not to be considered a public community meeting this meeting is an inperson meeting held at 870 cfax here in Benton Harvard an additional live stream of this meeting is available at the following link questions may be submitted beforehand to natalie. singer 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 at bh.org I call this meeting to order officially
at 6:02 p.m. we'll Begin by reciting the pledge of allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation God indivisible with liy and Justice
all secretary Tri k please call the RO president Robinson presid vice president Bowen president secretary triplet president Treasurer Bradley truste rocket
Martin trusty Gavin present trusty Doyle present Madame President a quorum has been established all right awesome our next item of business is approval of the agenda we have one item of business this evening that's staff report C1
pertaining to the fair State robotics field fi trip is there a motion to approve the agenda I move to president Robinson I move that we approve the agenda is there a second or support second the motion has been made by trusty gavinet supported by vice
president Bowen questions comments and concerns hearing none secretary triplet president Robinson yes vice president Bowen yes secretary triplet yes trustee rocket Martin yes trusty
Gavin yes trusty Doyle yes madame president motion pass car all right up next we have the review of the board Norms the Board of Education norms for bit Harbor area 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 I did estimate that this meeting should only take us about 30 minutes so I am trying to hold true to that 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 intentions next up we
have public comment on agenda items is there anyone here that's present for a public comment on an agenda item today okay I'll read the statement then you can come up as I do the B Harbor area school's Board of Education recognizes the value of public comment on educational issues and the importance
of allowing members of the public to express themselves on District matters today there are two areas for comment on the agenda of which you may decide when to speak public comment on agenda items and open public comment we request that each interested participant complete a public participation form using legible
writing to ensure that responses are appropriate and properly focused her bid Harbor area schools by law ation at board meetings we request that you preface your comments with your name address and group affiliation when appropriate each statement made by a participant shall be limited to a 3 minute duration of Prior bylaws no
participant may speak more than once on the same topic until any other persons have had the opportunity to speak on that topic participants May remove their mask when addressing the board participants shall direct all comments to the board and not to staff or other participants the board will listen take comments and questions under advisement
and not respond at this time IAS president will refer the questions to the superintendent for research and response please ensure that your public participation form includes your contact information as requested if you have specific questions for the board or executive team that require followup please email those directly to natalie.
singer bh.org you have the floor thank you um good evening Tiana batistel thank you good evening Tiana batis wadell 3:30 kofax Avenue southb Indiana um educational Advocate that's why I'm here the consequences of poor
schooling man management are detrimental to children and their communities it seems that good things great things that are working here in bitton Harbor are being shut down by this Administration when children do not have access to Great schooling opportunities like
attending a robotics competition there are more likely they are more likely to experience poor health have a shorter life expectancy experience poverty experience unemployment have a lower salary experience G inequality isolate
themselves socially participate in illegal activities lack of opportunity to build wealth they'll have poor Eon economy and lack political and social participation Board of Education the community demands you do a superintendent search for a leader that
will bring positive changes to the district do not give Dr buts another Employment contract he has not made many positive changes during his administration but in dead has either dismantled the district kept the status
quo or things have gotten worse under his leadership for example and I can go over a whole list of other things robotics competition to start taking students out of that why didn't they attend the local one decrease in mstep scores District Athletics removal from
the Lakeland conference suspension rate expulsion rate is higher higher teacher turnover rate lack of transparency with the weapon being in the high school during the fall of 2024 significant loss of students in the district costing
millions and so much more that goes unreported so again the Jax Aspire Foundation save the youth michana campaign and several additional citizens want to strongly encourage this board to make a motion and vote to don't renew
his contract thank you all right thank you um just as a reminder again our only item of business tonight is the fair State robotics field trip so we here solely for the purpose of a potential approval of that item is there anyone here who would like to make an additional public comment on the
robotics field trip you have the floor of course um sorry I'm one of the students at the robotics saying so I want you all to know that this is a space where you can feel completely
