of three or even four periods that is not in a CTE program we would want to encourage them to use the school to career opportunity so that they would be able to leave the building and work in the workplace so they can earn money and still earn their credits for their course say that again you said those in those courses they can make they can earn income yes school to Career is a Statewide program where the students can actually be employed um it has to line up to their EDP their educational development plan their career goal um and then they are placed into positions that are aligned with that particular career goal that they have and then the student actually would earn money There's an opportunity for unpaid internships let's say a student is interested in um a career in veterinary science it's likely that the Veterinary Clinic may not pay the student but would give them a workplace experience through school to career for those three class periods uh but the student wouldn't be paid uh but you know oft times we would be able to find something that would correlate to their future goal that they could be paid for could it serve could the teacher Aid or office Aid course serve as a prerequisite or feeder course into the um teacher Cadet program like to gauge to to get uh interest into the teacher Cadet program I think that's certainly uh something that we would be able to explore um having been the teacher for a teacher cat program in my previous School District I have a plethora of ideas for how we could make that work um and I would love to see um us grow our students into certified pair Professionals in our district while they work on their teacher certification thank you so much my last question is about the um what I see here the change the reflect the current Staffing and name changes with Kate um it may or may not be related but just terms of those students receiving the services graduate advisor those types of services how are we ensuring that those students are receiving that service so we did just have a meeting last week with our um school counselors and our building administrators from both cape and the high school um we are working frequently to together to ensure that those credit audits are happening um with our school counselors to Encompass all students 9 through 12 no matter which building they're enrolled in how are they assigned to counselors is it by NA last name is it yes I believe that this year they have divided by grade level and last name but they are moving to uh last name only that way the relationship can be built with the school counselor and the student to be able to move together for the full four years that the students at school and our students guaranteed a certain um amount of time uh with their counselor throughout the year at the beginning of the year middle you know is there a guarantee that those students uh so Services I believe the um school counselors met with students during first semester um one of our counselors is new to us this year and so for her it was a great opportunity to just get to know the kiddos that are on her list um and then as we move forward their credit auditing with their seniors and meeting together with them um to talk about their future plans and after our course guide is approved then we'll be able to start having those meetings with the underclassmen so that they can start um making the uh plans for what courses they'll be enrolled in for next school year uh we did at the beginning of the school year uh in SE September put together a guidance Department calendar if you will for the school year that kind of plots out these things to make sure that there's at least two touch points with each one of the students thank you so much I would love to take a look at that appreciate you secretary chle do you remember you had a question I believe I do um this right here is when I look at the teacher Cadet and all those different programs this fall up under CTE am I not correct it does yes so I I I had asked why our director of CTE is not here at the table being that she is a director and so we can get some more information um and our director of CTE is Arlene Wilson and I know she worked up under I'm not sure if she worked up under or what what the what the chart looks like but the CTE it was it was very pressing that we did identify a CTE director and so I would like to see her if you will sir um to make sure that we can get some reporting out from director Wilson um um as it relates to the CTE program and and that come take that off of the curriculum director's plate because we do have a person who is qualified um to do that particular reporting out it's not all clubs in together I I'm I'm also I appreciate the way in which you've organized this and I'm excited about the um New curriculum committee members working with um director CU and hopefully we'll be able to see some cohesiveness as our president had inquired about we spent thousands and thousands of dollars in textbooks and all of these different things but I cannot see the connection I don't know how it's being used and that's something maybe if you can um take into consideration all of the things that we have that we have purchased and how does this look towards our goal for this District as it relates to academic but thank you this right here was very good to be able to read to see you know what it is that we're doing so I want to tell you thank you for that I have a really quick question um and this will be the last question on this topic we're going to take a vote because I sometimes my questions take us down a longer road so I apologize in advance but you indicated we only had two students interested in teacher Cadet that just doesn't sit right with me there that teach teaching is one of the subjects that a lot of kids fall back on just in comfort so I guess my question is are all of our students required to select a professional track or is it an option and and I believe if I remember correctly we identified a track when we came in in the ninth grade correct and you automatically followed your track that you thought you wanted to do when you went to school so if we did if we got back to that because every student here whether they want to go to college or want to go to a vocab vocational program every student that enters the building should have an educational goal based on where they are now they should be following that track based on their plan and then that way we don't have to try to beg and steal and borrow students to be participating in these programs because they're following their their track does that make sense yeah so okay I won't give a long answer but I think it deserves more than a quick short answer so I'll give you a medium answer okay so I I am extremely passionate about CTE I think it's super important for every student to be able to answer the question when am I ever going to use this right because no one likes to do something that they don't feel like they're a good at or B is worth their time and investment in it so something that I tasked our CTE director Arlene Wilson with is to work with the elementary and middle schools to help our