iorder United States America do camer tonight just what we have to do I'm sorry this meeting is meeting [Music] [Music] meeting I'm sorry questions submitted to
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has by secary supported by comid Robinson yesid no secary yes Martin
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Sor all right [Music] com and welcome to the public this my first time up thank are you familiar with our public [Music]
name3 pres Robinson members of the board Dr bus and everyone else here attendant uh I have to start like this I was co- facilitating an base bargaining session on the other side of the say and I just announced that I've been hired as
director 5 for houses pretty sure that they have no idea what that was uh so I puted in my hand you know michig like to do and a management attorney one who at Le from the law firm that start all you just blurted this out
you yes I'm the new uh and it's a great way to explain a lot in a few words so the [Music] metime i t High School social studies for 28 years history political science coures to the way commun College
District for about 20 I was President by my loc for about 10 years and been organizer for that as an organizer has sh most it's pretty cool that theth President of the United
States in our it's the same question so many words that I've ask you and the response empow in a pretty good way so aser director I met and I
SCH great contact and the level of cooperation my respective sides that I've literally never seen before it really makes me think that the stage set amazing things I love the opportunity to me and
talk informally about this and when we're done if you Haven already answer question I'm looking forward to the [Music] answer thank you very much for your time consideration and I look forward to a great
[Music] [Music] [Music] meeting asind this is our session our V willing V
420 12 session 529 64 611 625 79 7 as well as special session 88 and regular session 8 or um of course those are not Cur because they to the board however you all do
have of [Music] your ask [Music] [Music]
um thank you so very much all right next up um is board business as a reminder protocol of 9 our first item AP
and I will pass to G and then as not [Music] you have an updateing [Music]
[Music] yes I was not my best last week I was not able to make it to the [Music] UMC [Music] onest
and [Music] to I contact afterwards um to just kind of get an update on what happened um one thing that that was identified as super important
is that cell phon has been identified as a distraction um it's a nationwide issue um some states are doing Statewide BS of cell phon and so we are looking at a policy um that will
um that will change the way that we are allow kind of stop allow s on use in the buildings we are kind of deciding whether or not we would allow C use
during um or be no cell use at all a pretty hot topic and I think that this is what's most important is getting input from the SCH board getting input from the St that are impacted getting
the input from the students and the parents saying other all of the input and kind of figure out how can make commun out how make that the policy is how can make
administra guidelines are in place so that or whatever you do um is done in a way that everybody knows what's expected and we know how to move a so the cell
phone I asked um Dr to um look at the op and we accept thec you know so why you the one that you yes so the one that I chose is for
the students to have their phones at school but not out during any part uh reason being is that a lot of times not a lot but what we say at least 80% of the time our
confs soci so the cell phones would be for Apple School update where they're going uh where they should be and any they during the day the the child the child
should be called to the office so that there won't be distraction class so it's not to say they can't get parents or parents them just going through the office
construction the other rale one one of question the was why not lunch that also time soci and have a brawl at some part
of the day so if if I understand being inherent myself the importance cell but I also understand I need to call my child to give up office to run
thank you Dr so it's a conversation we had right debate um toall opportun for folks to share their opinion and then come up with a recommendation so um that's something to be thinking about
there's also about 22 policies that I would like the board to take a look at um as a first reading there a lot of them but there were two policies in particular that Dr are important for us
to um to passy 2264 [Music] and particular [Music] thank you in these policies they deal with title n Law changes so basically
what the only did was clean up the language for the district for us to adopt and to remove the unnecessary language according to the law change uh the law has already taken F so the the
the new language and the necessity changes at the begin of school so I as I read the I recomend the board of for the school district in
our I have no to one of those policy recommendations especi they are any questions anything m second then thank you so much for listening
that up um secretary so yes there are quite a few policies most of it is just making sure that we are in line with um but definitely have an opportunity to study them free to let us
know it appreciate let us know before we do the second um in the me um um okay go ahead and
[Music] [Music] for harud poliy [Music] aded polies C
administ and not for and approv the following polies are recomended foris and or addition byw polic reference to nondiscrimination on the basis of sex educ programs or activities
need policy toist non nondiscrimination on the basis of sex and education programs or activities re Poli reference 01311 bylaws and
policy reference facilities operations are will develop Implement and evaluate a responsible plan that ensure physical and psychological safe recommended action at the V har area school of Board of Education FKS to approve the Ben area
school Revis reissue the bylaws policy 224 and 226 there motion to approve stand S1 thetion SEC
byid Robinson yes vice president B Martin [Music] yes also cell pH issue [Music] asate that and any other Poli identifi
to be important put on the Forefront that's something [Music] [Music] than [Music] okay so at this time the Board of Education will take a vote to enter a
Clos session for policy 01672 and this is to consider Miss f 01672 f to consider material consider material of council which are from
discuss by state federal statute requ V the opin C that we will be from firm so at this time I ask is there a motion to end Open Session and cl
session is there a support the motion has secretary Robson yes Vice all right particular time just for the public we're go room here to do our session um because it's not the public
we will I do not anticipate long more than welcome to stay um in the event come out [Music] REM
live so I am ending as31 is there a motion to end close session and return to open session I make a motion to end close session and return to open session is there a second or
support supp the motion has been made by truste rocket Martin and supported by secretary triplet that we end close session in return to open session any questions comments or concerns hearing none secretary triplet
president Robinson yes vice president B no secretary triplet yes trusty rocket Martin yes trusty Gavin yes motion carried all right so we are returned to open session as of 7:21 p.m.
next up on the agenda we are at section three superintendent updates provided um we are going to pass the floor to Dr buts he's going to be presenting the partnership agreement update and the Strategic plan Dr but yes ma'am M president thank you would you like for me to go over this
now at the ACT actual board meeting the template is new that we have um I have the uh all the notes from the meeting that we took you can just give us a just explain what's different with the template and then if we you can give it more of a thorough explanation to the public okay so the temple is is is just
a new setup it's a new setup from uh makes it look a little bit easier and a little bit easier to read um on this last meeting basically we introduced the new cabinet we talked about um the things that we have going on that were
plann for this school year um how everyone was getting acclimated to their positions um and integrating what we had already started making a few changes as we go and uh looking at our corrective actions
and how will we how will we be preparing excuse me how will we be preparing for the upcoming uh 18month Benchmark Review all right thank you um so what I would ask the board uh Dr buz has
provided the um partnership agreement agenda and notes um from a recent meeting I would ask that you all kind of skim through it um as stated previously I've asked that he kind of maintain the agenda um so that even even if you are not present in
that meeting you're able to see um the updates that the district is providing to the state as well as the progress that they are making so if you guys have any questions um be prepared for those at our regular board meeting Dr bus will be presenting it thoroughly then and Al
I didn't want to get too deep into it because some of the committee reports are going to be reflected in this partnership agreement notes okay so I know one of the questions that was asked earlier by trusty Gavin her answer is actually in this report but I rather
wait for Miss Nichols to give her report too so all right um trusty Gavin thank you okay so just in regards to our um in regards to our partnership agreement
um are there is there anything in there in which they express any concerns about um like Finance um us you know needing a Director of
Finance they did not they will be addressing the concerns at the 18mon benchmark so what we were given the opportunity to do at the at the partnership we built it um and then we built in benchmarks well that 18month bu Benchmark was built in so we had 18
months to work on what we built work around work towards the goals that we uh set for ourselves so those will be be the ones that will be identified at The 18mon Benchmark meeting and that's in
November correct that's correct that's correct I'm thinking about the time we have to get our stuff together so we actually start preparing next month next in the next few weeks as a matter of fact does the state have any expectations of us as a
district to have a Director of Finance no as long as we have a business office manager this at this time did they indicate that in writing they have not indicated that in writing is it possible that we can get some think um
from the state indicating where they stand on that issue I was told that this was something that was important that you know we have partnership agreement it's important for us to have a director finance and now it's not important
anymore I didn't say it wasn't important I'm just saying we we're not falling out of compliance I can ask but I'm not sure if that will fall under the day-to-day operations for them to prescribe
that so to speak so I can ask Miss Chapman the uh op office of partnership District's director but I'm not sure if that crosses the line of the day-to-day operations I know we are in compliance a district our size typically has a
Director of Finance I can say um and that was going to be part of Miss Bach Carter's presentation tonight but I'll jump ahead and I can say that uh Miss Brock Carter is in preparations of of
moving forward to get her CFO credentials she's seven classes away and so she she actually be overqualified when we only require a director so she's working actively through msbo and the the hopes for me um
for our district is to again be financially uh Pro with our funds and grow our own not just in our teachers but in our Central Administration for continuity and for consistency okay and how long do you an
anticipate that too so her seven classes depend on msbo so she's going through msbo as soon as they become available she's able to take them some of them are on demand some of them are
schedule um so in in in theory with one class that that's not being offered until next June if they get enough participation enough interest that class could be offered before June so in theory she actually actually can be done by
February but we we we we would have to kind of PLL and see if there's interest for that one additional class that she would need okay so Dr bus I would just ask that you just send Gloria a quick email just as a I guess uh proactive
measure for November as we prepare and then that way she'll either say that's within her scope of uh reference or it's not um and she might send us elsewhere or she may say nope looks like you have a office manager you guys are secure at this point but just so we have some type
of clarification of what to anticipate in November yes ma'am just a quick question clear it's my last question are you saying that someone from the state told told you that we do not have to have a Director of Finance and that a
office manager covers that requirement I I didn't say that I said that we were in compliance with having a director Finance last year I served an entire year of superintendent and CFO which was uh threat in the line of the law because
they requir someone in that office either either a business office manager or someone to handle the daily finances versus the superintendent so uh that's why I went and got my business office manager certificate but it was just to keep us in compliance so
with now with Miss B Carter having her same certificate that I was able to earn was still in compliance because she holds the exact same certificate that I I went to class for last year during in in the absence of a CFO sorry last question is Mrs Brock Carter also
covering the grant coordinator position as well she along with uh accounts payable and who else is helping out with grants and the accountant in the office are all in the all in the office are all
hands on deck with with Grant compliance and I also am am involved in ensuring that we are pulling down our funds from the uh from our titles from Esser Etc so
I oversee the the the draw Downs of those funds so multiple people are covering that okay thank you all right um so we're going to proceed with the Strategic Plan update Dr bus is there anything that you would like to point out at this time or would you prefer to
give that during the standard business meeting I'll give that during the standard but I would like to make the statement that with the Strategic plan it was a it was a community effort so there were no benchmarks built in so when typically when
I uh report out on those I know secretary trippet was saying it sounds like we're I'm saying the same thing so I came up with some kpis at at your uh directive to come up with some KP key performance indicators so I go
over those indicators as we're working on them but when the Strategic plan was made there were no benchmarks there were no kpis made and it was a public uh document so if the board would like to work together to produce some benchmarks
for the Strategic plan um I'd be happy to we you know have we can have a board retreat on that and get some guidance on that because it was a public input session on that one so for for um I
think I'm the one that initially asked for some form of Benchmark well not the I didn't ask about kpis I just really what it is that I am wanting okay is something that you all can look at to say that we've made
progress in this area we are legitimately doing this this is something we are doing and we are doing it by ABC and D this item is something we've yet to tackle we're going to make it a goal to make sure that we've tackled this by November 2024 so it's
not necessarily that we want you to rewrite or that I and I know the board kind of supports it it's not that we want you to rewrite or create metrics out of you know I just want to make sure that you all have some checks and balances to keep us moving forward in the Strategic plan and it's not just