comfortable I know it seems super formal because you have all of these faces sitting in a professional manner looking at you but we are your family so whatever it is that you have to say pertaining to this topic feel completely comfortable okay I don't mean speaking to the mic I don't mean to be rude but I
honestly feel that it's a shame that the competition was took away from us because at the end of the day no offense nobody that's in here besides me her and miss have put in the time and effort to build that robot it is a really hard process and for it to get taken away
from us is really insane thank you y you have to say your your name my name is Tanaya Welch okay thank you tanayia did you have a comment my name is zakira Baxter how are y'all doing today fine good well okay
that's good so I'm also one of the students and my part of the robot was the swerve Wheels that's the base of the robot and um like the the stress and the time and an effort it took to take those take
put those together take them apart put them together take them apart like it was really stressful to hear that our trip got denied when we put in a lot of hard work time and effort into that that's all for right now that's
right right now thank you thank you anyone else here for a public comment I'm a big advocate of Youth expressing themselves and feeling comfortable with utilizing their your voices so never feel any pressure at this at this juncture you have the floor
good evening I'm commissioner Emma kard and I uh just like to Pig you back on everything this young lady had uh said so it's no need of me trying to go behind her to repeat everything that she said but I'm quite disappointed I
remember when the robotics class had uh first opened up here at the school it gave so much promise and we were so excited about it and just to hear that it had been denied this last competition was quite uh a slap in the face because
it was such a beautiful asset to to the children here in the school so just to know that it had been denied and they weren't able to participate was quite disappointing to me so I think that they this is something that they cannot regain this is quite disappointing to
those students also so for whatever reason that it was to not have that here it it seems like it could have been worked out that these children wouldn't have had to put in so much energy and so much excitement towards having this uh
competition so I'm disappointed with it and I hope that somehow or another that you can restore as they said restore the roar that's taking the roar out of the what the um what they said the Tigers do restore the roar that took a whole lot
out of the Roar thank you thank you anyone else here for public comment you have the floor and our T only agenda item tonight is the fair State robotics field trip thank you um hi my name is
Chris uh Smith I teach Spanish here and so uh it's my privilege just to have an opportunity and I apologize for walking in late um so I'm aware of the agenda item uh to be honest I had not researched as as far as some of the
background of it so with respect to not trying to assume that I I know a lot of any of that I just wanted to comment that um I all those are important considerations I have a I've been to a robotics competition I thought that was a lot of fun um I've been to it uh just
to see some other groups uh competing um I know that uh bent Harbor I believe it was last year I was so proud to hear of of the achievement that they had um and I knew two of my students were also I think two years ago one or two years ago
were involved in it so I thought that was kind of fun seeing how that goes um but you know I'm sure that all those decisions will be looked at and you know may something new happen that that would work in the future for that's best for everybody um I also wanted to comment
about the observations I have regarding um progress in my tiger time with students utilizing their personal computers uh that are issued to them um I found that um recently I I received a few laner
computers where I was able to deliver those just to students for whatever reason they don't have a computer um that they were able to make more progress on some of their work um I think that when there's more accessible computers that are at the
discretion of the teacher to issue out I think that that's able to fill in some of the gaps where students again maybe for reason of a damaged computer or maybe for reason of um you know just not having turned in their permission slip or whatever it is the onetoone policy
where students receive their computer I believe I see it works for some students for some students it really doesn't work as far as um some some issues happen I can't I'm not trying to blanket statement anything where where they just don't have it available to them anymore
uh for making progress in their academic environment at least in my tiger time so I just wanted to share that from from the perspective of uh I don't want to take too long I just I like seeing the students when they got it and when they don't it's nice to have a few to issue
out and I'm glad I've got those now I've got a few of those so y thank anyone else here for public comment on the agenda item hello I'm Sophia um I am the robotics coach and teacher here at Ben Harbor High School um I'm
not going to cry all right so this is and I understand why my student is crying now because she's not going to be able to make it to the second competition and she worked really really hard on those
swerve Wheels swerve Wheels is something that we have never had here in Benson Harbor for one thing there were two expensive right so we worked on it and worked on it we got the grant money and we were able to build those swerve Wheels there was two individuals who
