All right, we are going to get started. >> Call to order at 7:03. Can you get a roll call, please? >> Trusty Lions >> here. >> Trusty Ferris Highland >> here. >> Trusty Edel >> here. Trusty Martin >> here.
>> Trusty Chambers >> present. >> Trusty Torres >> here. >> Trusty Taeki >> here. >> Student representatives are not with us tonight. And Superintendent Leo >> here.
Right. Thank you very much. Um, Trusty Taiki, can you read our mission statement, please? >> Yes. Our mission is to nurturing each child, educating all students, and building world citizens. Perfect. Thank you. Um, can I get a motion for approval of agenda?
>> So moved. >> Second. >> All right. Moved by Trustee Edel and seconded by Trustee Taiki. Um, all in favor? >> I. >> Any opposed? >> All right. Motion passes. Um, can I get
a approval of minutes, please? >> I move that the board of education approve the minutes of the following meetings. January 12th, 2026, which is a regular meeting, and January 16th, 2026, which is a special meeting. >> Second.
>> All right, I got um motion by uh Trustee Chambers and second I heard Trusty Taiki. Um all in favor? >> Any opposed? >> I heard Chris. >> Oh, I didn't even hear you. >> I hear both of them in my ears. >> They're all seconded in unison. Everyone
seconded. >> Everybody wanted to mute. >> All right. Uh motion passes. Um Trusty Martin, do we have any recognition tonight? >> I have not received any recognition. I'll put out a call before our next meeting to see if we can get some more recognition out.
>> Perfect. Thank you. And do we have any of our student representatives not here tonight? Um so I'll turn it over to our superintendent for superintendent report. Thank you. Uh just a few items tonight. One, I want to um share again
that our annual kindergarten and prek information night will be held February 24th, 2026 at McDonald Middle School. We are just firming up the time and format for that and we'll have flyers out um and advertised later this week. I want to congratulate a few of our East
Lancing High School students. Three of our students from East Lancing High School were selected as winners of the 2026 James W. Butler III and Mark S. McDaniel Legacy Scholarship and the 2026 student essay contest reflecting this
year's theme until justice rolls down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. First, London Elum is one of two scholarship category winners. Gabrielle Ferguson is one of three scholarship category finalists and Talia Andrews won
third place in the 9th through 11th grade category. These students were recognized during the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Celebration on January 19th, 2026 at the Lancing Center. And congratulations to London, Gabrielle, and Talia.
>> And um just a little bit on school closing reminders. I think that's timely. Um, following two days of school closure due to due to weather, we are still in for a snowy and very cold week ahead. We know that school is a safe and warm place for our students and that many of our kids rely on getting hot and
healthy meals at school. And we also have to prioritize their safety when it comes to getting to and from school in winter weather. This includes walkers, those who wait at bus stops, and our teen drivers. To notify our bus drivers before beginning routes, we need to make
these decisions by about 5:30 a.m. And occasionally, conditions can unpredictably change. Please remember that should you disagree with the decision to keep your school open on any given day, you may make a different decision for your student based on your child's or your family circumstances.
And then just a few dates coming up. Um February 12th through 16th, there's no school for students. The 12th is a PD day for staff. and then into March. Um the 26th is a half a day for all students in the district and the 27th through April 5th is spring break. So
thank you. Um any questions for superintendent? All right, we have public comment. Um I have one form up here if anyone else would like to fill one out. There are blue forms in the back. I'll read this statement. uh quickly. Um so this is an opportunity to address the board.