building administrators family engagement Specialists to provide field trips that are educational and help students see different career opportunities so one great example is to go to Martin Supermarket most everyone has been to the grocery store but we don't go to the back of the grocery store we don't think about logistics we don't think about marketing we don't think about sales and those are all incredibly lucrative career fields that can hit a lot of our different talents learning styles interest levels for all of our students so if we start doing that with our kiddos when they're in elementary school once they get into middle school and they start using Zell to do those personality inventories and aptitude tests when they start reading about some different careers that they're best suited for they'll have a little bit better of an idea of what in the heck that stuff is because they will remember some of these trips that they get to go on when they're in in the younger grades then when they come into ninth grade they are supposed to have an educational development plan that started and it would have a career goal but just like me I went to college three times now and I didn't know what I wanted to be when I grew up until I was 27 so I worked in the private sector in um boat sales and marketing and then I was a family consumer science teacher and now I'm a director of academics so even if the EDP and the career goal that they make when they're in ninth grade if that changes by the time they're in 10th or 11th grade we'll change that and help guide them another conversation that has happened is about year five because everything in high school seems to be about planning for your four years until graduation day but no one talks about what happens the day after graduation so that was something that we took to uh Zell and asked for their four-year plan to be changed to a five-year plan so we can help our students to think about what happens the year after you graduate no matter what your goals are okay so so so back to my original question and I think so right now as it stands everyone's not participating in a track it there's no tracks there's the opportunity to do the CTE programs but there's not a set track of courses if I came to high school and said I want want to work in the construction industry in some form or fashion there are courses that we want to make sure kiddos take as a ninth and a tth graders so that they can take the construction trades courses as a Junior and senior but there's not necessarily a track of take these classes in this specific set order yeah we didn't have maybe track is not the correct word we didn't it wasn't in a set order but I guess what I'm getting to is if you identify freshman year what these student what area at minimum say we offer four areas of CTE or five areas of CTE and out of these five areas or you know what is it that your focus is and the students selected that and they participated in CTE related courses or whatever courses based on what they have interest in you would never have a program not have a student we added some introductory level courses that were shorter and not as deep that the freshman and sophomores can take to get their feet wet and that way they don't have to wait until they're a junior to decide is culinary what I want to do there's a different course that they could take to get started early on maybe that goes along with what you're so I'm goingon to do some research at surrounding districts and then I'll come back because I know it worked for us and and we do Jump Around quite a bit I went to school for education but I was a part of the teacher Cadet program and in the 12th grade because of how well I did in English I was able to teach within the honors English ninth grade course and although I didn't stay the course to be an education teacher I'm here so so my participation in that program was a significant um foundation for where I've become you get what I'm saying so I want to make sure that we because we have so many things but our children don't really have the interest or the knowledge you know I don't know how much effort we're getting giving to recruiting them they may not fully understand what teacher Cadet means but that and I'm not saying that we're not doing enough but I'm saying that there is a we've there's a system that worked and the system has shifted it's been broken and now we're giving them all of these choices and they're choosing nothing not to say they're not choosing but they're not choosing the options and there has to be a way to get back to the way that we were doing things when it worked but I don't want to belabor us any longer I look forward to curriculum committee and I'll have that conversation then okay so secretary tripy can you call the vote for staff report T1 president Robinson yes vice president bouren yes secretary triplet yes trusty rocket Martin trusty Gavin yes motion carried all right we're gonna move forward uh director mcdermit we're gonna allow you to present Human Resources we're at eight or a little bit over right now 804 um we don't have much left to do so I'm entrusting you that you're going to keep us moving swiftly you have the I will right after vice president Bowens I think he has an HR update oh you have an up you have a committee update yes I don't see that on the agenda but I will you have the floor it was by executive order no okay um I just want to um give a moment of silence we lost a staff member um a few last week we lost a staff member um we appreciate all of our staff at biton Harbor area schools and um what he has brought to the table and did I've seen the social media tribute and I just want us to make sure we are acknowledging Mr Craig stepen Clark if we could take a moment of silence Madam president thank you can we make sure our card and uh um flowers are delivered thank you so we'll have to work on um we have two resolutions to draft then um so we'll work on those if you could get us deep do you have funeral details yet yes it was just on the board um his funeral is Saturday January 25th visitation is at 10:00 a.m. oh that's a early funeral is at 11:00 a.m. greater John Missionary Baptist Church 101 North Adams southb Indiana where the pastor is Reverend Andre McGee the offici um yes and it looks like celebrating the life the repass will be January 25th at Rio Park events from 2 pm to 6m thank you vice president Bowen at my apologies for uh making that little petty remark about you not having a committee report on the agenda thank you you for ensuring that we did that we're going to pass it on to director mcder and there's a picture up I just want to mention you know this is a picture back from December 19th can you hear me okay can everybody hear me okay this is a picture uh small reflection of those present at delivery this was Benton Harbor area schools karaoke night at December 19th at delivery to kind of do a year in celebration so this is just a picture of us um being out as a team um from Human Resources perspective I believe the team that plays together stays together so this is a good example of things we want to do hopefully on a quarterly