built those swerve wi and she was one of them plans changed after the competition was cancelled and now she's not going to be in state so she's not going to be able to see what she has created come to flourish now there was a lot of students
that have worked really really hard on this competition and for them and for for the competition to be snatched away the first one to be snatched away even though it was a weekend was crazy to me and also the one that is coming up for
next week the students don't even have class on Thursday and Friday so they're not missing school it's a Thursday Friday Saturday event so there's no reason why and the grant money was there so I asked why was the competition
denied because if you make it If you deny it for one organization check all of those reasons why it was denied for everything else across the board thank you all right I just have one point of
clarification our staff report says that this particular competition is March 25th is that correct a Tuesday that's correct okay I just want to make sure I don't have the wrong date so is there an addition are there two competitions or
what what what how many competitions do we have here that our kids could possibly go to there's one presented for tonight there was one for last weekend the one for last weekend was approved I said that that that sent that I sent that out
to the board it was approved on March 4th and this one was originally disapproved due to some concerns with academics but we're here tonight to make sure that we meet the qualifications of the grant and to make sure the students
get a chance to compete so um after speaking with the curriculum committee and trusty Gavin and I spoke afterwards and she called this meetings so that we can make this happen for the students all right so we're going to make sure that we maintain order at the table um
is there anyone else that is here for and that's my fault because I just wanted to clarify and make sure my staff report at the right date on it but um before we actually go into this discussion topic is there anyone else here for public comment on an agenda item you have the
floor Heather Mueller I actually my comment is for them I'm so proud of you guys you can speak in the mic I'm so proud of you guys I I know that you didn't get to go do the competition but you are recognized by all of the people in the district and I need you to speak in the mic I'm so sorry so proud of you
you are recognized by all the people in the district and and we are really proud that you represent us and I know that we always talk about the narrative in Bon Harbor and this is an academic competition this would have been a wonderful way to demonstrate what our kids do in this district and I I don't
understand why it was denied and also to see our students work so hard academically in something that is like she said astounding and then not get recognized if we didn't have this meeting tonight nobody would be speaking about it all the work that they did would go
unnoticed it's just really sad to me that it was denied and that we're in this situation and their students crying and it's not the first time that students have done things that um or things decisions have been made that haven't taken our students feelings into
consideration and um I think that's a shame because they're why we're here so that's all I have to say thank you all right I think we've gotten just about everybody so we're gonna um anyone else that I all right so we're going to proceed we
have one agenda item for the night um um under superintendent there is a fair State robotics field trip staff report C1 I'll allow Dr bus to present subject field trip to fairis State University date March 21st 2025 reason for board
approval the board shall approve field trips and other District sponsor sponsored trips that are planned to keep students out of District overnight or longer or out of the state Backson analysis the Benton Harvard School CTE program is requesting permission to take
10 high school students and two chaperon to Fair state for a robotics competition on March 25th 2025 this will be an overnight trip requires students chaperons and the bus driver to stay overnight during this event students will engage in Hands-On robotics
challenges collaborate with teams from other schools and apply their technical skills in a competitive setting this experience will allow students to deepen their understanding of engineering problem solving and teamwork while exploring potential career pathways in
stem and Robotics the objective of this of this trip is to provide students with real world exposure to Robotics and engineering careers allowing them to develop technical competencies build professional connections and explore postsecondary opportunities the total
cost of this trip is $784 4 policy reference policy 2340 field field trips and other District sponsor trips funding source world pool donation $5,000 and the Student Activity fund strategic plan
reference learn environment Benton Harbor area schools will develop maintain and Implement with Fidelity a multi-tier systems of supports that enhances the culture and learn environment recommended action that the bent har Area Schools Board of Education votes to approve the field trip far
State University for the CTE students as presented is there a motion to approve president I make a motion that we approve I second the motion the motion was made report number C1 okay the motion was made by BP B and supported by trusty raet Martin
I'll open the floor up for questions or comments regarding um the field trip BP B first um Madame President um I think we should give those young people that came up to speak a round of applause