something that we um made money to create but are not going back and referencing it and and that was why I asked for it to be at the on the agenda because I want it to be front and center in everything that we're doing it's our road map and I just want us to make sure that we are looking at the road map
monthly but that you all internally are actually going and saying okay we need more of this less of this we've overlooked this agree yes ma'am and so strategically we've been doing that as we when we made the partnership agreement and the myip that was top and foremost as we looked at our make sure
that everything aligned with the Strategic plan because when we first did it the the the first question that was asked was you know can we use that as our kind of like God God post so that we won't be recreating the wheel so thank you for that reminder because we did
write the Strategic plan into the partnership agreement and you all are meeting often and looking at those um so thank you thank you for that mam secretary triple yeah so I I I too when when when the the Strategic
plan was written and even as far as last year uh there was that was a a community effort and so it does not have to have a quote unquote checklist with everything since this strategic plan was put
together by the community of over 50s something people there are when you look in each sections all you have to do is go into those sections for each one of those sections and so since you've been here almost two years the things that you
have done that that that's evidence that that's in alignment with it so it's not we need to meet again we might need to look at that group of people who did the the um uh who who participated it was a
wide group of people board members recommended people the superintendent recommended people people were identified from all from all different spaces and places so it's not a very difficult thing to do um and when we talk about the partnership
agreement the Strategic plan um update the alignment and what you have it does is just showing you just show for me all I see is a strategic plan I I I I'm I'm familiar with strategic plan because I was a part of that team um there is uh
but one thing that is very very very concerning to me is in all of this that we're doing I have never heard once mention how the district Improvement plan falls into place with this because
the district Improvement plan is the plan that reads all of this work and so the district is not a a separate and so I just don't hear that type of conversation I don't I don't know um
what you all are doing as a district um as it relates to the district Improvement plan um but um yeah so I I I would like for you to with with the partnership agreement I saw as I peruse through that
there were areas several areas that said not started and we almost at the 18th month and so I don't know what those areas are why those areas were not started maybe you can give us some clarification next week you have to do it today yes sir and because I see on there that you have
this one this person is supposed to do this then the other so do and and hopefully at the board meeting next week you'll be able to give us a general idea are we in danger somebody should have that kind of I don't need the answer tonight okay is there anything that's alarming when we get this review this
conversation with this and community be shot and I think it this just needs to be some updates because a lot of things we've not only started we've actually completed great that's good thank you all right um so next is the superintendent goals um the last time
that we met there was additional um clarification that Dr buts needed and I volunteered as president to work collabora with Dr bus on that our meeting that we were planning to have last week was it Wednesday yes ma'am we were unable to have um Dr bus had a long
day and so did I so we did not um meet that particular day but we will follow up when we come back to the board with our regular board meeting we will have the goals presented so we can get those finalized so I just want to um take ownership in um taking the lead to
cancel the meeting we had scheduled um and I will follow through on ensuring that we get that done um president R yes ma'am okay so I just you know I believe that I you know I get that I respect that
you're taking responsibility and I understand that right here is saying that there's clarification requested I believe that we've been very clear about the goals and I believe that you know writing goals is a pretty simple task for a
professional we teach our students to write goals um as teachers um as young as Elementary and I'm and I'm not saying that to be offensive in any way um it is a task that you know at an executive
level the expectation is that that will be done um especially we're months into this conversation we were very specific about you know what we were requesting there is video recording YouTube
postings of what we said um as a true academic um any top level you know sixf figure professional can go back review the tape write the goals down and make adjustments as it relates to him so you
know and and and quite honestly that is supposed to be the opportunity for the board members to say hey these are the concern areas that we have in regards to the goals in regards to our you know student uh count um our student presence
in regards to our you know culture and climate of our buildings in regards to us moving forward as a district um academically and so you know we just haven't had that opportunity to have that explicit conversation at the board table that we're supposed to because
this has this can has been kicked down the um down the road over and over again and quite frankly um I would like a motion I would like to make a motion to add to the agenda an item to reprimand the superintendent
for disciplinary action I'm speak okay so right now there is a motion on the floor is there a second or support Second did you hear the motion yes I heard it okay so the um the motion has
been made by uh trusty Gavin that we can you repeat your motion trusty Gavin that we amend the agenda to include uh disciplinary action of the superintendent all right and that was
supported by vice president Bowen is there a support to that motion yes I support it okay so the motion has been made by trusty Gavin and supported by vice president Bowes that we amend to the agenda to allow for a vote for disciplinary action for the superintendent any questions comments or
concerns Madam president uh Dr but as an ex uh official member of the board I do have a a comment I like to make okay so we're gonna go to vice president bow I think this is a Witch Hunt it's
foolish it's naive it's Reckless and it plays to the history of what we've been doing for the past several years enough is enough with this foolishness it has to stop this is ludicrous the people people elected us
to get results done not to reprimand vote no on one thing when he submits his goals and then try to reprimand him enough is enough with this foolishness put the little games aside and let's do what we're supposed to do and let's write for our children this is naive
irresponsible this is ludicrous this is not bringing kids back this is sending people away it is not recruiting excellence and teachers it's not recruiting students enough is enough God darn it and it's time for us to stand up and say something about this stop it
stop with the game stop with the gotcha politics stop with the reality shows and let's do what we're supposed to do and let's put the children here first let's stop with this enough is enough that's it thank you vice president Bowen uh trusty raet Martin yeah I wanted to say
something before can you pull your mic I wanted to say something before the motion was made for the superintendent's goals with the new uh law or um template that's coming out from the state of Michigan they are recommending from our training that we
and the superintendent sit down and do the goals together and Madame President that's what I would like to see happen it is in unison of and not separated from We're All in This Together therefore we would the goals that the superintendant would have would also be
the goals that the board would have that the district would use and so that makes it our we can all take ownership it's not the superintendent's goals it's our goals it's us working in conjunction with our superintendent to for the
betterment of our kids we have to stop being separate we are one unit striving to move forward we have individual ideas but we have to work as one unit going forward and so my Mo my
recommendation is that we sit down literally with our superintendent and if you want to have a committee or whatever and formulate the goals that we want to see for our district not for our superintendent but for our district and
we will work toward those goals and that's what the superintendent would work for and that would be for the betterment of our entire District not just one person not just the board but for everybody and all of our
students secretary chipet uh Madame President I I it it it's important for um everyone to know um that we do our superintendent does have to have specific go that is a part of the
requirement uh for the superintendent the board has gold and so those two are two different things you know um not sure where this is going or you know
just I'm just just sitting here looking at you know we we say we're for kids we say we're for we're for our district I can only speak for myself I am for Ben Harvard area school each board member
has a right to do whatever it is that they feel is necessary but it must have uh uh a majority of support and so again I uh the back and forth and
the I'm a little bit confused um why would you second something that you don't support My Prerogative that's good but I just wantan because right now I'm not campaigning um I'm serious about this thing point of information I think the trustee is doing personal attacks and
accusing me of campaigning and he's not staying to the subject if it don't apply okay so I'm gonna I'm going to remind the board that I am the chair and I'm the only person that can pass you the floor um so I would I would ask that everyone else just allow secretary triplet to finish his comment yeah and
I'm I'm just a firm believer of this if it don't apply let it apply because this is a serious matter and I think it's important that we do support our superintendent all the way you know and so there are areas that all things that we need to you that we
have to work on but we're just starting a new school year and there is a way in which you do think you know um he's human um just like we are and deserve the same courtesy that
any employee is deserving of and there is a thing called due process and there's a way in which you address people and do things so I mean you know I I'm not I'm not saying either way but each one of us have a right to say what
it is that we want to say individually but when it comes down to it is collective there's no one person on the board that that leads anything like that all right and just to remind the board we're simply at the motion to amend the agenda for the vote uh truste
Gavin thank you president Robinson um I assure you that as a resident that was born and raised in Benton Harbor and alumni of Benton Harbor High School core Renaissance and gifting and talented
academy that I'm very serious about our Tigers this is not a Witch Hunt this is what business professionals do when they identify areas of concern there is a
pattern of concern in which this um my colleagues have allowed to let slide let slide let slide let slide that should not be the Benton Harbor way these are things that would not slide in any other
District in which Excellence is held at a high standard goals is the the basic area of concern I if you go through our recordings there are other
areas of concern in which disciplinary action must be taken and when the board of educ covers for those areas you are saying that you're okay with those things our
children deserve the best and if we do not get these disciplinary actions on file it will indicate to the community that you as the majority board members are okay with the things that have
happened and so I'm not going to get into the details of the issues that are very public and that impact our children my child this community but we have a responsibility nothing is personal here
I think that Dr busz is a nice person but when it comes to being professional and and it's time for disciplinary action we have a responsibility to get that in writing and that and neglecting that is neglecting our
children thank you uh thank you trusty Gavin I think just about everyone is spoken so I will uh take an opportunity to do so as well as it relates to the goals yes this is a conversation that we've had for a few meetings um we've had different sessions where different board members have given the
superintendent input he's provided both uh goals to us that he felt was sufficient but it was communicated from the board that we needed more and so what the superintendent is asking for is the board support in developing goals that are sufficient to us and so as um
the president of the board and as his supervisor I believe that if you have a staff member that communicates to you that they need support that support should be given so it it's not me uh trying to give excuses or make excuses for Dr
budor is not that I think that he's not um intelligent enough to to create his goals but as a highlevel executive he has said I need some clarification and support and so as his president of the board is my obligation I'm going to do that for him I'm more than welcome to uh
assign a committee um which I will do under new business to make sure that we can get it finalized um and so that's where I am um being that everyone is spoken I'm going to ask the secretary tripet call the vote for the amendment of The the
agenda president Robinson no vice president bow no secretary triplet no truste rocket Martin no truste Gavin yes motion failed all right so um while
we're on that topic I have created an aot committee which our policy allows me to do at any point um just a reminder to the board of aot committee is a committee that's temporary um so to this committee I'm assigning secretary triplet trusty raet Martin and myself
there's three of us all three of us will not need to be present but we will work on a time um where two or all three of us can meet with Dr bus and get this finalized so that we can bring it back to the board on our um September board meeting and that's how we're going to
resolve that okay next up we have teaching and learning um and we're going to pass the floor to director cups you have the floor and I know secretary triple is going to give his committee update but I didn't know if it was anything that you
wanted to speak to direct ctor cups or anything that you had to say today uh one comment that was made after the math training last week before school started was and I quote now that is professional development okay awesome
uh another point I'd like to clarify from the previous board meeting um there was a special committee that put together the back to school bash um and they are not not necessarily only from
teaching and learning but miss Nicholls Miss Brock Carter um Miss Booth uh Miss Hoover Matthews Miss Matthews uh Miss Martinez miss good Dr
Goodson we're all instrumental in putting that incredible event together if anyone uh was present at that event it was exceptionally well done uh we had uh individuals from mde here and from uh
McGraw Hill who work with schools across the state and across the country and they said they have never seen anything like that and they were highly impressed uh they saw families come at the beginning and stay the entire time was
fantastic uh and we would also like to clarify that the 1,200 backpacks that were provided for all students uh for uh Benton Harbor area schools were sponsored by our new partner communities
and schools of Michigan awesome thank you so much secretary tripley did you have an update that you wanted to make today for curriculum in sped or did you want to do that at the next meeting no I can do it um okay you have the floor I had requested a meeting with the superintendent as chairman of the