Speakers are to confine the remarks to five minutes. If a speaker requires more than five minutes after all other persons who have requested to speak during this part of the meeting have spoken, that speaker will be allowed additional time. The superintendent or other district staff may comment to
clear up or avoid significant misunderstandings. And we have uh Kristen Fentner. Um hiring of Dorcas Schumac as associate principal. >> Hello. Hello board. Hello Miss Leo. How
are you in this brisk day? I have to tell you um the way I loathe winter cannot be explained. So, it is only my deep respect for this woman that would bring me out and put on real pants to come to this meeting to give my
full-chested support to Dorca Shoemake for our new um associate principal position. She is smart, she is kind, she is funny. Gosh, she's funny. And I honestly just just wanted to go on record to saying I think she is a
fantastic choice for our East Lancing High School associate principal. >> Thank you. >> Thank you. so much. >> Any other uh public comment? Nothing. All right, we will close public comment and move to our board discussion. Do we
have any board discussion items? All right, not hearing any, we will move on to our action items. Can I get a a motion for our action item A? McDonald Middle School roof bids figure. >> Oh, there's numbers in it, so it's me. I
move that the board of education, sorry. I move that the board of education award the bid for replacement of the McDonald Middle School roof to Royal West Roofing in the amount of $843,000 and approve RS Consultants to provide construction management and quality assurance services for the
project for $36,250. Those were easy ones. second. >> All right, we have a motion. Oh, >> so I don't know if Lisa, you want to I mean over the years as the treasurer and uh in the past being on facilities, I
don't know if that's facilities or finance, but I assume this is part of our neverending, you know, replacing sections of rovings on buildings over time so we don't get hit with one big project at some point in time.
The roof that this building has several leaks that have been fixed periodically, but it's gotten to the point where now we do need to replace as a whole and it's been in the stinking fund budget um for a couple terms through couple of
years and this was the year that we needed to do it. We wanted to make sure that we got the bid in early enough so that we would get the best pricing possible. Yep. >> And the actual construction would take place in the summer,
>> summer of this year. >> Okay. >> Thank you. >> Any other questions, comments? >> I have a question, but I don't think it's gerine to Well, I'll ask it anyway. I know that part of our
2024 bond funds are going to work at the middle school and you said this is coming from the scing fund. Is any portion of it coming out of that the bond fund? Will there will there be other work at the middle school o over the summer from
the bond fund? >> I thought that was all the locks and >> there's a little bit coming. This is this was not part of our um PQ app at all. So, it's not eligible for um bond fund money at this point. Um there is going to be um yeah, all of the door
locks um of our interior doors are going to be updated. Um there's a significant um carpet replacement in this building and some concrete and parking lot work that will take place um later on this spring and summer. >> Okay, that's very helpful.
>> Yep. All right. Um, so we have a motion by Tristy Edo with a second from Ferris Highland. Um, all in favor? >> I. >> Any oppose?
Motion passes. All right. Can I get a motion on high school Germany trip in the summer of 2027? And we do have Mr. Filter here who uh can answer any questions if we have any. I move that the board of education
approve the trip request from Robert Filter and Adam Orange for a high school trip to Germany in the summer of 2027. >> Second. >> Motion made by Trustee Chambers, seconded by Trustee Martin. Any questions, comments,
clarifications we need? >> Should we bring Mr. Filter up? >> Yeah, you're more than welcome to come on up. >> Can we say y' is spice. That's my only ceiling is white. One water without gas.