that takes courage we hear you we value you and putting anything together is a Monumental accomplishment so keep doing it I've walked to school and I've seen you guys working on it stay encouraged and keep
going um I guess my question is what is the process with doing field trips like this if the principal sign off to recommend it to us and it came to us and then it was
then rescinded I'm just confused it's are we overstepping the principle that has the inw workings of the day-to-day of the building I I have a lot of questions but due to the stake of time what is the
process when the principal signs off on the field trip request so I can um Dr bus can speak to that if he would like to so the process is it goes to the building principal there's like five levels of of approv it goes to the
building principal it goes to um the director of academics then it comes to me we did have a meeting about this particular field trip at the time it was submitted there were some concerns with academics so the recommendation to me was to allow the weekend trip which was
approved which I sent to you earlier in an email and that this one um since it was during academic time to be paused but since the first one was missed we want to make sure that the students get the chance that they deserve to um showcase their talents I just want to
confirm that this was bought to us before though correct correct okay thank you so this is uh this staff report was on our February 25th agenda for the work session um when it was time and this is something that I communicated via email
um to the board when it was time to approve the agenda for the regular board meeting I did inquire about this particular staff report not being there I thought it was an oversight at that particular time I was told that it was due to academics at that particular time
but that there were two other opportunities for field trips because of the title and it being noted as a robotics field trip on the agenda I did not realize that it was an actual competition but in the conversation that I had with Dr bus I did say that in this
season we are trying to um encourage individuals with academic performance so I can understand if the district is making that a standard to try to encourage students to succeed however this is a competition um that is reflective of the work that they've been doing as it relates to stem and things
of that nature and so I did let him know that I I believe that the board would have strongly supported approval of this particular field trip um and so I wasn't present I would have let the board know that this was something that was different on the agenda but in my absence unexpected that day um I don't
believe that there was an extensive conversation for the board to realize that the actual competition was not present secretary triplet Madam president let me make myself perfectly clear this was an egregious move it was
wrong and I want to know who made the decision to cancel our kids from going to this competition the conversation about the grade the concerns that the counselors
brought before us was for the black college tour and they were going to be gone for weeks this was not a precedent for any other trips and most definitely not a precedent for a a competition for
our kids to go right down here to compete because see what what what what the real deal is to Simply this is our kids are the last thing on people's mind it's a whole bunch of Grown Folk
mess and that's the bottom line and there was never I don't I don't know who could get confused enough to think that we were ever talking about this trip this is a senior sitting here in tears who
worked and when we said before the state we have our stem program our robotics we have this and the other and she will never get an opportunity to even be in the competition for her hard work this is
academic the support academic so before I when this is over I want to know who canceled it I want to I want to know who went down this trip all of these trips were approved because
I think we need to know because this is where it comes to us as board members we answer to our community but one thing I will not ever tolerate and I sit in this seat it can be six to
one do not hurt our kids don't don't do our kids like this they do not deserve it is nothing nobody was confused and everybody sitting at the table no it it it's unacceptable I want to
apologize from the bottom of my heart that this ever happened to you and we did not protect you all but we did not know I'm closed with this I had no idea my wife was looking at the
competition the information was coming online and she asked Ronaldo where's Bon Harbor where are they I said they should be there only to find out that this
happened thank you madam president trusty rocket Martin Madame President with that being said I remember this coming to us in a work session and I also remember saying let's vote on this now I remember that it was people at the
table that said no let's carry it over to the work session we don't want to make a habit but I think from this is a good example to us there are times that we're going to have to make some exceptions had we voted in that work session this would have never happened
it would have been taken care of and and our kids would have been able to compete and go on so what I'm going to recommend is that we as a board look at our work sessions and if there are times that things come up that are necessary that
concern our kids we can make some exceptions and vote for them vote on the items that need to be voted on because I remember saying clearly if we all vote Yes okay I'll let it go but my first um inclination was to vote right then so
that it could be done and we would have been done with this this never would have happened that's not true trusty Gavin thank you president Robinson that's not true I am in agreement that