curriculum committee to uh meet the new director of teaching and learning and so we had an opportunity to meet today with the superintendent and what I wanted to do was first of all find out her availability and we just not stick with
the old schedule of the previous a chief of of of academic because her schedule and she's a different person and so we were a able to meet today and the day that would work best for her um would be Tuesday evening and so yeah so I I will
get with our uh curriculum committee I just wanted to get that information to bring to the curriculum committee you said what day A Tuesday so it's kind of like you know we have our board meeting we gu right and so and one thing too one thing too is that I I was going to uh
recommend talk to the uh president to m president I think we just need to lay out you know what we what we have these meetings and schedules of these meetings and what have you so won't be so overwhelming for our superintendent number one and we discussed that today
too because the superintendent does not have to be at all of those meetings but he is welcome to come to those meetings and so he we discussed him strengthening his team so he can feel comfortable for them without him having to be there
think in the previous administration that was a major concern for the superintendent so the superintendent started to come to all of those meetings and so when he feels comfortable um then he can make that determination and decision as it relates to um the the
curriculum so that's basically what we talked about today um so I would get with is uh myself Miss um TR I'm sorry trusty rocket Martin I'm G to say trusty rocket rocket Martin and Trust Gavin and so
we'll see because truste Gavin chairs a comedy as well and so we can pick the time that we want to do it so that was a great great meeting today for us thank you all right thank you um yes yes just reminder to speak yes speak
into your mics so basically just to simp simplify it had a meeting with um to the um with the director of of teaching and learning career curriculum um we deci we we we looked at she looked at her schedule and um we
selected Tuesday she gave me toothy would be best for her and so I'm going to take that information back to the committee and then we're going to get on at ASAP so we can get to moving um with the curriculum committee all right thank you
uh truste gav oh thank you so I had some questions around um the curriculum and sped committee uh again I'm hoping that perhaps we can start kind of getting information in a report form that would
give us the information that we need to know about academics to make those informed choices I'm very much interested in updates on the progress of um special education you know just knowing that they have all the resources
that they need what progress are they making um you you know questions around academic performance I know it's the beginning of the year but maybe test schedules like we're going to you know this is what we're doing in terms of testing this is what we're doing in
terms of curriculum um very much interested in ongoing updates on careers and Technical education all of our not all of our parents but many many parents and just Community knew that Ben Harbor
used to be the Pinnacle of skill Tech vocational classes and so you know just wanting some ongoing updates on the progress of those classes and then even the classes that might be
electives right now but then um have an opportunity to be um qual have the opportunity to qualify to become uh careers in technical education courses and then also wanting to know
what is the transition plan you know with us you know not having that uh CTE coordinator anymore what is you know what is the plan that's in place to um provide the support and services that those staff
need in order to you know meet the demands of that department so yeah just really wanting some type of robust report on those areas as well thank you so much vice president Bowen hi Mr Robin I'm got
a quick question about our guidance counselors or any of them are we double training some of our staff that they will have to be substitute teachers if it's a vacany and does that put them behind in doing
that so we looked to um to ensure that we had substitutes in any classes that still had teacher vacancies uh we are discussing uh using the floating Subs instead of strictly in
a single building but floating into whichever building has the need for a substitute that isn't covered through another source like edist staff for that day um and as a tertiary plan uh we discussed anyone who would meet the
qualifications for a substitute license to have them um with that substitute permit uh if they have the 60 credits or more just as a tertiary if all else fails kind of situation but not in a um
a plan for them to be the first line of coverage in a class that uh the teacher was unable to be there so I've noticed in past experiences and hopefully it's not this year that we've had some sub you know some teachers
things happen where they could be gone for a month or a week or two does that not put that guidance counselor behind making sure our children have the college the credits so I understand what you're asking but we would never ask the
guidance counselor to step away from their position to fill a role of a substitute position for an extended amount of time this would only be in a situation where all other resources were exhausted for maybe a daily absence if
we all the floating Subs were utilized or unavailable all of the um substitutes that are uh requested through Red Rover um and filled with edges staff were exhausted and we needed to ensure we had
um someone that was permitted appropriately to cover the class but it would we would never ask um someone in a let's say a guidance counselor position to step away from their role and their important responsibilities to cover in
that capacity so out just and sorry madam president you still have time just out of curiosity how did that happen last year what was what's different from last year versus this year Mr mcdermid would you like to
answer that question I can't speak to what happened last year because I'm not 100% % positive on that I think I would need more information about that specific situation that you're probably referring to so the question is so for example last year we did not use guidance
counselors or any support and I understand things happen um support staff that have college credits um the 60 to be substitutes this year I understand where it's the last line of defense what change are we expecting a
shortage or anything or we're not expecting a shortage I think that that conversation happened today to be proactive um to make sure that we don't end up in what I think you're referring to situations as to where students were
questioning about credit to not having someone present so I think what um the conversation is exploring all options to make sure that we don't end up in that situation where a student or a classroom is uncovered for an expended period of
time meaning like you said A week or so so that I believe was the conversation making sure that we have all layers of support if we needed all right thank you okay so trusty uh vice president BS I guess I'm I I'm lost in the bre of the
board probably is too so what I've what I've received from the conversation or discussion is that there was a meeting where some staff or commun I'm not understanding where this is coming from you know my ears to the streets and I was your ears to the street about a meeting that happened today I was out
and about and somebody um go ahead okay I just wanted to make sure I didn't miss the email or I was okay so this is something that's fresh and okay it was question and I just you know I had some clarifications okay I
don't know if the you know it was something discussed in committee or anything yes so that's why I was asking um we still um okay so if if we're done with the that question secretary tripl you don't really have a report was there
something more for you to chair or yeah I I just haven't been able to I I I know it's just yeah anyhow it's it's um um that's something that we'll we'll talk um director
CS CS director cups we'll we'll will'll talk and I I'm glad to hear that that's something an issue um get an opportunity to have a discussion about what's happening as it relates to coverage in classrooms and what have you um for our
our our our teachers and the vacancies that haven't been filled I think that's kind of like a human resource piece I didn't know how that had to do anything with curriculum so I'm quite sure that'll come up in the um the the chairman of the human resource committee will handle that within his division but
I will I will talk to you about that all right thank you so very much that concludes my um curriculum committee report all right and just a reminder uh to the board I know you all are always super excited to
cheer your portion of the meeting but for some reason if I'm running late or absent everyone's having a fit so just want to remind you all you're able to cheer in my absence um as well when that occurs just thought I'd throw that little bit of shade out there all right
next up Human Resources um we're going to pass to director Marvin mcdermit but I'd like to ask trust Bowens are you providing a human resources update today or would you prefer the regular board meeting I think so with the shade that was thrown I will give an update today
all right you have the floor um the HR committee has been actively recruiting getting making sure that we are equipped for our first day of school as trustee secretary Tripper did state that we are developing a
contingency plan if we do not have substitute teachers or we cannot call anybody from edu staff that we have a contingency a contingency um Marin I'm gonna give it to you sir Mr mcder you have the floor so thank
you for that brief update um if there's more to come in the next two weeks uh vice president bow you can provide that a further update I'm pretty sure we may have met an additional time but but I am going to pass the floor to Mr mcdermit
um we're not taking votes on anything today so you can just kind of peruse through the report I mean through your through your report and then I'll give way for any uh questions or comments at that time and then hopefully my desire for the board is that when we meet the
next time we can just go strictly to a vote um so Mr mcder thank you president Robinson and if I may I just want to provide two other updates that I did not provide to the HR committee if that's okay that's perfectly fine thank you so uh on um August 19th we had our um new
staff orientation and it was good to see the feedback from the team um present the 11 or 12 I think new hires that were present and you know we did uh I like to use the word Icebreaker or a group
activity and kind of the recap from that day was um they were excited to see the diversity in the room from educ background ethnicity and all of that so I just want to emphasize that that was something good to hear um along with that you know as we focus on we hear
that term the whole child one of the things we're focusing on the human resources department is making sure that our staff feels supported in all aspects so one of the things we're just doing as well for this month or this quarter is a hydration challenge um as someone who
just really Sly came back from being sick I believe um your health is wealth so anything we can do to support um physical well-being um is something we want to always emphasize so I just want to put it out there right now throughout the district we have a challenge uh hydration challenges going on that I
think is um something to help us you know work together as a team um healthy com competition but with the mindset of trying to make sure our team is always um optimal to uh support our students so those are can you share that challenge with me I sure will I I is it something
too a little bit too much for me to handle I I don't think so okay so I think I think uh all good practices start from the top sounds good so if you would share with us I will I will commit to doing the challenge with the district okay president Robinson I think our war
bill is already tripled with this challenge I'm just saying so I will I will do it with you um so I think that's absolutely amazing um I'm I'm kind of excited about that so if you guys give me more details I will join and I will
commit sure uh proactively so we were a little late on this one um to push that out through the HR Committee in advance so the team and maybe the entire board is aware of what the challenges we're doing quarterly um through the district okay so I'm signing on I'm G uh do that
trusting you I don't think it's anything that I'm be I can't handle so it's water we good okay so you can proceed to staff report H1 and just so the board is aware regarding H1 um Mr mcdermit did forward some exit surveys but I think that might have only been to HR correct a little
bit earlier so if you could between now and the next meeting those that were for it make sure the board gets those in case they have questions about okay the resignation so you can proceed all right thank you um staff report H1 um separations of employment reason
for board consideration a list of employees to employment relationship with the district is or will be separated is submitted to the board each month facts in analysis it is recommended that the bet that the Board of Education votes to accept the separation of employment of the
following staff policy reference 3140 and 4140 resignation of professional and support staff uh strategic plan goal reference Personnel leadership Benton Harbor area schools will recruit hire develop and retain the best staff to
improve student outcomes separation of employment we have Celeste Paulie academic interventionist uh reason for separation resignation um from one of our third parties which is Our Lady of the Lakes uh effective
810 2024 second you don't have to go all the way through you can just read who they are and from where sure Britney Gatherings from the position of teacher and training um kindergarten at DC Marine Lindsey Graham gsrp teacher um at Discovery Enrichment Center Celia Otero
res teacher and training elll uh from central office shanon Williams instructional facility Ator from fair play Middle School recommended action that the Benton Harbor Area Schools Board of Education votes to accept the separation of employment of the four
mentioned Staff All right so um this is our work session are there any current questions at this time on staff report H1 secretary triplet and then we'll go to truste Gavin um director mcder I look here with the with the separation um of employment
how are our principles doing with uh with these resignations and what have you have they able are they able to maintain without these particular individuals being in there how are they doing with this and have they been checked up on to see what what
adjustments they're making thank you so we have been and I say we because in partnership not just with human resources but because principles report directly to teaching learning we have both been in contact with the principles to hearing how has this these recent resonations impacted them um which is
part of other conversations that came today which is looking at our current um student count looking at um the classroom sizes and making sure that we have at least um staff available to greet those students while we continue to recruit staff with the anticipation
of students continue to enroll in the district so we're putting measures in place to make sure that our students will have a a instructional leader in front of them consistently okay uh question number two because this is this is unfortunate but
it happened this is not not new it's unfortunate that you know people wait until the last moment to to do this to districts and it just doesn't happen to us and so I I guess that that that was my question to see if even if we look at
our classroom sizes can those kids be split up where they are in there for certified teachers our principal are they at Liberty to make those type of executive decisions um as it relates to their buildings because I I see here um