Okay. I didn't think >> Well, uh good evening board members and um it's always a pleasure to get to come before you to uh talk a little bit about this program that we have. Uh 2026 celebrates 45 years of this partnership that we've had with Seabolt Gimnazium in uh Verdsburg, Germany. So, um we're very
excited to continue that. Uh we actually had a fantastic program this past year. Uh we took uh 14 students and five adults uh to Germany this past summer. We would have loved to have superintendent Leo come along with circumstances didn't allow that. Um and then uh we hosted
>> Did you call Terra and replacement for Superintendent Leo? >> Yeah. Unfortunately uh at the point that uh we weren't able to substitute anybody in because flights had been booked with um passports and things like that at that point. But um so we didn't end up being able to take a substitute adult,
but we did have two uh parents and one grandparent that also came along on the trip with us, which was really great. Um I think uh the grandparent that was along with us, I think he might have had the most energy out of the whole group. Uh at 70 years old, he got around pretty good. So um uh and then we had the
ability to host uh 20 students and two teachers from our partner school in September here. Um they they actually got to attend our homecoming dance, which was um really something special for them. There was all kinds of arrangements made for dresses and uh suits last minute because they really wanted to be probably more formal than
they needed to be for our homecoming dance. But um it was a really great program. Um and I would just like to say that um you know especially these days I feel like um giving the stu our students the opportunity to understand the value of our uh international allies and
friends in Europe um that this program is important more than ever to part of our mission statement which is building world citizens. So this time uh we will be going in 2027 uh from June 24th through July 15th. Uh about eight days of that trip is uh just our East Lancing
group uh traveling to Berlin, Dresden, and Munich. And then uh there's about uh 13 days built in there for them to uh stay with a family at our host school and um participate in a program that our host school puts together for us. Includes all kinds of great things um
ranging from uh visiting a factory and we visited an Audi factory the last time. So coming from a state where um auto manufacturing is really important and um knowing that there's been large investments made into the future of auto manufacturing in our state recently um I'm excited for you know what that
sparks in our students but also uh our host school sets up trips to um other cities in the area to see the culture um and it's it's really a great robust program that our partner school puts together. >> Awesome. Any questions uh for Mr.
Filter? >> Well, Mr. Filter, I would say it's an awesome It is awesome and I often tell people from other districts about it. I did I met a couple of the students from Germany last fall who were here and they were very excited to be here. But I
think that what uh one thing that stands out to me is that you spend nine and a half months out of the year with these students and you voluntarily spend another 21 days with them uh in the summer. And I think that that's shows a great commitment and I think it's great. Well,
>> I appreciate it. Um, as an educator, uh, the classroom can get a little stale sometimes. So, to take kids out in the real world, um, every chance I get, not just in my German classes, I think, um, learning, uh, in the real world is very, very valuable. So, >> and worth my time.
>> Taikaki and I were just trading our German, which is, um, I have one sentence, and it looks like she has about that, too. But we're ready to go if ever you need, you know. >> Yeah. Mine is >> very nice. We we ride with a bicycle on the street. So that's really good. Um
>> Exactly. My sister taught me that as we were riding our bicycles in the street. >> Wow. >> Uh part of the reason too I'm coming to you now. You might say 2027 that seems like a really long way off. Um we do recognize that um trips like this um are you know can be burdensome for our
families and so giving families plenty of time to plan um both for you know I know we have I think uh school calendars out now for like the next three years. So um being able to plan um for their family vacations but also be able to plan financially for this. Um if we
students can you know sign up and families can say okay we can get on a payment plan and spread it out across more months. um they can spend more time trying to figure out how they're going to fund raise or summer jobs or all of those things. But the company we work with, World Strides, does provide
financial aid to um our families as well um that are below an income level. They just need to apply for it. Um and they also provide scholarships as well. And then I know Mr. Orange isn't here tonight, but um he has also awarded some small scholarships out of a fund that he administers uh for educational purposes
as well to our students. So, we're trying to do everything we can to get way out ahead of this to make sure that our families that really want to go, but maybe this could be a strain on them financially, we can help them figure out how to make it possible. >> Yeah, absolutely. In all seriousness, I do appreciate um the attention to
affordability that you um absolutely pay for this trip because it's a great experience and would obviously you want all kids who want to go to have the opportunity. So, I'm particularly appreciative of those efforts. So, thank you. Thank you so much for all of the
planning, the early planning. That's much appreciated, I'm sure, by students and families. So, thank you very much for everything that you do for our students. >> Thank you. >> So, we have a motion and a second. Um, and so all in favor? >> I.