when it's issues of field trips um I am inclined to vote on those quickly but the vote that concerns me is the vote that leaves us with a leader who would deny them I'm just going to
keep it real and I'm not interested in anybody taking up for grown folks who don't take up for our kids that's just me and that's Unapologetic about me a child our children have been
fighting for their education for too long they should not have to fight Educators for their education that should never happen in this institution and it's our responsibility to protect them and to
make sure that this never happens again and I want to be clear that this has been happening there was just a few people who were courageous enough to say something out of
fear no one should have to be afraid to deliver educational experiences to our children and it's up to us to make sure that we create a safe space for them there is never a question as to whether an
engineering program with a culminating project that gives our students an opportunity to express their genius in Inventions they should never have to beg
for that right to do that in Benton Harbor area schools that's not who we are and I also want to be clear that I am grateful that we had an opportunity to come back to this moment and try to correct
it and it is an inconvenience to them to have to come and fight for their education for their teacher to have to do this on a Friday afternoon this is time they could have been preparing this is time they could have been celebrating the previous competition and I also want
to be clear um the question was asked to Dr bus why they did not attend the last competition and Dr bus indicated on our record that that event was
approved I'm looking at a document that says denied by Kelvin buts on March 4th 2025 and so I think that there is an explanation that needs to be given as to why I'm looking at a document that indic
case that Dr bus said that that local competition was denied and I do have a question does this robotics program receive state aid F funds from the state of Michigan Department of Education and if
so if if they did not attend those competitions would that put us at Jeopardy of losing our funding for the program from the state of Michigan Dr bus I know you sent us an mde document that reflected the requirements
the requirements was for one trip from the MD document that Mrs uh Brock Carter and I looked at okay and I just want to say it's at least one that means that's the minimum and we should not be making the minimums our maximums and if all of those denials would have went through
that means that our students would not have had an opportunity to participate and the robotics program would have been defunded by the state of Michigan I just want to be clear about that thank you any other comments from the board trusty
Doyle I would just like to apologize to you guys cuz there's no way you guys should not have been at that competition and I feel horrible that you missed that so I would like to I rarely give a
comment when other comment are given um if it's clear the direction that the board is is giving I just want to say that we are uh proud of the district for having the ability to have this as one of our CTE programs and Robotics competitions I think it's absolutely
amazing that we have students that have an interest and a passion in stem um and so I am truly in support of this particular field trip I think is exciting um I am because I have to pay attention the things I do see that we
don't have the coordinating documents that go with it for the particular field trip and pertaining to tr trusty rocket Martin's comment she did try to push it through um there was information or comments about it being a work session but I also was adamant that we wouldn't push it through because we didn't have
the coordinating documents I'm making an exception today because it's normally additional documents that we have that give us details but my ask would be that the board has sent those those forms um prior to to the team going so we can make sure we have the information
you all um the the all of the intricate details prior to you all actually leaving but I'm asking that the board it's my you know duty to make sure that I reflect that but I'm asking that the board I want the board to make sure that we're making the vote even though we don't have those coordinating documents
but I am truly in support of us doing so at this particular time because I do want to ensure that they get an opportunity and I'm um thankful that our students did find the ability you don't have to be shy I know I've said it a thousand times but I'm a person that is
U really compassionate and a big advocate of everyone using their voices not just students but I know it begins with you all being comfortable now I mean having the opportunity to be comfortable now will assist you in utilizing your voices as adults and so I
would challenge um Miss Mason in the district to find an opportunity to give our robotics team a chance to display um this particular robot or other projects I don't know if you guys tear the other projects up to recycle the um the
various parts or if you still have your previous robots but I think it would be amazing if you all could give the high school a small demonstration before the student body that's just the idea I don't know if there is opportunity to do that but that's just a suggestion um so that the other students have an
opportunity to take pride and honoring what they've been doing but that will also give our young student here an opportunity to show show your peers the wheels that you worked on and maybe you can give them more details as to why it's so difficult because a lot of us if we're not in that work we just see it