basis or as much as possible to keep the camaraderie and the uh repertoire rebuilding um consistent in our district so I just want to share that picture with everyone who's the best singer I won't get myself in trouble all right you can proceed with staff report H1 all right submitted for board consideration uh employment of staff to approve the employment of Staff in accordance with the revised school code and other general laws of Michigan facts and Analysis it is recommended that the board approve the superintendent recommendation for the hire of the following Personnel policy reference 3120 and 4120 employment of professional and support staff strategic plan goal reference Personnel leadership Benton Harvard Area School will recruit hire develop and retain the best staff to improve student outcomes first all list for hire we have Sarah Cadet for the position of teacher for kindergarten at DEC second we have Cameron Washington for the position of Library academic paraprofessional um through central office second we have Pamela Buford for the position of Library academic par professional also through central office and last we have Shenika Davis par professional special education at Benton Harbor High School recommended action that Benton Harbor area school's Board of Education votes to approve the employment of the forementioned staff is there a motion to approve staff report H1 Madame President I make a motion to approve staff report H1 is there a secondary support I support the motion has been made by vice president Bowes and supported by trustee rocket Martin any questions comments or concerns Madam president you have the floor I noticed that we had never mind I'm you just planned okay if there's no questions from I one okay go ahead so central office have a library too it says they had the building the central office through the title One funds and they have a library academic professional but they got a library upstairs as well or what is it I'm confused on I don't see the connection an academic Prof pair professional is it in a building or do they have I I I don't understand what how that go no problem and I'll do my best I can to explain that so these two individuals being presented for H um the position of Library academic Parry reports to our library librarian also known as our library media specialist his position is a central office position because they service the entire District these two individuals the way this would look is uh one of them would service DEC and MLK the other one would service um FP and fair play middle school and our librarian gets to focus more on high school and Cape so this is to kind of ensure that not just with the diverse libraries but our actual libraries that we're making sure that those are being utilized and on a consistent basis yeah I just didn't when I see Central that throws me off so if that was the case um whichever one of them are going to be the library academic Fair professional the building say what building they're in and I I after reading this I know a lot of uh uh it yeah I just thought you guys had a library up there in one of those humongous classrooms upstairs as well I didn't know if you had built a library and there unbeknownst to the board of education so I would like to know for clarification purposes that they are not working in central that they are working in these building that is correct thank you thank you secretary tripley if there's no other questions from the Board of Education I'd ask that you please call the vote for staff report H1 with the necessary correction I'm like clear I don't want to vote for a librarian working upstairs in the secret Library their building are they going to be sta they're servicing that building but is their office there where is their office is it in central so the their office technically will be the library so they are serving in the role of Library academic par Library academic so each building because they're between two buildings there's going to be times when I don't want to mention a specific employee will be at DEC their office technically would be the library and then their other office would be at M so their office space technically is their library of each of those buildings yes did you have are you asking for an amendment I'm sorry I just want make say just the thing because when you look here it look like like I said I just wanted to make sure there wasn't a secret Library upstairs okay and that they specifically we look at this report that they were that we will know from this report that they're in these particular buildings are either are the staff for example he's updating updating now okay because I just wanna it's I'm itching to get I'm trying to do a great job at getting us out of here uh Gavin had another question no question no questions okay so they're making the adjustments now electronically they've been made okay so according to the updates made Dr buts can you clarify Miss Washington will be miss Cameron washhington was Library academic professional FP fair play Elementary and fair playan Middle School Miss Pamela bu Buford Library academic pair professional will be at Discovery enrichment center and ml Martin Luther King Jr Elementary okay vice president B you still uh make the motion to approve with the Amendments ra Martin do you still support with the noted amendments all right if there's no other questions or comments secretary triplet can you call the vote for staff report H1 sure president Robinson yes vice president Bowen yes secretary triplet yes trusty rocket Martin yes truste Gavin yes madame president motion carries awesome next we have staff report H2 director mcdermit staff report H2 submitting for board consideration to approve the employment of Staff in accordance with the revised school code and other general laws of Michigan facts and Analysis under Section 1120 of Title One Part A requires a participating local educational agency to provide eligible children attending private elementary and secondary schools their teacher and their families with Title One services or other benefits that are Equitable to those provided to eligible public school children their teachers and their families policy reference 2261 Title One services along with 3120 and 4120 employment of professional staff strategic plan goal reference personnel and Leadership Benton Harbor area schools will recruit hire develop and retain the best staff to improve student outcomes today uh For Hire uh we have Kimel Brown for a position of academic interventionist servicing the team at River of Life recommended action that Benton Harvard Schools Board of Education votes to approve the employment of the forementioned staff is there a motion to approve staff report H2 Madame President I make a motion to approve staff report H2 is there a second the motion the motion has been made by vice president Bowen and supported by trustee rockat Martin any questions comments or concerns I have one um Mr mcder is this more information in facts and Analysis than normal seems like we have a little bit more there or is that standard no this is for well we decided that we would separate