And the reason is >> All right, we're going to call to order at 703. >> I'm so glad. >> Can we get a roll call, please? >> I know. >> Trusty Lions. >> Are you here?
>> Trusty Lions >> here. >> I didn't hear you. I'm sorry. >> It's okay. >> Trusty Ferris Highland >> here. >> Trusty Edel >> here. Trusty Martin >> here. >> Trusty Chambers >> present. Thank you. >> Trusty Torres >> here. >> Trusty Tag Haki
>> here. >> Student Representative Daga >> here. >> Student Representative Mega >> here. >> And Superintendent Leo >> here. All right. Thank you. Um, Trusty Chambers, can I have you uh read our mission statement? >> I would be happy to. The mission
statement of the East Lancing Board of Education is nurturing each child, educating all students, and building world citizens. Thank you. Um, can I get a motion for approval of agenda? >> I move that the board of education approve the agenda for the February 9th,
2026 meeting as presented. >> Second. >> Um, thanks. Got a motion by to uh Trusty Torres, seconded by Trustee Martin. Um, all in favor I. >> All right. Motion passes. Can I get a
motion for approval of minutes? So moved for the approval of the minutes from the January 26, 2026 regular meeting. >> Second. >> I heard. Uh we got a motion by Trusty Edel. Seconded. I heard by Trusty Martin. Um all in favor?
>> I. >> All right. Motion is approved. Um any recognition? Trusty Martin? >> Uh we do not have any recognition today. Um, I'm looking forward to hear from our student representatives.
>> All right. Anyone else have any recognition? >> All right. We'll move to our student representatives. You can come on up. >> Hi everyone. Hope you're all doing well this one day. Um, okay. So, we do want to give a little disclaimer. Um, our
update this time isn't very like exciting just cuz it's a sort of like in between type of period like within the school. So, we're going through lots of like senior nights, but like seasons aren't really over yet. So, it's just like the past few weeks have been pretty v like busy, but things are slowly coming to an end. So, we're wrapping
things up. I don't know if this was like written in here, but winter formal was just this weekend. >> Yes, we had that, too. and SuKo actually helped like put it together like with decorations and stuff and we just wanted to shout out Miss Mueller because she worked really hard to put it together. >> Yes, for sure.
>> And then we also wanted to talk a little bit about students for gender equality which wrapped up their penny wars last week. So it's like a fundraiser where pennies are counted as like positive pointage and anything else like coins and like bills are counted as negative. So, it's like a kind of like a
competition between all the grades and then all the money goes towards the Women's Center of Greater Lancing. So, we're I'm actually co-president of the club. So, we're going to count out um the money tomorrow actually. So, we're going to try to figure out who won. So, hopefully by the time we come back next
time, we'll know. And then we also wanted to highlight that the classes are actually up to some interesting things too. So like AP psych this morning and actually last Friday dissected human sheep brains or something like sheep brains not human brains sheep brains sorry they dissected sheep brains and
then like human bio was dissecting sheep eyes. So there's a lot and then chemistry is just doing like a random lab with s'mores. So we just wanted to put a little light on that cuz it's a bit interesting. Um and then the Mean Girls musical rehearsals are underway. So, I guess yeah, that's been going on for a while.
But the reason um we kind of wanted to talk about this was because like Pit, we're both in band. So, Pit received their sheet music today. Um and I think I'm probably going to be doing it. I don't know about Tanya. So, I guess we're both doing it. And then we also wanted to talk a little bit about the set crew, which has actually a pretty
small team and they're having to build a really big set in less than 40 days. So, we wish them good luck with that. And then we also wanted to say that it's also been like an extremely busy past couple of weeks in the band and orchestra program. So our band actually performed I wasn't at the last meeting so I don't know if Mai actually already
brought this up but the band actually they did. >> Okay. So they went to the Michigan music conference and they performed like a session called 25 tunes in 45 minutes. So we learned 25 songs in about like 2 weeks and then we went and we performed it for I think like a good maybe like 100 to 200 people.