and we think it works and we don't understand the intricate details of it so we would ask that's an ask that I have it's not a mandate from the board but it's just a suggestion for you all um to work collaboratively with Administration to see and and principal Mor to see if there's an opportunity
before the student body that you all can do that so at this particular time all members of the board have had an opportunity to speak on the field trip it's 6:36 I am trying to be cognizant of time because we'll be right back here Tuesday so I would ask um secretary triplet can you please call the vote for
staff report C1 president Robinson yes vice president B yes secretary triplet yes trusty rocket Martin yes truste Gavin yes trusty Doyle yes motion carried all
right is there anyone oh so congratulations all right the next um item on the agenda is open public comment good evening again Tiana bati wadell 3:30 kofax Avenue southman Indiana the Jackson Spire Foundation
save the youth missana campaign and several additional citizens would like to first off thank whoever made the decision to have this special board meeting this evening to vote for the students to attend the robotics competition thank you for having the courage to step in thank you for all of
your attendance to do what is right and old to the children opportunity Board of Education you once again have an opportunity to make a lasting change for the betterment of the community of Bitten Harbor the time is here to secure
a moral leader and the greatest position of power in your District Jax expire Foundation is clear about what moral leadership is and expects it from the greatest person and power in your District the school superintendent should exhibit the following behaviors
serve others it's not about themselves but instead about the customer the students and the families manifest honesty be open honest authentic sincere and direct without hiding behind deception manipulation or pretenses is transparent clear expressing one's
thoughts feelings and intentions like a window safe workplace for all everybody should feel safe not just the select few leads by example walks the walk talks the talk talks the walk and walks the talk shows Justice demonstrates fairness
equal treatment holds perpetrators including themselves accountable advocates for marginalized groups and inspires and motivates for positive change respects others shows a sense of care treats others with dignity consideration and kindness builds
Community Fosters connections relationships and a sense of belonging among individuals and groups so once again jackon fire foundation will continue to hold this Schoolboard accountable and central office administration accountable to moral leadership because it is needed to
dismantle the current practices that are taking place to shut down this District a real leader would have had a rubric for the students so that they would have known what to expect there would have been no surprises all right anyone here for
anyone else here for open public comment hearing n Dr bus do you have an announcement or comment this evening at this time Madam president I did again I would like to state that U I did send to the board the approved trips
for this past weekend you all should have it in your emails but I am glad we were able to overcome this hurdle tonight to make sure that the students are able to compete next week at their competition so again congratulations to the students and I look forward to hearing some great news from the trip
all right up next we have board member announcements and comments trusty Doyle I would just like to um thank everybody that's watching I really would like to thank the students for coming out and stepping up and voicing making
your voice be heard um people watching um I just really want to say that the most important individual is our students and whatever it takes to get
them what they what they need to have a wonderful experience in our district is what we should be doing there's no way this child should be up here crying I feel horrible about that and I'm grateful that we had an opportunity
to fix that I invite each and every student to come to this Podium and voice your opinions and your thoughts and your concerns about what you want to see because it's all about you it's about you and what you want and what you
desire and your educational experience and we are here to put it in place and do the things to get it in order for you so please come come and talk to us and let us know thank you all right truste
Gavin thank you president Robinson um I love vocabulary I just have a love for words and um when I look up the word accountability it says the quality or state of being
accountable especially an obligation or willingness to accept responsibility or account for one's actions and so I've heard board members apologize but then I heard my
superintendent double down on an untruth and I'd be more than happy to share the documentation that I have before me with my colleagues um and regardless of all that an apology was still deserved um for
what our children and their teacher and Coach have gone through and are going through what was taken away from them I'm grateful that my colleagues came together tonight um in spite of funerals and other things
going on and came here to do right by our students and our community so I'm very very grateful for that I'm especially grateful to Mrs Welch Miss Baxter for coming in and speaking up on
behalf of their uh student body to show the world that Ben Harbor students do love learning have invested in their education do care about their academic careers and so this you know this was a