our hires separations retirements and this is now the standard for those we are hiring for our I would say satellite or offsite hires no I mean your facts and Analysis you actually indicate the section 1120 of Title One Part A I don't did well has that always been there no that hasn't always you added that I think there was some questions excellent touch just calling out that you have done what the board asked you to do and I thought you were going to catch the pass and point out and say I believe trustee Gavin has requested previously that we quote the the law that requires that but I'm sorry I was trying to give you a a slam dunk thank you but you have it either way two points scored all right um did you have a question no Madam president okay any other questions from the board the motion was made by vice president Bowes and supported by rocket Mar there's no other questions comments and concerns secretary trip I ask that you call the vote president Robinson no vice president B no secretary triplet abstain trusty rocket Martin trusty Gavin yes all right so at this particular time there's a tie it appears as one obain uh there is two yeses and two NOS um so at this particular time I would technically be the tiebreaker unless secretary triplet would like to if he has the ability legally to change his vote if you would like to amend it or I can break the tie you can break the tie Madam president so in order to break the tie I'll just vote Yes thank you we'll vote Yes and keep it moving um so we'll count that as a pass we makeing and what you can do for the record you can you can amend my vote to a yes to ensure that the vote passes she can notate that for the minutes but it's just a yes for me alrighty we're gonna proceed um Mr mcder I know that you standard put your um vacancies on here I just want you to be aware that um once we re once we look at the data from partnership agreement and things like that there's certain areas um I think specifically one that I can think of is Ben Harbor High School Math that will be kind of looking at you to see what your Staffing looks like um Dr bu is familiar with what I'm what I'm discussing so just kind of be prepared for more in-depth questions in Human Resources as it relates to areas of weakness that we see based on the 18-month Benchmark because if we're strug if we have low scores in certain areas then we need to see whether we have adquate Staffing things of that nature okay um next facilities update director Dash good evening everybody um I'm gonna make this quick we're gonna we're gonna get it done we can't hear you sir sorry sir um uh let's see I'm just read through my list real quick um we've been working on the fire inspection list provided by the city inspector we received a large list of safety concerns at the high school from the city inspector um uh We've satisfied a good good dent in that list um as you can see if you look up there some of you might be able to see it but some of you won't um there's a red sign above the fire extinguisher and the fire extinguishers are now hung inside of their little boxes um with hangers that we bought um we still have some other things going on but that was a big one um so this the whole High School's done now with that um had a conversation with our insurance company regarding the gym floor um the gym floor right now is staying pretty level um that's due to the weather but the installers they've come in and expressed their concerns many times uh about what they have seen happened in this exact situation and they said that um the humidity once it starts to rise that floor is going to start possibly doing some really interesting things and warping left and right um so I just made the insurance company aware of that um in the spring when the the weather changes they're going to send their adjuster out to take a peek just to look at it um what else uh this is another one of the fire safety things um I've been talking to jci um they're the original installers of our uh fire alarm system uh typically we have another company come out and they do the inspections of the fire alarm system but for this instance because because of circumstances um I decided to call the people that put it in uh because they know it that's their system system and uh I have a meeting with them this coming Monday uh so that should be taken care of in its entirety across the whole District pretty soon um let's see got a hold of a a contractor about the um entryway here at the high school um I I showed you a little bit of that Mr triplet or trusty triplet sorry uh okay um but anyways uh I ended up having to okay I ended up having to call a um an engineer about that and I did that today uh so I'm in the beginning conversations of what that's going to look like which if you ask me right now I'm not gonna lie I can't really tell you I'm learning it but uh um let's see we're still continuing to work on the heating systems in the buildings uh we have very very isolated issues which that a good thing actually it it was it was a big deal for a while for quite a while but right now we got isolated down to a few places uh fair play niss DEC um just one or two rooms in each one of those we're we're actually whittling it down and that's a big step honestly um let's see we replaced the ceiling tile in the concession room here in the cafeteria because uh the the kitchen um they have theyve expressed some interest in reopening that uh where they used to sell chips and snacks to students uh so we did that had to take them all out and put new ones in and we're in the process of cleaning all that up um we moved the kitchen equipment um meaning the cafeteria Furniture uh since we last spoke that was obviously a while ago but um we moved all that stuff around the the new stuff went in the buildings the better stuff went to other buildings that they just needed an upgrade and not going to store the really good stuff you know so anything that was n you know in okay shape we stored it um let's see the Middle School gym floor is done uh it looks real nice I did I I just want to make a note of this because I did this I it doesn't look finished underneath those bumper guards you know where the under the the Hoops um I did that on purpose because I want to raise those up and get them level and hopefully replace them but right now they they all kind of go like this you know if you look down the line they kind of jig Jag up and down I don't like that so I I asked them to leave the baseboards off underneath that because if they were to install it right now they they would have had to cut it and then but I'm going to raise them up a little bit so I don't want it cut so they they left those parts out and have them stored for me I'll be putting those little pieces down myself it's like eight feet you know not a big deal um let's see uh plowing duties say what you're at the bottom plowing Duty yep yep uh we started to take on the plowing duties uh for fairplane East ml teen center and the maintenance building um this this will save us $2,000 each time that those buildings need to be plowed um like today for instance I did it it was I saved 2,000 yep um and it