with um the deck and um when you're talking about classrooms you got deck and I don't know what central oh that's Central Administration okay but uh distributive I mean the Discovery Center and what he with those two you got a
kindergarten and then you got a GSR um P teacher that they're with their um within their guidelines if you will so there are some ways that that these things can be done um also in closing when we talk about substitute teachers
and what have you I'm not sure if this is a possibility throughout the union with um teachers uh when you're talking about Subs in particular at the secondary level that um because their substitute
shortages all over the state and so how teachers who are in the union when they find out teachers call in that on teachers planning period that those teachers are here are placed into those classrooms and they are
compensated um I've I've seen it work in the system that I I worked in had the privilege to work in and so it was just understood that when um whatever teachers that were available during first period that had a first period planning they were automatically sent to
those classrooms to sub and so that's how and so the vacancies were always filled while you're yet working so that's something maybe possibly we could talk about I'll talk to the chairman of the um uh HR um division of this board of education and and see if it's okay to
speak with you about using that method and we always had our classrooms covered in that manner and they were they were compensated for just like a sub for each hour yes but they knew when they came in that morning the the principal assistant principal their responsibility to say
triplet you have first hour planning we need you in this vacancy so you know whatever you're planning and they and that's how they F those position and the days kept going thank you problem thank you secretary triple trusty Gavin thank you president Robinson I'm
just gonna read through my questions and then if you need me to read them again you know integrally I will do that my questions are about the exit interview um do you conduct a in-person exit
interview or is everything just send them a letter um is it possible to make sure the exit interview is available online some people are saying they never received a request for the exit interview uh
documentation um is there have the exit interviews gone out for the staff who were eliminated whose positions were eliminated what controls do you have in place to Monitor and manage the grants
With Our Lady of the Lake that is a third party organization and our previous uh Grant coordinator used to ensure that we receive funding from those um from those relationships and then they also had
to they had to do some a little bit of Grant Management there um and then what is your process upon receipt of the resignations that provides some support ho um in place like especially me seeing
the TNTs you know us losing those teachers and training efficacy is very low as a young you know when you're a new teacher you don't think you don't believe in yourself a lot of times you're hit with a lot of things they don't teach you in school so I'm just
wondering you know do we have anything in place just because a person says they don't think they can make it you know do we have some processes in place connecting them with their Mentor you know questioning them to find out like what is the root of the problem maybe
it's not just I don't want to be here maybe it's I don't believe in myself right like um those are my concerns you have the floor so trusty Gavin I'm gon do my best so if I need to come back around to anything please forgive me I'm G start with exit
interviews um we made the exit interview on the so we we provide written official communication that we have received and in the human resources that we recognized we received and that they we recognize their request for resignation or separation of employment as I would
say could be retirement so in that letter we link the um uh exit interview to that letter um so that they can go right to I think as something you mentioned before easily accessible so they can do it from their phone wherever they're viewing their email they could
do from their laptop phone tablet and access to that um in the letter we do emphasize if you do want to do this in person let us know a time where we can schedule 30 minutes where you can sit down with someone a representative U preferably myself at that point of Separation to have that
conversation to see um at this point what could we have done to avoid us getting to this point um now moving to that making it online we do not list it online because at that point um it's not a that that that exit
interview should only be triggered in my opinion um and made available once we've reached that point of um interest of Separation resignation or retirement so to post it on the on the line is online is not something I would push for um however I
will say uh we are discussing checkpoints to make sure that we can make available where we have 30 days 60 days and 90 days along with just other um um concerns that may be employees want to um voice their opinion we want to make sure that can be available
online um but I think that when we look at Exit interviews that should be triggered only when we get to separations um and then you mentioned that some individuals stated that they never received it um I can't speak for everyone um I must admit we have been
short staffed few times throughout this year in Human Resources but if you will allow the board if You' allow me to go back and look through um from 2023 till now every resignation we can ensure that they every separation sorry that we can ensure that they receive this um exit
interview so my goal is to have an update for you at our next board meeting on that um and then for Our Lady of the Lakes as Miss Brock Carter mentioned um she is doing an awesome job Manning that office and so those duties have been um
divied between herself the accountant accounts payable and other support um so at this point I have not heard that um they have had any um deficiencies in doing that or any additional support is needed so I can't speak to on um what
additional supports might be needed to support that Grant um but I think if those concerns arise we would definitely address it because um any federal funds that are used in District or any any federal funds that are sent to our district we want to be make sure we want
to make sure we're um doing our part to be accountable for that and lastly the root of the problem um there are many moving factors when it comes to frustration for staff or what might lead someone to separate
employment um but specifically looking as you mentioned to our um our very delicate group um of teachers in training you know some of them coming in um with various different backgrounds however they're all passionate about being here so we are fully aware of that Miss cups and I have looked at um some
of the concerns over the years and we have provided uh a link to our new website specifically for our growing our own um program um to address areas where we feel um better allowing people to come in
better prepared from this start along with um looking at revamping our teacher mentors um and other layers of support to make sure as we have check points not just at the building level but central office as we are here to support that we can be proactive um to make sure that we
catch things before they become public or becomes a bigger issue where we have separations or someone just venting or sharing their frustrations so there's something that we are aware of um as someone who's heavily involved in those teachers and training joining our
district it is ever my goal that someone leaves um because they feel unsupported so it's something I can say that as human resources we're uh very attentive to just one last thing thank you so much for that and also the exit interviews
that was those are supposed to go to all of the board and so I think that we should be getting those as soon as possible and not like you know right before the next meeting I think if the other board members have it we should have it too so thank you for that I just want to
let you know what what I was doing what I was doing so far was providing it to the HR committee and the superintended and I was allowing them to push that out um I hear your concern and hear your request and I'm going to uh work with Dr but to make sure I do what
he asked me to do um and then uh trusty Gavin one of the questions that you asked was whether or not the uh previous chiefs were given exit surveys I have two out of three exits in the interview from what I noticed from previous Chief so you all will receive those thank you
okay secretary triet if if with the the exit surveys and what have you I I don't know how I'm just trying to find a pattern um because we always get the ones the exit surveys all of us get the exit surveys as and everybody whatever
whatever you're using to U get those people who do an exit survey to bash the board whatever technique you're using because those always get done and they always come to all of us so if it's anything negative about the board or anything concern they have about the
Board of Education we get those so whatever technique I would encourage you to use that technique for all employees and so I'm I guess my understanding is that these information exit interviews are going to the HR committee and it
should be all of us we requested for this information so I'm I'm looking forward to that happening thank you ma'am um so just to try to provide clarification from mcder Mr mcder it what he's clarifying is that he doesn't have the as a um employee of Dr buds
he is not authorized to send those to us it would be Dr bus sending them so he literally just sent them to us maybe about 4 or 4:30 or so just as the HR committee and and I remember when I was not on the HR committee that the HR committee would get those and it would
give you an opportunity to discuss them in HR committee if you needed to or things of that nature so I don't see um what's taking place now with this HR committee to be any different from the previous HR committees um that you all have been on and and so what I would personally ask I have asked that Mr
mcder send it to the full board but I would personally ask and this is just to everybody that this table that we not be uh biased in our communication and our expectation when it comes to the HR committee because I've noticed that HR tends to be a certain uh had seems
sometimes to be uh thought to be doing things inappropriately or getting information other people are getting when this committee is operating as it has operated since I've been here and been on the outside and I never made a complaint about the HR committee having access to the HR related surveys um
previously so I would just ask that you all keep that in consideration though it's not anyone trying to prevent you from having information but I did request that Mr mcder send that to the board um everyone on the board before those concerns were expressed so everyone will get those and there was
maybe about five or six maybe more it's quite a bit he sent it for the full month of August so the full board will have those um so Mr mcder if you could proceed to staff report H2 these are just um staff separations is a retirement and
then just for the board just for a checkpoint it's 8:23 um we have a couple items that we're wanting to vote on so we need to try to get through our meeting as expeditiously as feasible um so Mr MC you could just read the name and then if
we have any questions about it um we can go from there separation of employment VI retirement Miss Renee Smith from the position of gsrp associate teacher at Discovery Enrichment Center all right any questions from the board regarding the retirement
noted do we have celebrations or anything are people for retirement do y'all have celebrations um there used to be Ben Harbor staff was always recognized and celebrated I have never heard I haven't heard of anything do you all do that anymore so yes sir uh at the
if they are if they are retiring from the end of last school year we invite them back at the uh beginning of the school year on the first day and we give them we present them with a small token from Benton har Barry schools that token has been a clock with a plaque on the inside of it uh with a special message
so uh we do give we do honor them as they retire that's something that that that y'all can just share with the board we had a celebration do we eat food you know we used to have at the end of the year the teachers that retiring they have a big dinner and what have you know
it's just like people just retire and nobody they're gone these are these are very recent so okay thank you so very much just asking all right any other go ahead that a lot of the buildings did their own retirement like when I retired my staff did my retirement the district
we never got a clock but anyway the district did I need you to speak in your mic a formal recognition of all of us that retired but individual buildings did the retirement um celebrations and they invited whoever okay so I'm going
to ask from Tech if we could prior to the next meeting see if we can extend her cord okay so I need you to hold it right there when you talk yes ma'am okay next all right any other questions from the board regarding H2 hearing none Mr mcdarment H
H3 can I proceed with the abbreviated format yes okay um staff report H3 um employment of Staff we have Matthew Jackson teacher in training math at Bon Harbor High School uh we have second Laya Jones for gsrp
associate teacher at Discovery enrichment center and then we have last on our list for today Alana scales accounts bable bookkeeper central office okay and just a clarifying question for me I know that there was some resume sent out are they ACC they're connected
to these staff here on H3 that is correct okay were those sent to the full board that was sent to the full board yes okay all right any questions regarding H3 at this particular time you do have resumés in your um emails Mr mcder what I would ask if we could try to get those sent a little quicker I
know some of these are newly added but um at least we have them prior to the formal vote that we'll take um if there's no questions you can proceed to H4 okay uh employment of Staff um these are specifically Title One Employment of
staff so new hires we have Sher culliton academic interventionist Our Lady of the Lakes Elizabeth hulman academic interventionist River of Life schools Grace pedroso par professional River of Life schools all Title One funded
positions any questions currently from the board all right hearing none you can proceed to the update on vacancy positions um Board of this is something it's a a chart that's in your binder if
you want to follow as he discusses it and I don't know if you um are you going in detail on this this time or you're doing it at next meeting um so this was provided I think as a request um from the I think trusty Gavin
correct thank you um on knowing where we stand with vacancy so this is a live document so as we have new hires separations things change this is where you will see those changes happening first um so I just wanted to make that available um not much to discuss but I
want to make sure that the board is able to see kind of what's going on behind the scenes I know as vice president Bowen says a lot of conversation happens I just want to make sure that as a board you can see where we are with Staffing and the updates um as we fill
positions okay and so my question for you I know there was also a shared document was that this is this what was shared via email I believe this was the document okay so I haven't opened it just yet it was so close to the meeting but I know you guys look at the stamps
to see who looks at it so I have yet to see it um but I just anticipated that this may be what that is so this is um of course it's linked to your agenda board of education but it was a shared document so if trusty Gavin for example decided she wanted to on Friday go back
and access this link she would be able to see in real time where we stand that is correct but we can't edit or anything correct okay okay any questions from the board trusty Gavin so first of all I want to say thank you like this is this is the snapshot that helps us to really