>> Pretty full. Yeah, it was pretty full and it stayed pretty full the entire time which is rare in these sessions because most people like going like about but yeah, so that was really good. And then um we had solo and ensemble which is like where like students in both programs get to like prepare like a
solo or like maybe like a group kind of thing and then they get to play for like an adjudicator and they get a score and actually everyone who attended received either a one or two. So those are the two highest scores which is really good. And then lastly, we had our band perform in the Tri District concert, which we hosted this year, and it's like a joint
concert with Okamus and Hasllett. So, the band learned even more music for that. So, it was a pretty busy couple weeks for them. >> Yeah. Actually, to add on to that, um the band and orchestra program were like rehearsing right now for senior solo, which is like a couple seniors like auditioned to play like their pieces
with like the entire band or the entire orchestra or like accompanied by a piano. So, we're kind of practicing for that right now. And then to kind of touch on sports a little bit, um, pretty much like all of our teams are doing really well. Boys varsity basketball is
still undefeated. Um, wrestling is doing really well. And then I think also boys swim and dive right now is on a roll. I think that they just won their meet from this weekend. >> Yeah, they had their senior night. So >> they had their senior I think that they Yeah, it was the sweep. So yeah,
>> we don't have like much recognition for specific students, but in general, we do want to like congratulate all the seniors. Obviously, most of the seasons are coming to an end. We have like the spring sports coming up, but that's pretty much it. >> Yeah. >> Yeah. >> Any questions? >> Any questions from the board?
>> No, but that update wasn't boring at all. >> That was Thank you. >> Thank you. >> Thank you. Thank you so much. >> All right. So, we will move on to our superintendence report. Superintendent Leo,
>> thank you. Um, once again, I want to uh get out there that our kindergarten and prek information night is coming up here in February. Uh, children who are eligible for kindergarten, that means they'll be five by December 1st of 2026.
Um, or students who are eligible for our prek program who will be four by December 1st, 2026. that will be held uh Wednesday, February 24th, 2026 at McDonald Middle School. Actually, that might be a Tuesday now that I say that out loud. It's February 24th. Um from
5:30 to 6:30. Um bring your newest little Trojan to receive their future EL graduate t-shirt and photo opportunity. And non-resident families are welcome to attend our event as well. Uh attention fifth grade families. Information
regarding the transition from fifth to sixth grade um was sent out by elementary principles this afternoon. Please see your email for important dates regarding this transition and math placement testing. Also, our ELPS
central administration move is near. Most of the ELPS central office administrators and support staff will be moving into the new administration building soon with a tenative moving date of Friday, February 20th. This includes the following departments. And again, part of why I spelled it out on
here is because this goes out to all of our families tomorrow. Uh my office and department, uh the assistant superintendent, business department, human resources, special education, equity, and social justice. Our technology department will remain at East Lancing High School along with
operations and maintenance. The new building address is 6160 Tower Avenue. We are tenatively planning to hold the February 23rd board of education meeting in our new building and additional parking is available across the street at the Tower Heart Baptist Church. And a
few important dates coming up. Um this coming week, Thursday is a PD uh professional learning day for staff. So there's no school for students. And then Friday and Monday are part of President's Day weekend for our uh most of our staff in the district. And then
I've got our spring break dates down as well. And that's all I have today. >> Thank you for those updates. Any questions for the superintendent? >> Just a comment. Um I as a parent of a sixth grader, I think it's great that we
are uh being very intentional about focusing on that transition between fifth and sixth grade. And um uh Mr. Doson kind of walked us through some of the areas of emphasis at our most recent academic and tech meeting and I think that they're really good changes.
>> Good. Thank you. >> All right, we'll move on to public comment. Um I don't think there was any. We don't have any blue forms. All right, we will move to any board discussion. All right,
not hearing any. So, we'll move on to action items. Can I get a motion for act item, religious and cultural calendar 2026 to 2029? >> I move that the board of education adopt the religious and cultural calendar for the 2026 27 2027 28 and 2028-29
school years. Second >> motion by fair um super jeez. >> Hey, go ahead. >> I know. I'm about to call you superintendent. >> Go ahead. I mean, go ahead. >> Trusty Ferris Highland, seconded by
Trustee Edel. Um all in favor. >> All right, motion passes. Um can I get a motion for our budget calendar? I move the board of education adopt the budget calendar for developing the Eastland Adopt the budget calendar for
developing the East Lancing public schools 202627 budget as presented. >> All right. And I forgot to ask if there was any questions on that. So on the first one um but for this one any questions or comments?