it was it was pretty fun but uh we had we had a pipe freeze at fairplane middle that was that was exciting uh but we we got it fixed and everything's good nothing broke um we just had to figure out where the freeze was which was investigation because it's never happened before so what do you know um but we found it we put a heater down there and everything came back it took a while but it's working and just as a precaution we have some faucets running a little bit you know overnight um see oh miss Gavin uh in the past month we had 106 tickets opened uh 78 of those have been completed and 28 of those are still open and that that's it other than the yeah I think that's really about it great job cuz I was going to catch you up on the tickets you got it good job I was I make sure to jot that down today I this is the most upto-date dat to too like at like five o'clock job okay um we'll go to vice president Bowen and then triplet and Gavin so first off I want to say thank your staff um on Sunday I got put to work for Miss bitten Harbor opening the door and I you know seeing them make sure the walkway was clear and they were making sure the facilities were up to date it made me feel happy and glad when people were coming in and it was just amazing I know previous years it would be an inch or two of snow out there and the people were warm so they could say they got pneumonia or flu being in our building they were hot and good um I'm glad that we are I'm glad that we got the um snowing um shoveling the snow do you foresee your getting any grass cutting I see we paid like 16,000 I don't know if that's monthly or quarterly um we have actually had uh some some minor talks about that well we have actually had some minor talks about that um I am interested in doing that uh we just have to math it out and figure out how much savings if any you know we it has to be a a a smart decision because years ago back in 2003 we used to maintenance would be you know they if they weren't in their building cleaning up they were out there cutting the grass um my next question is and I like this group who you get to expand um explore abandoned buildings and abandoned hospitals and everything one of our buildings got up to it and they explored and they went in and they got some good pictures I understand that they cannot really board that building up anymore what is your best bet well never mind I'm not going to put you in a fight we'll talk about that later but yeah so thank you all right uh secretary triplet I do want to say that I appreciate um director dad um in in in emergency situations being available um going above and beyond um as trustee uh as our vice president stated the team that you had here working was phenomenal those were phenomenal I'm happy to hear that um I know you guys are making adjustments and what have you um the heat was um on on hell you said we had had Queens taking their shoes off visiting people in the back it was so hot and so you know I I played on it like well at least would not be able to say that the boilers aren't working that the boilers are not working our new boilers are working but um he came out turned them off and the people it was just it I felt good to be able to say that you know the the the things out in the front the caret anything that was act they did it and they you know we have a lot of work to do on our Performing Arts Center um and that right there's something that we can hopefully will start working on this fiscal year but uh again thank you I I I just I can't say anything else but thank you you know when they came in everybody was comfortable it was clean um our blot of time officials and and Executives they saw our cafeteria they were impressed it looked nice and you just just you made yourself available and I think and I think all of you all as our directors I know that you will do that um I was glad that our superintendent was able to come and he had an opportunity to see for the first time the magnitude of what this is for our community and what it is for our young people um but um thank you to all of you all I missed U my number one supporter on the directorship I guess you got the director director and she didn't come anymore she didn't make it but she made it every year prior to this she's always been an avid supporter the matter of fact her daughter was our Miss te um before but I I was it was just so great to see that trusty Gavin made it um you know director cus came from her child's hockey game you know again U director Nicholls director mcder you all don't know what that meant to our kids because the majority of the kids that participated this year was from V Harbor area school and we also had a young lady who's on the court from Cape and that's the first time someone from Kate has participated in the Miss Ben har page and so that's wonderful yeah and it it was absolutely wonderful she has such an amazing job so thank you all for your support and I don't feel like I hope that you don't feel like you to come because you know board it has nothing to do with that it has everything to do with y'all caring for our kids and our kids uh felt very honored so thank you bud direct I mean I'm sorry director Dash we will continue to work and grow on our modes of communication with one another you know how we speak and how we work together and we're going to grow in those areas but as far as a hard worker and being there for us and I feel in your heart that you do here for Benton Harbor area school we thank you so very much sir trusty Gavin um thank you uh director Dash you are a person who just makes yourself available I've noticed that from day one and it really makes a difference um I attended the um miss Mr Miss and Mr Ben Harbor Community pageant and it's very inspirational what I would say is that it felt good to be in the PAC the stage was beautiful the lights were on point right like that makes that makes such a difference that is our way of showing the community and abroad what Ben Harbor has to offer so I appreciate you for you know making sure that we had the lights in there um I know that's been an issue for a while um people have had to get outside lights if they really wanted it to look right uh I I do have a question about um our thermostat um I I I know that when we were talking about the boilers and getting everything getting new everything I know we talked about the thermostat system you know just being able to regulate um the cold and heat yeah um can you give us an update as to and I know that we're not done yet we're still working on the high school um can you give us an update as to how that part of the process is coming along and if when it's finished we will have a better control over the temperatures in the room um I'd like to defer to Dr Butz please cany what I I'd like to defer to Dr buts please okay and thank you sir so yes ma'am in in doing that what we're what we're what we're working on now is getting everything connected right so when we the first thing was to make sure that all the valves were in place so that when we get to different parts of the building we can shut off different valves the next phase of this um will be to