know what's going on make decisions that type of thing this is is I love the color coding the detailed information the separated tabs um I think it would also be helpful in the future if you're open to having a
count of you know the number of vacancies versus the total number of staff so we can kind of get a ratio I got a rough count of about 15% uh vacancy um in in average on the in the buildings some buildings like MLK
only has a 4% but it looks like the average is about 15% vacancies and so that gives us a snapshot of what we are looking at and what our needs are so just super grateful um I'm not happy that we you know we need to you know we
need that 15% of Staff because that coverage translates to you know trying to put people in classrooms we really need to be in the guidance office but it also gives us a clear picture of what we need and it helps us to helps you all as well to make those decisions so thank
you uh for responding and providing a report that that helps us yeah thank you all right any other comments or questions from the board so um you do have this document like I said it's accessible via your agenda link as well
as I believe it was it would have had to be shared in order for you to access it so you can go back and look um if you have any questions before now and next meeting get those to uh Dr buts and then if there's any other clarifications we can get that the next time we meet so we'll proceed on the agenda um we are
going to pass it over to facilities with director Dash and um secretary triplet and just as a reminder to the board we are attempting to take votes on staff report fac1 and St staff report fac2 um but secretary tripy do you want
to give your facilities committee update yes um Madame President I I too had an opportunity to meet with um director Dash today and the superintendent um we did not get an
opportunity to uh establish the date because we have some other pressing information and I will allow him to go ahead and give his report on that first um what he's presenting tonight and then we'll go from
there all right uh vice president B you have a question yes Madam president I know you said that we have to do a vote um I don't know if I'm doing it at the wrong time but when it's time for us to vote can we just go ahead and do consent on fac staff report true
one if there's no objections from the board I have no problem with the consent agenda for fac1 and fac2 um it's there're ones for the gym floor and ones for the track is there any objection to that so a consent those are two I so
what he's asking is if we can merge the two votes together those are two different I think yeah I think one is something so you have objection something not being done vice president B okay I'm sorry I thought both of them was so we're going to we're going to um
pass the floor to director Dash and he's gonna you can go ahead and kind of give us a preview and then you can present fac1 to us okay so um as you guys know we have the gym floor going in um this
building is very old and so when they tore the gym floor out they were met with um some interesting material below it and a few issues uh to put down a gemm floor you have to have a a level ground for it
to sit on um a long time ago to remedy that what they did was they over top the concrete they decided put tar they they actually melted tar on top of the floor and just let it level itself right out and that's what our floor was built on
um the company that we currently have they've never seen anything like it and uh one of the gentlemen actually flew up from Atlanta just to see it because he's he didn't believe his guys quite frankly um but uh so they came up here and and
he took a look at it and so what we met with him Dr buts and I and we found uh pipes that were sticking out of the concrete floor um not all the way there was one a a conduit pipe um half inch conduit that was electrical the
electrical wires in it and it kind of jumps up above the the subfloor a little bit and it was covered up in tar and leveled off a long time ago and there are a few water pipes that are stuck up just a little point is they have to have
a level floor before they put that new floor down um so they need to do a change order to come in grind the floor in certain spots and then pour self leveler over it at 100 B bags actually
um so that's what fac1 is um in our facilities committee we were all talking and and I believe this is the this is the permanent fix that we need for that floor and future
Generations they will benefit greatly if we do this and they'll still be able to use the that same gym uh if the floor ever needs to be replaced the next time they do it just tear it up and put it anyone down shouldn't take too long all right so you can go ahead and
present fac1 this is my first time so I might mess it up all right reason for board consideration the board must vote to approve expenditures in accordance with the revised school code and other
general laws of Michigan facts and Analysis the following change order has been reved Red by the facilities director stud superintendent and Facilities committee and is presented to the board of for review and approval change order number one to grind the
entire floor and furnish and install 100 bags of self-leveling material to accept the new floor the additional cost is $122,600 policy reference 6320 purchasing strategic plan reference facilities and
operations Benton Harbor area schools will develop Implement and evaluate a fiscally responsible plan that will ensure physical and psychological safety recommended action that bent Harbor Area Schools Board of Education votes to approve the change order listed above in
reference to the high school gem floor replacements all right is there a motion to approve staff report fac1 I make a motion to approve staff report fac1 secretary triplet I heard you attempt to make the motion would you like to be the support support all right so the motion
has been made by vice president Bowes and supported by secretary triplet any questions comments or concerns um I'll I'll make a comment really quickly so in in our committee meeting this was something that the facilities committee strongly supported of course um we would hope that we did
not have to come out of an extra 100,000 and some change but essentially there's no way that they could have um anticipated that they would find tar under the floor and so at this particular time we have a gym floor that's been dug out and so in order to rectify the situation is going to take a
little bit more elbow grease $112,000 worth in order to get the tar out of there and do what we need to do um one of the things that was impactful to us as bu indicated is that we can't answer the questions of what happened you know within the last 100 years but in making this decision to do it the right way we
can make sure that things are a little bit simpler for future generations to come for the next 100 years so I I strongly um support us in supporting the superintendent with fac1 I I I I too support you know
support it because the the bottom line is simply this and at our meeting today they we need to we need to do this so they can get back on track immediately so that the gym floor will be completed in September by September so that floor
will be done and open um by September so also do we have any guarantees do they have any guarantees any warranties or anything on on this work that that's happening now can you give me some clarification so we do uh we have the
the the the standard manufacturing warranty and I got to get you the the the date um the the actually warranty of it but that this FL um all of our projects do come with a guaranteed warranty of of of a certain lifetime
this so there's a I don't know whether there a limited lifetime warranty I can get the the exact language but it's in the contract of the warranty all right thank you uh trusty rockat Martin this was also shared with us in our finance committee and we also supported it okay
any other questions from the board all right hearing n secretary triple can you please call the vote for fac1 president Robinson yes vice president Bowens yes secretary triplet yes trusty rocket Martin yes trusty
Gavin yes motion carried all right the next one is the change order for the Ben Harbor High School track um but I know you premess this one and explained it to us but I still uh would need your support a little bit more than the gym
floor so I'm not sure if you and Dr buts which one would like to take this one it's a little bit more complicated for me okay Dr Bress you have the floor thank you madam president and thank you uh director Dash with this change order
um it is for our track um what was found out when we were went after the drawings and the architecture were done is that the drainage system on the track um is not adequate so if you can imagine where how the bleachers come down the hill on
both sides of the bleachers there's a downward Arc towards the track so it rains the sediment from the rains enters the track so if you go out there now you will see mold Milo uh grass uh moss growing on the
track so what this will do is is they will be installing a uh a a drainage system so that that won't occur so as it rains or you know as the weather changes when the snow melts and and brings down the settlement it goes out through the
drainage so so it takes up the price from the original um 1,868 104 to 1,987 646 which is a change of $119 19,54 okay Dr bus can you please uh you
are director Dash is it doesn't matter to me present fac2 oh you we still have time for questions once we get to the actual thing we GNA do questions comments no it was it was matter go ahead okay um so if you can proceed with
the report and then we can have the discussion yes ma'am I'll go ahead and proceed with fac2 reason for board consideration the board must give excuse me the board must vote to approve expenditures in accordance with the
revised school code and other general laws of Michigan fact an analysis the following change order has been reviewed by the facilities director superintendent and the facilities committee and is presented to the board for review and approval change order 01
to provide drainage so that the north bleacher Hill area replace the storm drain the storm system at the infield additional cost $19 19,54 policy reference 6320 purchasing strategic plan reference
facilities and 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 Benton Harbor Area Schools Board of Education votes to approve the change order listed above in reference
to the high school track changes all right is there a motion to approve fac2 I make a motion to approve staff report fac2 is there a second or support I second the motion okay so the motion has been made by VP BS and supported by truste raat secretary tripley you have
the floor and then Gavin I think I saw your hand as well okay yeah so um these two $100,000 those are not small amounts of
money and so I I I look at the um um the the basketball court and what do you have you and very important that that that the community know that we're concerned about all of our kids all of our Sports and we want to make sure that we're not
just you know it's just assumed um that the decision to to be made for the basketball uh Court was just because everybody just love basketball and nobody does anything for anything else and that that that was not Our intention ever our goal was to make
sure that we update our facilities for our kids our track was in horrible condition our basketball Court even when you looked at it our bathro with our ceiling um our Roofing excuse me there were many times when it just rained inside of that gymnasium it warped all
up under the bleachers and everything so we're this is a great investment I but I I I wanted to be understood that this we as as as Madame President discussed in the facilities meeting that we do not
want to be scammed we are not just here for people to make money money off of our district where they just all of a sudden just come up with $100,000 and nobody saw this from the beginning because when people went out and walked and looked and they saw this this mold didn't come
last week the mold was there then and so we're not playing games we're very very serious about what it is that we're doing about this thing so we want we we I just want I just want to put that out there that this is very very critical
and I'm glad that we have um director who uh has has the same mindset um and understanding about these matters okay I I I don't know why I'm
the only one that it rings on but I'm going to keep on talking and y'all gonna have to call the police this time until I finish my thought okay it rings here it doesn't ring y'all could talk for an hour and I hear the only time that b come on is when I speak all right so
ring this I'mma finish so we want to make sure that moving forward that this that this project that you guys follow through because one thing that people have come here and made millions of dollars off of our district because we do not inspect what we
expect okay and this once these things are done it must be inspected intensely and we need to have a serious walk because they can't just come in here and walk this money out of here okay I'm just saying this I'm
putting this on the table so it's on the record when we get through and we also have to find professional people who does who do this type of work Ben Harbor is not the first school to get new track than Joel L sure new new new Turf
and every time it comes here our stuff is sold such a problem but we want to make sure that we handle our business when it comes to this matter thank you thank you secretary triplet for um ring the bell for noting that um I did make make that
strong note uh that strong comment in committee I don't always say at the table what I've said in committee but I I support that 100% um and what I share was that sometimes contractors will give you a bid for a issue and then they come back and all of a sudden they need an
extra $50,000 and we will not be scammed so I don't always say those things on the table but the the Stern conversations needed do happen off the scene so I appreciate you for making sure that that that's mentioned because that's very important um trusty Gavin thank you president Robinson what I
would say is that you know when I was looking at boiler rep repair when some folks were you know giving these astronomical numbers I was looking at what other schools were paying for their boilers so I I had an idea of what those
costs are and so I I'm very interested Ed you know in the future in knowing you know what are other districts paying for these particular Services I think it would be very helpful and I'm glad that we are on top of that um my question um
to you director Dash is how does this change order impact the completion date I know that we are into the school year and of course we would have love for them to do a proper assessment from the beginning um but with them you know
recognizing these things that were already there how does that impact our completion date and what is our completion date for this project we're getting ready to have football and track you know football and all that other stuff going on yes I um we actually got that
information just a little bit ago um right after we got done meeting with you uh trusty triplet um anyway so our he you oh sorry our completion date for the track is going to be the by the end of June next next year yeah yep that's what
it is um they will have on the 9th of this coming month they'll have a person out here they'll start the demolition by um let me see mid mid
November they will be they they will have the new track paved but they're going to have to wait until after winter to be able to to surface the track back and put the lines on it um that's where we're at and uh so as far as how will it
affect the completion it it really shouldn't other than yeah we're it will not be completely done until the end of June so my I guess my question is was next year June always the completion