an opportunity for us to invest in that I think that other teachers would love to probably give them some credit for um stem it's it's science it's technology it's engineering it's it's math it's
it's all of those things it's English it's all of those things and I am also grateful to um the staff and to Tiana for coming and saying something very
difficult in spite of people feeling how they may feel about her she still cares she still cares about our kids and so I'm grateful to you I'm grateful to commissioner Canard for coming in and speaking up for our kids
because it defies The Stereotype that nobody cares about our kids we do care about our students and so I'm just hoping that moving forward and I don't mean any harm I don't mean to come off strong but when I see when I see a
student crying or I see like students harmed a different side of me comes out I can't even stop it and I won't stop it but it's not to be mean it's to say we have to do better by our children we have
to and so you know I want to thank everybody for coming out I think we took something that you know was negative and we turned it into a positive and we need to put some things in place to make sure that this never happens again and that we have leadership that will inspire our
students and make sure that they have the right platform to do what they need to do moving forward thank you trusty rocket Martin before you start please pull your mic forward a little bit my up closer yes please okay yes I'd like to also say you know
congratulations and I know that there are some opportunities that you might have um I don't know if you know about the Science Olympia probably saw out of Lake Michigan College I know there was a time that been harbored robonic out there
uh so you might want to check into that and then also for the elementary and the middle school kids can you bring your your uh traveling robotics to the school so that all of the kids can uh see it you know or if you we need to gather
maybe at the high school gym or something and have a little field trip so that all of your work is not gone unnoticed or undone you know and at the same time I also want to say that your work is in important and it's also
important for students to understand that their academics are important and so we want to raise everything if if the if you can't be on the basketball team because your academics or whatever you know but we our our focus is to get get
good academics out of everybody and robonic certainly would do that for science and math and engineering and so the same standard that we hold to them we want to hold for our whole District because it is important we want our
students to do well all the way around and and I'm for you I love science and engineering and those things I I worked with kids um when I was a consultant doing those kinds of things and provide those kind of opportunities for students
so whatever we can do as a board to support you let us know and and I remember when we all voted for you to have that position because we felt so strongly about the work that you do so uh we you have our support you have our
full support you know and so hopefully you know that whatever happen that it'll never happen again but we can also make our students to understand do your best do your best in your classroom do your best to get good grades do your best
because in the end that's what really really really counts because scholarships and opportunities afford themselves to you when you have good grades and and when colleges look at you and institutions of Higher Learning look
at you they do look at your grades so you know do your best do your best thank you trusty raet Martin secretary triplet thank you madam president you know I definitely will never allow anybody to take this and
make this about them this is about our kids um the last two Administrations you know and I I I I say to um trustee rocket Martin the board they bring before this board um overnight trips and things like
that and in that meeting as our president um stated that we needed documentation for the overnight trip but the trip to Baran Springs was not an overnight trip and so it does not fall into that category y'all can sit up and
play with each other in each other's faces like we often do but the last two Administration we we hold our kids to a standard and don't hold and don't hold adults to a standard because in order for you in that conversation when the counselors came before
us and the questions were asked the teachers the certified teachers these we pay people millions of dollars to do all of this who's failing our kid uh how how how how how how do we how
do we qualify how do we justify we had two administrations and we still got these hoes when it comes to providing a quality education for our student and
can do all of that bottom line is that our kids were denied an opportunity the superintendent was not the only person but is the final say that's our employee and we will get to to the
bottom of whatever this is because we know that you are are amazing there's students all over this country that could not stand in your shoe you all are the real
tiger because it's easy to be a tiger when everything is going well but when things aren't going well and you stand the ground we have people come back for their class reunion to the president of the Class of 1978 everybody come back and oh Ben haror woo woo woo
when we get we went to Ben haror Ben har this wasn't for us in the 60s and the 70s and 80s it was never for us I see people come to this Podium who also contributed and this is no indiv this is not about people who came tonight I watch a lot of people that
come to this Podium that also contribute to the demise and dismantling of this District I've never wavered because see tigers are predators they are never the pra I want to thank my colleague on this