install those Regulators okay and those Regulators will be in each part so like these Reg now they're just set to high heat so and what we will be able to do once we get all the Regulators put in is to control the amount of heat that comes out in each part of the building okay so we we we are working on it um right now just I I my my ask to the company was to set it on high heat for this uh warming season okay I'm okay I'm happy to know I'm happy to know that that's a part part of the uh deal right yes ma'am we want to make sure that we're efficient with our with our spending as well so and and we want our folks to be comfortable so thank you for that I'm really grateful uh for the tickets I think it's real good that we're looking at what we're getting done and what we still need to get done um and knowing those outstanding tickets is very um helpful checks and balances for us is this also uh the space in which we would get updates in regards to our timeline for the master facilities plan and the driver's education RFP I'll be giving the update when I do my superintendent comments great um and then is it possible for us to receive not necessarily right now but in the future a list of all of the faciliity because I didn't even know the skill center was open right I didn't know we were still you know it was still active so is it possible for us to get a list of all the facilities that we own and status of those facilities yes ma'am and that's that's going to be another little part of my update he good deal thank you so much I appreciate you uh director dash for all that you do okay the only thing I want to add is that we we so we need to make it a Target goal for sound systems in the PAC and the he in the gym um I remember and that could be a part of Master's facilities planning because I'm not exactly sure how expensive those are but at some point it may have been 21 there was a particular entity that made an offer to go half with us on the cost of upgrading the speaker system in the high school I don't remember was it the PAC yes ma' was the entity I I got to go back and look at the notes but there was an entity because um that particular year there was a a large concern about the sound quality so and and that's just something historical I remember so we could find out who find that and see if that person's still interested because I don't I don't know what caused us to pause at that particular time I don't know if it was the funding or why we didn't do it but if we could go look and see who that was um and that way we that can be something we're considering in the facilities plan yes ma'am Madam president the um and and and and for the light as far as the lights in the Performing Art Center we had new lights put up in there but because of the heat found out because of the heat in the Performing Art Center which was just like brutal they melted and it damaged those lights of all the work that was done because that heat was so high consistently and it just across the top so I I just want to make sure we we're saying so it was it wasn't that the actual heat the lights themselves burned out because they didn't be they weren't turned off no no no they melted okay those bu some of those buls melted in there it actually melted the light we don't know if they turned off or not but I know they burnt out there yeah they they did was that heat was on like really seriously at some point it it the temperatures in there like 115 degrees nobody was in that for some time those life smel so we just got and and to have director dad on top of this and doing the the investigation and the work you know if that that's important because I hate that we spent that kind of money in that time and then that happened and we were prepared for that for that audience to be lit up yeah okay so we're going to keep it moving um old business the only update is uh just a reminder we have our meeting again on Tuesday which is why I've been trying to get us out of here because we have our training Tuesday from 6:00 to 9: um estimated it's a three-hour training and it is on committees and Committee of the whole as a reminder um send me your questions that you have and thank you to trusty Gavin and trusty rocket Martin for doing so don't have any new business anyone here for open public comment hearing none will proceed superintendent announcements and comments Dr buz thank you Madame President again I'd like to say um happy boards appreciation month and again we do appreciate all the work that you do um I did have a chance this year to attend the miss Ben haror pageant it was um an amazing pageant I did not realize the the Steep historical value that it has I did not realize that this was the 119th crowning of Miss Ben Harbor and the 28th year for Mr Ben haror so that was very Monumental to me so we we will be making sure that we look into um finding funding sources for upgrades I know there were some funding sources through CTE last year um under different administ under different my different cabinet um and those things one a different area so we will be researching um other funding opportunities as they come about one of those opportunities to um to speak to what vice president bne was saying was an infrastructure grant that we are we have applied for and are waiting for a response to look at some of our infrastructure needs um we hope that this is not a one-time funding source and that we will have uh additional opportunities if we afforded this opportunity we did get in get it in in time for drivers the RFP has been re reissued it is out um it is due on February 10th we hope to have some interest taken up this time it was revamped and it is out for for um proposals to be submitted with the massive facilities plan we are I am planning to meet the plan was have met this week U due to inclement whether we had to push to meeting back to next week in reference to the survey and doing survey on our closed buildings and also getting the committee back together to meet and discuss the results of the survey and looking at ways to um go ahead and and speed up the process and looking at the closed buildings and what we can do um moving forward um I think I've addressed all of the questions that have come up and and if there are any other questions please submit to me for for email updates um again I like to also extend a a a really heartfelt appreciation to um the team that that works behind me to help make keep continue to keep this District moving forward I'm um I'm I'm humbled and honored to be the shepherd but I cannot do this alone without the great team that I have behind me so again I thank all of you for your hard work dedication and effort every day for what you do um I could not do this job without any of you um so I do thank you for that and that is that is the conclusion of my comments and announcements all right thank you Dr buts uh we're gonna begin with trusty Gavin and then after Gavin we'll go rocket Martin board member announcements and comments thank you president Robinson I want to thank everybody who is probably listening um on zoom and will be listening on YouTube and um any of the public that came out earlier