Okay. Um all in favor? I >> I >> All right, motion passes. Move to committee reports. Um, academic and technology. Trustee Chambers. >> That's me. Yeah, we had a great meeting
um this past Monday. Um, we welcomed two new student representatives to the committee. It's really exciting and I appreciate Dr. Dobson for helping um us along with um Principal Schwarzbuck to identify some students. So, we had uh two seniors, Mason Adams and Kyla
Caldwell, who will be helping us out on this committee. They're already great. Jump right into a conversation about math transition to the middle school. So, I can tell they're going to be fantastic. Um and then we as um Trusty
Martin mentioned, we talked about um planning for the transition from um for kids and uh parents from fifth grade to the middle school, particularly about math transition, but sort of more generally as well. Um and we got some
other updates from Dr. Dobson, some other technology exciting things discussed um there too. mainly um related to planning of projects out for the next several years and how budgetary decisions impact the things that we have
going on. Um lots of planning involved with that because a lot of these things are very expensive. Um and I think that is the highlight. >> Next meeting, sorry, is March 9th at
10:30. Um, and we haven't set other dates because this committee doesn't have a set time because we have students on the committee. We try to rotate through so they don't miss the same class every time. So, we it takes a little bit more planning. So, we have March 9th at 10:30, but we're holding on other dates until then.
>> Okay. Wonderful. Thank you. Um, facilities, >> we had a quick meeting um on the 31st, I think. Um, winter actions, just kind of a recap, they're getting parking lot lights repaired at the high school in the staff
lot. Um, the boiler reubing is complete and bids are done for the roof. So, that design is taking place now. Um, for future actions, the moving and construction is almost complete at the new building, um, administration building. They're preparing for the roof
at the high school and then they'll be preparing to powerwash the middle school. um once the weather it allows them to and um Nikki Norris was unable to attend so we didn't get an athletic or events update but um we got some good updates from
Billy and that's all I have. >> Perfect. Thank you. I don't think we said our next >> we didn't um finance committee. >> Uh so we talked about a number of items. um first semester, excuse me, first
semester class size overages of about 25,000 that uh impacted 38 individual teachers. Um this number compared to last number is about the same and lower that it had been in the past. um they went into the first budget revision
which discussed the estimated blended enrollment um that uh we we're going to look at uh I can't remember the exact number it's it's going to be smaller than the first budget um uh estimate. So that'll decrease the uh
expected revenues there. Um the talked about the revenue estimating conference and the conference um is projecting an increase in the school aid fund but a decrease in
the general fund which means they'll probably pull money out of the school aid fund that we were going to get and the the indication is will go to higher education. Uh there's a merger between Fifth Third
Bank and Coma Bank. We had been with um uh we'd been with Fifth Third or we've been with Coma. We've been with Fifth Third and we're now with Coma, but our team has not changed. >> Yeah. >> Other way. >> Other way around. >> Okay. Um and
the other was the budget calendar which we just approved and the just discussed the bid for um landscaping some changes to some internal revenue uh amendment for um
re uh tuition reimbursement to make it not taxable. And then who are the authorized check signers which will be coming forward probably at the beginning of the year. >> Thank you. Uh intergovernmental relations.