date that question I do not know I'll have to defer to Dr but so that was not uh the original completion date under uh advisement from previous staff that was not the date that I was given however I
do know we ran into the the uh challenge of permits drawings Etc being sent to the state and those being delayed getting back so we did have uh those issues so once we cross that
hurdle we got the local all the of the permits have been pulled and already can you tell me what the original completion date was August of this year August was what was presented we we had this this this discussion and I met with the
superintendent and met with director Dash because this is very concerning to me because when we made the decision to so we want we need to actually we're restarting but we're still within
Gavin's um comment so I I don't want to restart a whole first two minutes I think he was just answering a question for her but she was still within her um overview for the committee okay okay
okay yeah okay so that's concerning one that the expectation is that when an organization does a estimate they look at everything right and the things that they're talking about are there those are not new problems I can see them not being able to see tar underneath the
floor but the track is what it is and so you know one to give a estimated completion date of August 2024 and then two to come and say we're charging more and it's going to be done June of
2025 you know where is the discount for the delay us losing when is track season and then also how is that going to impact um football season as well those are my you know I'm not against us
investing in our track but I'm also concerned about them charging more and providing a service a year late um yeah so there's some questions in there though I asked that question actually when I
was talking to the gentleman earlier because I anticipated this moment but I can tell right now by listening to you I didn't ask we need our mics to be turned up oh it's me it's me I got he's still getting comfortable got a sof and gentle voice okay yeah but no um I I asked the
guy earlier that that question but it just wasn't as detailed as what I anticipated um anyway so a lot of the the problem well I wouldn't say a lot of the problem there were Architects that were hired to be involved in this um I
do not believe them to be the Architects that were hired um by the company I I could be wrong on that but it happens to be the same Architects that we use for something else um so the drawings had to go out to go out to the state to for
acceptance and be agreed upon permit a lot of stuff just kind of took a little bit more time and uh the part a lot of stuff around here has not been maintained at all if you go out to
our track right now it's actually better to run on the road than it is on the track um because it just has not been maintained uh so it's there's just a lot of stuff that needs to be looked into just
brought back up to some sort of standard and and kept there um our drainage system that was currently there if if I'm if I know this if I heard this right um it's just failed it it stuff's just been allowed to wash into it people
stuff stuff into it like a trash can and you can imagine um so that needs to be pulled up and it needs to be redone um there was just a lot of planning that that goes into it because once you start tearing into it if if your plan isn't
really thought out of like contingencies then you're gonna you're G to run into a floor that has a bunch of tar on it you know like things things will go aride pretty darn quick but um I I feel like it's something that that
we need to do um I I feel like we should move forward with it I know that's not the popular answer but good things come to those to wait and and I I've been to quite a few quite a few tracks throughout schools Baran County and and
cast this last summer because my son was in track and uh I want that I want what they have I don't want to wait anymore I there's no reason for us to not have what other people
have we can do it and uh we're starting it and I I hope you guys support it I guess I would just recommend real quick if it's possible since well well we got to vote on it I G say if somebody could negotiate some type of rebate maybe it's
not to even we vote you know if somebody can try to negotiate a rebate on this loss of time thank you sir um I just had one quick question I know secretary triplet had I don't had feedback that he wanted to give uh doc uh director Dash I
did we did discuss whether uh to see whether or not it's feasible to put a pause on the project at this time being that it's not going to be done in the time frame that we thought did you all get a chance to check with the company on their scheduling yes um I spoke to
them today and and I brought that up because it was a he was adamant that we asked so I did um they said basically six and one hand half a dozen in the other but um while we have everything lined up and we're like the end of this month we are literally
like I'm not good at math so 12 days away don't quote me on that um of someone coming out and starting this and getting that that new pavement put down I I feel like we should move forward and
and do it okay um yeah that's where I'm ask secretary tripl okay I I I guess I gave gave I wanted to hear it from you all because I think that is important that this community knows actually what
happened okay and so I'm going to put it out on the table what actually happened when we made the decision that we were going to this money was granted go for it you got it
okay this project was told by us told to us that it would be completed by August at the beginning of the football season and we would they will be able to go forth with the football season nothing was
done this was in March you all just started getting permits and it's not your fault but the permits were never received all of these things that you're doing right now is things that should
have been done the next week after this was granted it did not happen we were told in my meetings with the superintendent conversation with the superintendent that graduation things were adjustments were
made so for graduation that it was supposed to start the next day after graduation in June evidently people stopped working that we paid now our kids and our community is going to suffer it's not about and and
the question was asked the question was at today was it went from a TW month thre Monon project to a six-month
project okay so my question was today if we start this project right now they're only going to be able to work up until November it will not be completed they will have to come back to it in
March in order for it to be completed I asked you all to present tonight how long does would this project take in its entirety from the start to finish we have Michigan winners so our
track is g to be laid down it's not going to be covered they're not going to get it done so if if they're going to come back if we're going to do this track has not been they have not used this track in some years now for our track
team but for our football season if we if if we start this in March which will give us March April May June July and
August where they can work through straight without winter break it's still going to be done and when football season starts next year because right now we're just rushing in and we just have to be honest we dropped the ball it did not get
done and I thank you and I thank you too because evidently they weren't reporting to you properly as well that these all of these permits we still have permits today that you were waiting to get some information on stuff today now we have flipped our whole
football season and everything so I ask you all to take that into consider fation so I'm glad that we are here right now in this in this um meeting because we you know I know we have to vote on this tonight in order for them to be able to go forth but um I I I too
like the president said it's not going to be finished they're gonna have to start and stop we in November December January February is winter here nobody's not going to be able to do anything so if we have to make
adjustments if they can start in March in the spring of the year and the thing will open up it will not have affected anything with football or any of the fall things that we're doing you know it it it it the the gym floor no no plan of action was put in place where's
volleyball going to be played at where I mean all of these Sports how are these kids going to practice what are they going to what what where the if if they start doing this right now where will our football team practice where would where what what would we prepare so I would like for you all to take that into consideration I would like to go forth
with the vote but I would like and I like I asked you this afternoon before it came before my colleague because I know what questions my colleague are going to ask for the majority for for for the most part these questions that's
being asked right now so the the we have to be transparent with what actually happened it's not about pointing fingers but it did happen and I think that's people feel better you know they they feel better about it and and and we discussed today also what did the the
athletic director had to call within a week to find some place for us to play are we paying these people to use their facilities how does that look when we can just say listen we got you got the money we we need evidently we need
some more preparation so when they come in they can come in start out we got all paperwork work done we got the money approved and we go forth and we get it done and we he make those calls back and say we will be on our home field this football season because it doesn't make
any sense to cancel their football season and it's not gonna be finished it's still gonna be finished okay so at this time I'd ask that secretary because our conversation is and I think I took us in that direction more so as far as time frame
but today we're here essentially for approval of fac two which is the change order so secretary triplet can you call the vote president did you does this impact your vote on the change order okay go ahead yeah the question I would
like to ask is what do um but you said director Dash please I'm sorry director Dash you said you would prefer to go on with it what would be the difference in in doing as Mr triplet asked and doing
what you are recommending well what's the difference in that the difference in that um honestly I just I gotta think about this for a minute I just want to see it get done I
want to I want us to move forward um I don't want to kick it down the road any further than it needs to go um but at the same time I'm I'm slightly indifferent I'm not even kidding um I didn't start this project I
yeah but uh either way as long as it gets done as long as we we get the track finished and have it just as nice as everyone else's track our our kids deserve exactly what everyone else has
okay so I'm gonna ask the secretary triplet call the vote um for staff report fac2 because I don't think anyone here is in question as to whether we want to pay the additional cost and so we we we've started to have more of a conversation than what is intended based
on the staff report and I know this is something the board needed to be aware of but we're we're having discussion that is not does not necessarily impact whether or not you're going to approve the additional cost for the track whether we do it now or later it's still
going to be needed okay okay so secretary tripy can you please call the vote for staff report fac2 president Robinson yes vice president Bowens yes secretary triplet yes trusty rocket Martin yes truste
Gavin yes motion carries all right so next on the agenda I'm going to try to keep us forward I know that that's conversation that needs more input if there's if you all have more information or more input on the actual time frame I um I gave my insight
to to the district however we have charged them with the expectation to to manage operations and so I know this is a big decision for us to make collaboratively if there's more that you think that you would like to offer to um the conversation feel free to email that
to Dr bucks or you can mention it in your closing comments but I do want to make sure that we get through is 904 and I don't want us to get hung up on that topic because we're not taking a vote on that tonight so we're g to move forward um next up I'm going to just shoot through this really quickly the survey questions for the Master's facilities
plan so Dr bus has emailed you all the sample questions that are being considered right now to be sent to um the community what we're asking he sent you the link for the survey as well as the questions in a standard Word document we would like for you all to
give us some feedback on it um you know do you think it's too lengthy are we asking the right questions do you think that our uh constituents will understand what it is that we're asking is it too lengthy you know that type of feedback and then actually click the link and go through it um it's it's live right now
but it's not going to impact the survey results later so this will give you an opportunity to take the survey in real time and experience what the public will experience so if you all could take the time to do that we are wanting to get the survey sent out in September so we're I'm asking if the board could
review that document take the survey p and give Dr bus your feedback on it by the 2nd which is this upcoming Tuesday and then that way if it's any um any I would anticipate it'll be minor adjustments if if anyone has any suggestions and then that way we can try
to get it sent out um as soon as we can trusty Gavin yes thank you um president Robinson so just off top uh you know I see the question on here that ask you know do you want to consolidate the the district should
consider consolidating buildings for more efficient operations right there's no other option that says like should the district consider utilizing the buildings for Skilling trades you know to bring back
our skill and tech centers or anything like that so there's some you know there's a concern there there needs to be an option for you know other uses of those facilities that we've lost right um and then also I'm just
wondering there seems like there in some of these options there should be um an opportunity for them to write in to give more open um their their open feedback outside of just the closed options that they are
offering um so I would say like that off top needs to be adjusted that's going to create a bias um yeah okay so just to um as far as the other uses that's that is kind of noted under number 15 Community use of
facilities how would you like to use school facilities outside of school hours but it can be adjusted a little bit so that type of feedback uh trusty Gavin Vice um superintendent bus Dr bu asks if you could send that to him an email I can do that what I would say is
that's different those are that question is for the buildings that we have in use I'm talking about the other like you know there are other things that we can do with our buildings that can be very powerful in our community and attract jobs and people
and students um so yeah okay so I would ask that you all I get that to them in the email thank you for providing this uh like opportunity y so if you guys could take a look at that word document and give him feedback whether you want to be specific to a particular question
um just as trusty Gavin did kind of go through with your concerns and then also like I said take the survey in real time so you can experience the way the community experiences it um and give him your feedback by Tuesday September 2nd
so um they can try to move forward with the the the team that's working on the survey if you do not give him feedback we're going to assume that you don't have any so I would I would ask that you not come back to the table later and say that you have a problem with the survey because this is the board's opportunity
to for everyone to get feedback before it goes out so we're gonna move forward on that one um next is student Support Services we have a peer mediation update um Miss Nichols yes um can you hear me okay