I want to thank you Dr bus for the um recognizing us for uh board appreciation and um I'm excited about the drivers education RFP that went out I'm hoping that that's something that we can get going this year especially with stop and frisk being on the table on the federal agenda I think it's important for our students to have licenses um so I I just think it's just super important um once again really inspired by the teens during the Mr and miss Ben Harbor pageant I was just in tears and just so proud and excited um that's always just a a powerful event very well put together with with such class um thank you secretary triplet uh for continuing to lead that and president Robinson for mcing that event um I I I I want to just pay homage to Mr Clark he was a phenomenal individual just a phenomenal being I had an opportunity to meet him I had an opportunity to interview him his love for our students for our people for the community for his work um is just unmatched and um I just he's just one of those people you will not forget um I would just also like to say I'm super excited about what's going on with MLK I think that that's something we need to have that commercial all over the place our first and second graders coding I'm so excited about that I think it needs to be on the website on Facebook just everywhere it's just a beautiful thing and the other last thing is that I think we should look into getting our own getting a foundation um if we're looking to raise money we shouldn't have to ask anybody else for the money be great if they give it to us but I think we should have our own and just kind of look into that option as well you all have a a wonderful evening thank you trusty Raad Martin I'd like to also mention that we lost another Benton Harvest student um uh jene Edison she was prior to she a student at been Harvard I I think she was in the class of 1990 she graduated with my son so yeah that's another um family we'd like to offer condolences too um what I would like to say also uh if possible when we get ready to do the feeding for cap I know prior to this they used to bring the lunches in to the students if there could be like a flexible feeding time for them maybe because uh they don't tend to have the same schedule as their everyday kids I mean they come to the regular high school and stuff so if they could have maybe a flexible feeding time some perimeters in where they really can get fed okay if you could mention that to them and then for Pure inter intervention we used to do that in our in our buildings and we had specific people that would go in kindergarten through whatever grade and teach conflict resolution skills to the kids I remember having hea M Mr Featherstone and um Mr Allen did that with our students on a regular basis every week they touch bases with every classroom to to help those students work through conflicts and those kinds of things it also taught them manners took them on little field trips did a lot of things to so that um they could kind of do those peer mediation type things themselves uh and learn how to do it at an early age um my other thing was oh clubs if it's possible you know I can remember being in the future teachers of America club and then we have future Business Leaders future scientists all of those clubs helped to form those ideas and about what kind of career you wanted to have and as a future teacher of America we were allowed to go to the elementary school and just be a teacher for half a day you know so you could get an idea of what it's like to do that my last thing uh we are continuing to um we have a great superintendent we're we're and he's getting um you know the job done whatever with his cabinet like you said it's not him alone however on Facebook we still have people trying to Dish our superintendent and just like you guys were so passionate about uh our facilities and our and our teams and our um our uh football and all of that the sports events I am just as passionate about people dishing my superintended when they don't live in my community nor do they have students in my community nor did they offer financial support to my community in the form of taxes so you know I think that's so unfair you're dishing something that you really don't know deep down that much about and you really have no interest in this District because if you did you would not do that kind of thing so uh with that being said I I'm saying it's because iord that I do not appreciate at all and so um you know if you don't live here what do you have to say about it you're an outsider looking in so with that being said I will pass all right uh secretary triplet Madam president again I'd like to uh um thank you all for the uh What uh condolences and the loss of my sister um I lost my sister Monday night um she was a year younger than me and uh very very close and it's very difficult um I will miss her forever I saw her yesterday for the last time and um also Mr Clark I think Mr Clark was just such an amazing person and he was also my fraternity brother this past year he crossed the cap alpide fraternity incorporator I always had him on my heart many of you all don't know he was in a very tragic car accident um and he was in the hospital for us a long time I think we should do our very best to do something collectively because he really loved our kids and our kids love Mr Clark as well um I um also want to say as it relates to the conference situation for me I I I've just struggled with this all and the most disheartening thing I've said it over and over again that we continue to allow people to be a part of our district who does not have the best interest of our district at heart and uh this is negligent however we have to take care of our business because nobody's going to take care of us um like I said it's historical and it's not new every charter school that was open was open by an alumni of Ben Harbor High School countryside dream Academy M justy well all of them were open by alumni of Venton Harbor area school and shortly removed thereafter and I think that we have to pay close attention um we have had and we have people in positions and we those same people this has nothing to do with the people who are going away and they're working in other places and spaces coaching and what have you because many of those people they tried to work in this district and was denied I'm not talking about what I heard I'm talking about what I know they were not given and afforded an opportunity to come back here and work and that's something that we need to talk about but in the meantime in between time I hope that our attorney is contacted and we receive the guidance necessary because the things that we allow people to do to Ben Harbor no one else would allow that to happen to their community school and they pillaged off of us for the last time you know it's it to me the way in which we heard about it is so disrespectful it's so disrespectful and and and parents have a right to choose wherever they want their children to go but that's disrespectful and for you to think that it's okay it it's personal all you know it's just so suspect it's a red flag that when we