board of education and our president to truste Gavin and all of them who asked us to come out on this Friday evening because it's a very busy time for me to vice president Bowen to trusty doy to trusty Rockette and to our steam president who had a
funeral that meant a lot to her and she decided to stay so don't ever let anybody let y'all think that you might see us not always agree but this board of education I say this
without I believe that everybody in this board of education we get through whatever it is that we talk about I know for a fact that all of us we love y'all okay we can't make it up they can go to
every school we we can never get that moment back but what we can do is let you know tonight that we love y'all we support y'all we as a
collective will fight for you all every last one of us and please don't ever think anything different thank you madam president thank you vice president bow you know
when a child is struggling academically you don't penalize them you add more resources you give more hands-on experience and that's what I think we need to look at JFK says it best leadership and learning are
indispensable to each other and when you label a kid that they have academic problems I think of Ben Carson who was a failing student but struggling and he had a a little bit more guidance and his mom and them
helped him and he became one of the best doctors in America and he did the first surgery of separating conjoining twins I think we have to look at listen to what they say but watch what they do
right I've said that for years now and I hope we're paying attention how did the ball get dropped when it was okay for it to come to us and then the next meeting it's not on the agenda if it was
no issue then what made it an issue later I have numerous questions but I'm glad we resolved it to you all never be afraid to use your voice your voice is your power and we don't understand or
here until you use your power so please make it a vow to yourself to stand up speak up even if it's standing up and speaking Al we hear you we respect you and we value you I seen you at Miss bitten Harbor and you were for you but you were
my number one I was just so proud to see you do not be afraid I've seen you guys working on it and I just want to say I apologize for for the mistake or whatever happened and we stand with you and again thank you truste Gavin
truste I'm Vice president I'm sorry president Robinson she called me 2 o'clock in the morning we well we talked at 2 o'clock in the morning um and I just want to say thank you well three well I was late for work so yeah three but I was you know just talking and I
just want to say thank you guys for sounding an alarm and bringing us to the table I hope that all accommodations are met with Miss Mason and the robotic team from transportation to Hotel I hope we are not putting you in a motel six but a you know a nice
hotel I expect good accommodations and if you guys know how to reach me if you have any questions please do not hesitate to find me on Facebook I don't think none of you are blocked or anything day so find me on Facebook and I will be there for listening to you and
we'll raise your questions thank you and God bless you all all right so it's about 6:55 so I'll be brief I just want to thank everyone for um being willing to come out tonight I did send the email I think it was 1:00
in the morning calling the meeting um was it 1:00 Wednesday or Thursday morning um for everyone to be here and and trusty Bowes did email me back to call him and we were on the phone that night until 3:00 in the morning so I
appreciate everyone for making accommodations in their schedule I know trusty raet Martin specifically had an event that she cancelled as well so that we could be here um so we are grateful that you all will have the opportunity to go grateful for Dr bus also making
accommodations in his schedule as well as the staff that are here and the the guests that have attended with within 24 notice of a meeting um we're grateful Mr mcgr I know you probably expected to be free this Friday you you hold us down 10 toes and I would like to acknowledge
that because I think that you're an individual that rarely gets acknowledgement at the meeting but you're here with us regardless to whether we leave at 11:00 or 11:30 we can depend on your presence so we thank you all we wish you the best in the competition um we know that you all are
going to do amazing I do look forward to seeing pictures um online as well and if you all do decide to do a exhibition of some sort with the school for the school I think that would be awesome but I would also like for us to consider
hosting a robotics competition ourselves we can choose not to have to travel and can bring the competitions to us if you build it they will come so I think and and that's the challenge um to B harbard area schools we don't have to always attend everyone's events we can host our
own um start our own wave so I thank you all uh 656 so at this particular time I'll ask for a motion to adjourn my name is there a sec okay second the motion so I'll take vice president bows
as the motion being made and I'll actually take Doyle as a support because I heard her prior to truste Rocket Martin um secretary triplet can you please call the vote and take us home they were talking so fast I thought
they were speaking in a foreign Tong I don't know what they were saying everybody want know Jour um president Robinson yes vice president Bowen yes secretary
triplet yes trusty rocket Martin yes trusty Gavin yes truste Doyle yes motion carried all right the meeting is adjourned officially at 6:57 p.m. have a great
evening B br