you're a little light I'm low um I think it's just your voice tone okay okay all right I'll do that um one second okay thank you good evening um I
would just like to give an update around the implementation of our new peer mediation programs that we will have at both our U Middle School Fair plane middle school and the high school for the upcoming school year um just to give you a background peer mediation is a
program which trains students to help their peers solve problems they are having with each other they do this by following a structured process that allows um the mediators which is the students to listen to each disputes um side of the problem and help them work
toward a solution so what I wanted to share with you all is the timeline of the implementation um and just give you a little overview so it's called the peers making peace and it's through Oakland mediation Center and they will be
providing the training to both staff and students so if you can see we already have identified the lead um as far as each building so at the high school um Mr Burton will be that lead coordinator
for that building and then Mr Jones will be the lead for the Middle School um we did ask them to um ask someone else to support another person to go through the training to train so they train the
trainers um and at the middle school that's going to be Mr McAfee and at the high school um Miss Goodson um so if you can see um September so next week September fourth fifth and sixth they are training the
trainers so they'll start there and then the next upep will be um a two-hour Workshop that will bring in um have discussion around paperwork so our disciplinary process our referral process intake procedures for this
actual um mediation how the students will be able to uh refer um or be able to participate in peer mediation and so that is going to take place on September 17th so all these dates are set um we
had to have these date set before um we had our contract signed with um Oakland mediation Center um do we have any questions I don't want to go through a whole list for time but do we have any questions I don't have any questions I
would ask um this is more so for uh Dr buts and Miss singer um I would ask can we moving forward move student Support Services directly under teaching and
learning um on the agenda and then because we kind of go from teaching and learning and student support services are kind of go hand inand together um and so I would like for Miss Nichols to be able to give her updates right after
teaching and learning also um noticing that by the time we get to student Support Services most of us are fried and so I would like to make sure that we're able to give the the updates that you're giving like updates that we're looking forward to our greatest
level of attention and and I know I want you all to know I know what it feels like to sit at the table and wait for your turn and then we're we're fried when you're presenting it so um if can move her up on the next meeting agenda um and do that moving forward and we can do those hand in hand so I'll open the
floor to the board if anyone has any questions at this time regarding the peer mediation update trusty Gavin thank you president Robinson um thank you Miss Nicholls uh we're so grateful to uh see this as an
implementation plan we've been asking for this and we've had over 50 students sign up in interest of uh solving their own problems uh since what June of 2023 so to be in this space to finally
see it into fruition I'm really grateful to see it manifesting my question is I see here that it says it does not qualify them to train staff um in PMP train training of
trainers one of PMP implementation kit and a one-year license and so one I'm wondering you know is it a matter of us purchasing a higher package to be able
to train the trainers or get more staff trained how many staff are we training is it only these because I've seen packages where it's like 20 staff can be trained x amount of students so I'm wondering like what is the maximum amount of staff and students that could
be trained if we got that package yes so and what are we and what is the number of staff and students that we are getting training yeah so the Train the trainers are those individuals that can actually do the
training so that right now we have for four so there's two at each building so two at each building but the actual to be able to support the peer mediation it could be a number of staff so if you
know notice at the peer mediation training that's includes um both students and staff so there'll be additional staff that will be able to um participate with that' be called The implementation team and there' be some more staff
overview yep and can you tell me how many um how many students this this uh license allows us to train as peer mediators and um yeah how many students I can get that number for you um when I
did have a conversation with them they didn't say that it was a Max for this but it is for our train the trainers okay but I will get that information um to you okay and so just pointed just for my
clarication what you said is that these uh trainers our staff they're able to train students on the program they're able to train other staff but they're just not able to train other staff or
students to be trainers is that correct to train other staff to be trainers because our students are not trainers they're they're going to be the ones that get trained so these individuals are the ones that will be train the trainers correct okay and then just oh
shoot I was I know that Dr Buzz mentioned something about possibly taking it to another level and maybe even if parents can get training in something like this just wondering if that's an option too so that wasn't an option on the contract we did pick the
highest option that they had for train trainers and the students so we we went with the top tier that they that they offered thank you so much thank you for doing this okay I'm I'm hearing some dinging I don't know where it's coming from I don't know if somebody's being text or
if they're texting somebody at the table but if you all could please hold your text until the end of the meeting I would really appreciate it thank you all right any other questions for um Miss Miss Nichols all right well thank you so much
you you'll be presenting again at your um at our regular board meeting as well so thank you for your efforts up next we have the Miss Angela oh I'm sorry you had a question no it was just the student services committee I I too had an opportunity to meet with oh go ahead
Miss Mrs Nichols today and the superintendent and so her availability and just like the same concern that you had about how do we how do we report student services what areas does it affect it goes across you know go across
many of the we need a skirt on that table because gonna fall off yeah yeah okay yeah just be comfortable um but anyhow be careful in that chair to trick you I didn't fell out of one before be careful you like you were laying down
but anyhow I um um sure we did and we we we we talked about Monday so we'll get it we'll get it situated um you know Monday would be would be good so once I get with the president all of the other committees so
we can look at let out so we gonna pick the times you don't that doesn't have a committee there's no student Support Services Comm it was merged so that's a piece we have to try to figure out Miss Nichol may go into policy
no that's what we were talking about does it go so we'll we'll figure that out that that's that that's what we were saying so the plan was first of all for her to find out for her to present we'll be working on what is the role of
studentes and to be prepared to present that to the Board of Education after she and the superintendent meet so we will know what it is then you'll know the placement confusion came in okay but her availability is Monday if that becomes a
committee or do they they meet together okay you know what I mean gotta all right so up next we have business and finance Miss Brock Carter um I know that our chair is not present I'm not sure if uh Miss Brock Carter
wants to give updates um but your your I know you need to present staff report F2 your monthly financials are there anything that you would like to highlight today for us to pay attention to we don't have to take the vote until um our next meeting but is it anything in the monthly Financial
reports that you want to bring our attention to not at this time we can go over them at the next meeting okay she's she's yep she's taking a vote on F2 the special education transport okay so you can proceed with your staff report okay
St report F2 this is for the purchase of a van for our special ed sped student transport van purchase of a district passenger van to be utilized by staff to transport students to Physicians therapy and
Mental Health appointments van will be Mr triet what are you doing I just look at you and just and laugh um van will also be utilized to
transport students to job shadowing opportunities community outreach volunteering and various educational out various educational opportunities outside the classroom access to these opportunities
will help to place students in situations that would apply to Life After High School it would help with the Continuum of schoolwork the details are as follow purchase from Le
Valley Chevrolet GMC and Benton Harbor the vehicle is a 2 24 Chevy Express passenger 3500 van the price is 55,000 and the funding source is 31aa the recommended action is that the
Ben Harbor Area Schools Board of Education votes to approve the purchase of a transport van for special education all right is there a motion to approve staff report F2 I make a motion to approve staff report F2 is there a
second or support second the motion has been made by trusty rocket Martin and supported by trusty Gavin any questions comments or concerns from the board at this time trusty Gavin real quick just grateful that we are moving in a direction of transporting students to
mental health support services and other things um everything you mentioned I think is really great um one I guess one quick question is is it used or new it's new it's a new van okay awesome thank you
you're secretary triplet so who would be over this van who would be responsible who would drive this van do they have chauffeur endorsements do they meet all of the criteria necessary to do this
wellcome Mr bernick refer that to our director of special ed Mr bernick Dr bernick Dr ber thank you Miss Brock Carter bless your heart for sitting here all this time just for this Cameo you know this is this is yeah I've been waiting all night for for my Spotlight
all right well you got it let's go got it all right so we would need offer's licenses in order to transport students um as far as I know that we already have staff that have chauffeur's license it's
a small cost I have a chauffeur's license it's a quick test so we're going to work to get people some chauffeur's license uh licenses as far as the dayt day we will
come up with a protocol and procedure about checking out the keys writing down the mileage um the gas gauge where it's at and just daily maintenance you know are you hearing anything is anything
squeaking that kind of stuff so we can keep a daily log on it um and that will all be created with my colleagues was that all the questions secretary I I just know uh we had an
athletic band and so coaches had to have the chauffeur endorsements and all of those different you know things making sure that that we're in compliance with all of that that we do have documentation because we just this van cannot it has to be used for the purpose in which it was you know that we voted
to do it and so you can can't have people around here driving it like it's there you stay on top of it so we will be creating District policy to address the van and the use of the van it will it will be overseen by the
business office as well all right if there's no I I just want to add I think this is extremely exciting um I think this is us being Forward Thinking and um Innovative in providing supportive services to our students so I support it fully um if we
have no other comments I would ask the secretary triplet call the vote for staff report F2 president Robinson yes secretary triplet no I mean excuse me secretary triplet yes truste rocket Martin yes trusty
Gavin yes madame president motion carry all right awesome so next um on our agenda we have old Business board Retreats um I was I am interested in scheduling the next training um as you guys are aware we have to have two train two trainings completed by November
um so I'm considering SE cember 21st as the second boore Retreat date however I will email that out that's a Saturday and it would just be part two to the great work that we did in July um there were a couple um handouts and things
that I thought were very powerful that was in that first training that we didn't get to dig into um as deeply as I would have preferred so I know that the second training will include um at least one or two of those forms that we had before um and then I
will go back to my retreat notes to look at the actual topics that we said we wanted at that particular time so that's just me trying to give you guys a heads up um regarding our board Retreats I'm anticipating September 21st as the next training
date um under new business so I wanted to pre- message to the board I believe the next meeting that we have is Tuesday September the 10th um I will not be available that date I won't be present um so I just
wanted to make sure you all are aware of that um it's a Tuesday September the 10th we might need to make an adjustment I was I was giving serious I was giving you all that opportunity now I know that you're able to manage a meeting without
me um but I wanted to pre- message that so if you all wanted to adjust it um at this time we could do that adjust okay I would would recommend just going maybe to that next day Wednesday we wouldn't have to push it
out sorry what are we doing so what I was saying is the next meeting that we have is Tuesday the 10th I was giving the board the heads up that I'm not available that dat I won't be present to chair the meeting I know that you all can hold a meeting without me but I wanted to give you all a heads up that I
wouldn't be available and so what then was asked I think of by secretary triplet uh raette and Dr bus is if we could adjust it and I said I have no objection to that we could maybe have our meeting that Wednesday the 11th if you all are available I think we should have our
whole board president pres meeting of the school year okay most definitely our President we would have to vote to amend it that tonight we would have to do that if we're gonna move it we would have to
um because it's a regular board meeting we would have to it's not special so I can't move it we would have to agree to move it to the 11 make a motion that we you would have to amend the agenda to allow for the vote okay Madam president
I would like to amend I would like to uh make a motion to or request for an amendment to the agenda um as it relates to our um meeting for September all right is Dr bus seconded is there a second or support from the
board okay so the motion has been made by secretary trip and supported by by truste raet Martin that we amend the agenda to allow for the vote to the change of our regular board meeting any questions comments or concerns all right trusty Gavin just you
know my concern is that the board doesn't doesn't do that for everybody right so we making this change um we're making this change here now in this situation when we don't do that for
everyone and then two I think it's important this is something that is kind of important to kind of know ahead of time so that all board members can get an opportunity to look at their calendars and see how you know what the impact is um I I do think it's good to
have all board members present but I also think it's important for us to have that same attitude you know where other members want to be present and cannot make you know make certain meetings when we normally do um that's that's my
concern just out of fairness okay and and and I understand that there's no I don't want it to be any perceived bias I just Tred to give you all a heads up because what I have found and I I don't think it's more so special treatment um