make an adjustment in our athletic division that the next week or month afterwards this happened and it saddens me because regardless of what we gave we we give people an opportunity we really do and the hardest thing for me in clothing is that it is so hard if you're from Ben harbard to come into this school district and really be respected and those are the people that you know not saying that you you just have to hire people from Benton Harbor but there are so many people in Benton Harbor that have tried to come back here historically and they've been treated wrong and so that that that right there Madam president I'm so glad to see your tiger I'm so glad to see your tiger in this area I appreciate it I feel comfortable and to this board of education I'm so grateful I'm looking forward to us doing some great work all of us thank you bu said don't forget his tiger now he was he said he been growling too don't forget his title got to come on with it many I call few are chos vice president Bowen thank you it was a great time being at the pageant Sunday it was the it's three ways in life it's the right way the wrong way and the bitten Harbor way yeah and although a certain trustee will get draw me when I say that the pageant is the bitten Harbor way you know you hear the little kid say this is the best padet and it gives that sense of Pride and everything and so Kudos triplet M secretary trip ja um I'm extending an invitation to you our children will be performing at the Michigan black summit um February 7th and 8th we will have the lieutenant governor Michigan Secretary of State Mama shoe it will be a empowerment event and it will be workshops and everything coming and we would love to invite I'm inviting you all to register um we also have a gala where our secretary triplet and the board president will be the host it will be like 106 in park all over again so I'm excited and um I won't be at the retreat because I will be preparing for um some prior arrangements that I had on my calendar so thank you okay so the so the thing about it is if you're not there it doesn't count so if you're telling me you can't come then I need to reschedule it let me see if I can move some things around my schedule but I'm very busy Madame President so I I did have a prior engagement okay so so I'm so this is not particularly to vice president Bowen Rea my time I'm not finished with4 seconds finish oh I did ask seor buts to um send a letter out and he did respond you know I do think we need to be prepared for executive orders um I know they want to get rid of the Department of Education um I applaud truste doyo for sending that email I believe we should challenge the other school districts to sign on and make it public but I do think we need to be prepared for immigration ice and everything we do have a big population and some of those babies do attend our schools so we need to be prepared and make sure we are giving them information I just read in Massachusetts and New Jersey um St Louis they're starting so thank you you finished can I get 44 seconds because you guys interruped me at 44 no no ma' ma'am okay so I no ma'am we're going to wrap it up go ahead you have one small thing yeah is it possible that maybe the kids in government could come out to your uh program as a little field trip so that they can hear their attorney general for the state of Michigan it would be a great field trip you know hands on for them I I want to make sure I'm not doing uh conflict of interest so I can speak with my board attorney and um we extend an invitation to the school district if we're not violating oh okay yeah because that's worth it for our high school kids to and I agree I I agree with vice president Bowen at this time he is speaking giving us information as the Director of no so you have to be very careful with discussing potential school trips to his event when he's serving as no but the the superintendent is here here and is aware of the event and can orchestrate any field trips and plans that he would like to for an active event that he already knows take place so we'll allow that to be his determination and not ours I keep I keep my hands clean no conflict of interest violations from me or vice president bows all right so we're gonna um I'm gonna wrap it up I just wan to um remind everyone that when we have these trainings as as notated in the partnership agreement every last body of this eight body governing board has to be present or it does not count so when I set a date I set it at I set the date with everyone I have everyone confirmed they're available I send it out via email if one of us does not come it does not count so if if and this is not just the VP borns I just want to make sure everyone knows that I'm not going through the stress at this 36 month of trying to explain that we had five trainings with six out of seven people present no so if um it's found that someone cannot attend Tuesday I need you to let me know that as soon as possible so we can reschedule for a date that works for everyone um I just want to thank everyone for their time this evening um for your efforts given to bit Harbor area schools um I do look forward to updates from Dr buts regarding the Master's facilities plan I've stated it multiple times um that that is an extreme priority of mine um but I won't go in I won't get on my so boox about that now um as it relates to um my tiger as secretary triplet called it it may be a little bit more graceful and elegant and eloquent than others but I don't want there to be any confusion that my bite is any less strong than the next Tigers and um I will do what is necessary to protect Ben Harbor area schools and the children because they are our number one priority so I just want to make sure that that is clear to all neighboring districts to the media to the state of Michigan to beran Rea any other party that I have to consult with as it relates to the business of Ben Harvey area schools I come in peace but um my district will be respected and we will be treated fairly and equitably and so I just want to uh reaffirm that I have nothing else to say best wishes um to all of our staff stay warm and safe greatest condolences and prayers to our um staff and and our board members that have lost um family members and things of that nature we're praying for everyone and I'm going to end my comment there if there's um no further questions or no objections for me I'd ask for a motion to adjourn IO move is there a second or support second the motion has been made by secretary triplet and supported by um VP Bowens questions comments concerns yes Madam President we it is a mandate that we be at those board Retreats and so and we took that vote and pick that day so everybody should be at that board retreat thank you thank you madam president please please secretary CH King please call the vote Yes I you me a chance to speak on the floor secretary Tri can you please call the vote point of order brother president Robinson yes vice president B I would like to speak yes are you call yes you secretary triplet yes trusty rocket Martin yes truste Gavin yes media adjourn meeting is adjourned at 8:59 p.m.