>> Um we met on February 3rd. It was a pretty robust meeting with representatives from the city of East Lancing, East Lancing Public Library and the Hannah Community Center. >> Wow. >> Are you impressed? >> I am impressed. >> Um It's a really full meeting where we
came up with we were had a robust discussion of been going to try to I'm just going to say we we discussed creative collaborative solutions for out of school time for our youth. Um our next meeting will be with all of these
partners will be disc yeah we'll be discuss or our our next meeting will be March 10th at 11:00 a.m. where we continue this conversation. Okay. Did I miss anything? >> That was a really succinct way of
explaining a very robust meeting. Yes, >> I know that you've worked really hard to get to convene that group. So, I'm glad everybody came to the table. >> I'm just carrying the ball forward. >> I think everybody did. I think you all did the work. I just
>> you and Bad Bunny. >> Um, thank you on that. Uh, personnel No report >> policy. >> Hopefully not stumble through this one as well. We uh have primarily three issues on
continuing to carry forward um a policy regarding media center materials that um policy was created with the policy committee and a whole bunch of stakeholders. We sent it to Trune. Trun said, "Hey, how about you just use our policy?" And then there was that big gap
between November and now and we discussed and said no we really like the one that we wrote. So I sent that back to Trune. I haven't heard back yet but hopefully by your next meeting they will have adopted what adapted what we want to see in policy into a policy that you
know meets all the requirements and then we can send that forward to the board. Um we're still um uh and Claudia is not here is she? um still talking about land grant acknowledgements with the social
justice club. Um and that's still up in the air. Uh there's several people, myself, Mr. Neil, and um uh Miss Burton working on that. And then lastly is sort of a renaming policy that deals with
something smaller than buildings or uh athletic fields. um and and and and with sort of like other memorials. Um we're trying to come up with a policy on that so uh individual schools don't just
plant something or put up something and then another school says, "Well, we want to do that." And we end up part of it was like when we pass the bond with these memorial trees or other other situations and now what do we do with those trees if we need to put in
geothermal heat and that is where the land is and and so trying to avoid those types of situations in the future with a consistent policy. That was it. >> Thank you. um ISO.
>> We met on February 4 and got a great presentation um from Ingam ISD representatives Jessica Martell and Jen Mloud about the work they've been doing around attendance policy and um boosting attendance numbers and it sounded very
much in line with the um adjustments that were made to our attendance policy this year and they've been seeing um positive results from that. Good. but they're continuing to collect information. Um, then we got to meet uh the Lancing Public Schools interim
superintendent, Jessica Benvites, for the superintendent update. So, that was great. Um, we reviewed bylaws. the elected officers. And uh in the roundt updates from the other school districts, I made a note that a couple um
Weberville and Stockbridge both spoke about um their cell phone bands and how disciplinary issues have gone down dramatically. Engagement from the students is way up. Test scores and attendance are both up as a result of
those cell phone bans. Um just carrying that forward for our continuing discussion about that here in East Lancing. >> Are their bands complete? Like they cannot have them from the minute they walk in the door till >> they turn them in when they get to school and get them back at the end of the day.
>> Where do they turn them into? >> I don't know the particulars of it, but I could get more information if anyone was interested. >> They do. >> So there's actual like there's cases and cases. >> Okay. Yeah. At least that's what I've seen.
>> Yeah, it was a topic of discussion just because of the cell phone ban that's at the state level as legislation >> getting signed tomorrow. >> Getting signed tomorrow. Yeah, >> that it goes to Whitmer's desk tomorrow. >> I think she's uh signing it somewhere tomorrow. >> Okay.
>> Not here, right? >> Somewhere here. >> May not disclose. >> And our next meeting is on March 4th. That's one. I just >> All right. Thank you very much. >> Um, we'll move to announcements. Um, the
next regular schedule meeting of the board of education is February 23rd, 2026. And the meeting will be held in the boardroom at the new ELPS district administration building. >> Y >> located at 6160 Tower Avenue East Lansingwood.
>> Um, any other announcements? >> Just to add one thing. I think I can't remember if I shared this at the last meeting or just with a handful of of you as I've seen you, but we have uh Jason Melma coming to our March 23rd board meeting to give a presentation on the
ANG special education miller. Okay. >> So, he'll be here March 23rd um to do that, not here, but at our new building uh March 23rd to do a presentation and answer any questions you might have. >> And when's that vote? Is it May or Okay. >> Yeah, May. Okay. >> May 5th. Great.
>> Any other announcements? >> That one. There's one up there. >> All right. We will adjourn at 7:25. Thank you.