more so it's it's uh my obligation to be here what I have found is that I am the one board member that really does not seem to have the flexibility of missing a meeting and so um in the times that I was um dealing with health issues in our present I know there were times where meetings
were not able to to be uh as as efficient as we would like I've had certain board members tell me that if I'm not going to be here they won't be here so I just wanted to give the board a heads up that I won't be available you all can proceed September 10th without
me um you're more than welcome to do that I just want you guys to know that I won't be here I'm not coming I will not be uh pressured into being here so I'm not at all asking you all change it I'm giving you notice I won't be here well we have a motion on the floor okay but
but and my thoughts in doing so too was that this is the beginning of the school year the official first meeting for the school year um we'll be voting on some very serious issues and what have you and I think that you know in hopes it it
and the role of the president is a very very important role so I mean you know who leads the media and what have you so that was the reason being it it does doesn't um take away from any of our room you know you can be here I can't be
here you know somebody can step in and take care of the secretary things but we have we have we have some serious business that we need to take care so I just feel more comfortable with um hopefully our other um our um other board members are feeling
better um we have one that's out for illness and what have you hopefully they feeling better that Wednesday would not be a conflict so that was my reason it wasn't okay anything that you were special or you the president of our Board of Education I think the President should be I'm okay with going for it it me not understand that's why I put it
out here I could use the day off okay so go ahead secretary triple call the vote this is simply for the amendment of the agenda we still have to take the actual vote president Robinson yes secretary triplet yes trusty rocket Martin yes
trusty Gavin yes motion carry Madam all right so now we're actually taking the vote um the recommendation from the board during discussion was uh Wednesday September the 11th and I would anticipate the same time at standard six
o'clock so I would ask is there a motion um from the board to move our regular board meeting from September the 10th to Wednesday September the 11th at 6 o'clock ISO move Madam president second the motion has been made by secretary
triplet and supported by uh trusty rocket Martin any other question comments or concerns trusty Gavin my concern is that I do have a meeting on that day that I will likely have to reschedule um if this vote
passes my other concern is you know and I know that I know that the staff are employees but I guess my other concern is how does this impact their schedules um as well and the other
people who make plans for Tuesday to be the day that they're not available I mean they are here you know I'm just wondering how this may impact the other people who have to make those changes for that
day so what I would ask I know that um Dr bus was very strong in my ear suggesting that we change it I would ask that I know that our has a little under or just about two weeks to make concessions however I would ask that you
are uh provide Grace or Grant Grace that if there is a particular staff that due to this unexpected change two weeks before the meeting is unable to be here that we would make considerations for that yes ma'am okay all right secretary triplet can you call the
vote president Rob was the motion made yeah okay okay because we're in discussion okay president Robinson yes secretary triplet yes trusty rocket Martin yes trusty Gavin no motion car all right is
there anyone um here for open public comment all right hearing none we're at superintendent announcements and comments Dr bus I dig okay I don't blame you all right next up we have board member announcements and comments trusty
Gavin I didn't get an opportunity to thank um d director cups and anybody else who worked on the back to school bash it was um really beautiful event I did attend that event with my son and
just really appreciated the um backpacks being there he had an opportunity to meet his new principal and um then when they clapped the students in he was able to see Miss Gilbert there is you know one of the first faces and so you know a
person going into middle school not knowing what to expect seeing those familiar faces having that introductory through the um through this back to school bash high energy was really grateful to see that and everybody who had anything to do with it um I would
also say that you know I think it's important just to take very seriously the roles that we have in this seat um our our responsibility is is governance and oversight and accountability and when we do that it is not to be
divisive but to be decisive and to provide direction as to how our school district and our school system should go um and so we have our ears to the streets we you know we have the ear of
the community the ear of the staff the ear of the students and there are a lot of concerns um that arise and it's not because we're telling them it's because they're telling us and I think that that's a false narrative that oh we're talking and so people are walking
because we say something no they know what's going on they're experiencing it and so it's important for us to make sure that we respond and that we don't respond in a way that you know old school politics not really getting
anything done not doing anything about it it's very important that we stand in the gaps for the people who we represent and when there is a demand that something be done we have the power to
do it and so I take politics very seriously some people think it's an offensive word I look at it as policy and policies impact every aspect of our lives and so when I make a motion um
that we you know refand to correct um this is not a Witch Hunt I am not a witch I am a human being um with a serious concern on behalf of the community and so a lot of the things we can prevent
from happening if we take corrective action immediately and so I understand that my colleagues think differently and I would also you know ask them to put their put themselves um put themselves in in the seat of of the student
students and staff and other people who are impacted by the decisions we can't complain we can't say we didn't know and then we don't do anything about it when we find out because that's that translates into neglect but when we do something about it so many powerful things can happen for our community
because our kids and our staff we have some amazing kids and amazing staff with great ideas and it's up to us to provide the proper leadership to make sure that those ideas happen and that you know chaos is not the result so really
grateful for the day and everybody that came out everybody that's on zoom and um I'm really grateful for the start of the school year and our staff and the great information about peer mediation so the best is yet to come thank you thank you
trusty Gavin trusty Ruck Martin yes I'd like to start off first by saying Dr bugs I'm thankful for your leadership I'm also thankful for your cabinet that you put in place because your cabinet that you put in place are now uh
providing the leadership in different areas that are needed so that the job is getting done and if you stop and look at it you see that the things are now getting in place because of the cabinet that he put in place because of his
leadership and I appreciate that I also would like to thank you all for the back to school bash because what I saw was were um teachers I saw student students I saw principls I saw people excited to work for bid Harbor area schools the
efficy was not low the kids were excited I've been in the buildings they have their rooms are simply beautiful the uh the time and effort they they spent I drove by one school on Sunday the cars the teachers cars are out there because
they're working on Sunday to get a job they're looking forward to working for B harbar Schools they're looking forward to in their kids and I think we just have to stop uh saying or or putting this gloom and
doom on our district we are a great District we are enthusiastic about working with our kids we go out of our way to work with our kids our teachers go above and beyond to make sure that our kids get what they need the staff
and place those in leadership go above and beyond and they're working to try to get these things done what we can do as as a board I believe that we can be more supportive and start watching and looking at the direction that we're
going in we're getting things done it may take a little longer because Rome wasn't built in a day a lot of the problems we have that track did not get tow up in one day that was years of neglect so we're trying to get those things done but the fact of the matter
is we're working toward those goals and if we keep working when you look up at the end the job will be done and we will be a first class District again because we can get there
and we can and once we get in place you'll be surprised who will come back to Bon Harbor area schools thank you trusty raat Martin secretary triplet yes uh Madame President I I I was looking for the clock and the timer cuz I was timing it
myself it seemed a little extended well you all you all have have spoken so much tonight that the timer actually died I did it and we will speak that's the purpose that that that's the purpose of us being here and I know we're exhausted and and all those different type of things but we will handle we need to
handle our business one thing that I want to say for sure and two thing for certain I'm gonna always inspect what I expect if you could take it personal if you want to that's on you uh but I I I just one thing that I'm clear
on I I don't been H tiger and so one thing and this is very very important to me I don't know you personally I don't know anybody I'm Not Gonna Take It Personal I there there's something about being a tiger and you
know for those of us who walk these halls and and all that stuff there's something about it so we don't take it lightly okay we don't just feel like you know for me it's not about I'm not a Yes Man if if if it if it don't look right if it ain't right I'm GNA say something about
it okay I was and to uh to uh bud I mean director Dash to the director of curriculum I was having him to get in touch with you because she was telling you Thank you and she appreciated what you all did for the back to school bash
that was the only reason that she that I asked him to touch you to bring your attention over here so you could hear a good note um but anyhow I want to say for as far as the track is concerned I can I got it I'm in that thing with
you uh um as far as the track is concerned I want it to be taken into consideration I I think that if our kids the ball was dropped We're not gonna play games we not what I will not do is sit in front of these people and play
games I I always give you an opportunity I came come to the superintendent first and to the director of faciliity so that you would not be shocked with what I was saying tonight it is my wish um and I know um our director of facilities want
to get it started but I don't want to get it started at the expense of our kids and our community and so I want you all to take that into consideration I asked for some specific information I can get with you tomorrow Dr buts I am available this week that we need to make
the necessary adjustments um the the the the length of the project it I didn't get that information tonight and if I know Thursday it's kind of late whatever range has been made for Thursday but if this cannot be done it's just going to be go in there dig it up tear it up and
just set there for what we need to be in our Stadium we got kids who are seniors who want to be on that field we have an alumni that is looking forward to coming here for homecoming we we we got all kinds of things so if
if if if you would take that into consideration it's not going to be done so we can started up in March and it'll be ready by um that's seven months six months and we need to get that information once they start they won't have to stop you tear it up winter time
they can't do any work what's the purpose if they can start it in March and we can make the necessary adjustments and hopefully the the directive athletic is also included in these conversations with the superintendent and the director of facilities so other than that Madame
President and to my colleagues I appreciate you all so very very much um I don't take anything that you say personal I think everybody have a right to say what it is that they say and and feel what it is that they feel but I and I and I do want to say to
our um our new um director treat people the way that you want to be treated I I I would like to say this to all of our directors all all of our new directors and office managers and what have you
treat people the way that you want to be treated and from that point on we'll do well because we've sat at this table and there have been time when people weren't treated
right and some of you all experienced it before you got into your positions that you're in now so don't forget and you're going to have our support as long as you're doing what's right for Ben Harbor and for Ben Harbor area school and with that Madame President the Bell did not ring but I'm
going to digress the rest of my comments All right so I will say uh thank you to everyone for coming out this evening I would like to give Miss singer a warm welcome to her first meeting today it's so exciting to see you
learning in real time and she got an opportunity to have a training moment earlier today when I called her when I called Liz in the ninth hour with an adjustment that I saw that needed to be made so you're getting good training right at the start um it was a very important clarification that was needed
so I'm glad that you were able to witness that and and are aware of things to look for um or to watch out for in the future um I'm ex ecstatic about the directors that we have in place I assure you to the directors and our board and
Dr bus I am doing my best to try to cut down the length of our meetings I also um we'll be trying to look at the agenda creatively to ensure that you all are not just sitting here um endlessly and then like I said we're deflated by the time we get to report so it may be some
adjustments or some moving around of the agenda in the coming months just to kind of maybe move for example like moving you to students up to academics and maybe Miss Brock Carter Finance might go first one day you know so that you guys get your opportunity to shine when we're
actually still excited to be here and not on our last leg of breath um trying to get through the night but I appreciate everyone and I'm going to keep it short um being that my colleagues took advantage of the lack of timer um I will keep mine brief so at
this particular time I have nothing else to say I'll ask is there a motion to a journ so ISO move and I second motion has been made by secretary trip our superintendent so tired he making the motions too he said let's go the
motion has been made by secretary triplet and supported by truste raet Martin any questions comments or concern hearing none secretary triplet yes he got to get his roll call sheet together now he gonna have a nice hot
email waitting on and the close session meeting have been forwarded okay um president Robinson yes secretary triplet yes trusty rocket Martin yes
truste Gavin yes madame president motion Carri all right so meeting is returned as of 9:48 p.m. our regular board meeting as a reminder will be Wednesday September the 11th we will have a very
short um meeting and Liz I would ask if you could get have if we could have some type of blurb about September 11 at the beginning so we can acknowledge the date that it is all right meeting adjourned as of 9:48 pm. you said a
turn just TR to