>> Any opposed? >> All right. Motion passes. Yay. All right. Can I get a motion on fiber in infrastructure maintenance uh agreement? >> I move that the board of education approve the annual fiber maintenance
agreement with Fiberlink for $28,000. >> Second, >> Dave, left and right. >> Uh we have a motion by Trusty Taiki and seconded by Trusty Edel. Any um discussion on this?
>> Christian, would you tell us about all of this? I knew you would. >> I get really excited about fiber. >> That's why you were hiding down there slouching in her chair. >> There's two of them then. >> I used to work for a fiber telecom
company. >> Oh, okay. >> Good evening, Board of Education and Superintendent Leo. Um, of all the super fun and exciting things that I get to do on a regular basis, -ate ranks way up there at the top, this one is actually
um, pretty standard. This is a maintenance agreement for the fiber that the district owns around the city connecting all the buildings back to the high school. So, this action item along with the next two, these are all contingent upon USA approval through the
-ate process. So this this is the the next step in a very long process with USAC for funding where the district only pays 20% of the overall invoice. So this one is just for the maintenance on the existing fiber
that we have. The I'll jump ahead real quick whether matters or not. The next one is to replace fiber inside the high school and the middle school. So the fiber that's in there is very old. It's called OM2 and it's limited at 10 gig bandwidth between our closets, our
wiring closets. And the new fiber and the new hardware that we have in these buildings will allow us to double that. So, we're we're really limited right now on the fiber. That one would replace that. And then the third one is just part of our rotation schedule of replacing the power supplies that we
have in our wiring closets in the buildings. We replaced some last year. This is to replace uh more. And those devices were purchased, the ones that we're replacing were purchased under the bond, the tech bond back in 2012.
>> Wow. >> Way past coming out of the scing fund or general fund or >> these are budgeted in the scing fund. >> Okay. >> Yep. >> Perfect. >> Any questions for Christian? So Christian, our um e- rate percentage
is now we're on an 8020 because of our um title status. We used to be 6040. Is that right? >> It was 6040 and now it's 8020. >> Yeah. So we're getting a significant savings um >> for sure. >> Yeah. And thank you for all of your work
um tracking all of that down. We often say that you have multiple jobs, surplus sales, all kinds of things. I think we need to also add forensic accountant to your list of side gigs for us because I know you know serving on academic and technology committee um tracking down
all of the fiber that we have in the district where it is what's lashed on to it, who owns what, all of those things that all go into even getting to the point where we can do these um projects is quite a time investment. So, thank you so much for all of you, your work
and your team's work and um making this all happen. >> It's not surplus sales, but it's, you know, >> Thank you, though. >> Yeah. Thanks, Kristen. >> All right. So, we have a motion and a
second. So, we'll move to vote. All in favor? >> I. >> Any oppose? It is uh passes and we'll move on to fiber installation. If I can get a motion. >> I move that the board of education
approve the fiber installation contract with Lake Tech in the amount of $45,797.50. >> Second. >> All right. We have a motion by Trusty Chambers, seconded by Trusty Edel. Um >> I didn't even second it. It was these two.
>> It was you? >> Yes. Okay. So, I heard Martin, but I didn't even hear >> my lips never moved. >> Sorry. >> Sorry. >> Sorry. >> I need like signals. >> It sounded like uh Cath. All right. So, moved by Trusty Chambers, seconded by
Trustee Martin. Um, and all in favor? >> I. >> Any oppose? Motion passes. And uh can you get a motion for purchase of UPS devices? >> I move the board of education approve
the purchase of UPS hardware from MOSS in the amount of $84,554.72. >> Second. >> Well, that was tally. All right, we have a um motion by Trustee Edel, seconded by Ferris
Highland. Trusty Ferris Highland. Um, all in favor >> I >> Any opposed? >> No, I'm sign. >> All right, motion passes. >> And um, can we get a motion for hiring of Dorca Schumac as associate principal
East Lancing High School? >> I move that the board of education approve the contract for Dorca Shoemake as associate principal at East Lancing High School effective January 27th, 2026. >> Second. Oo.
All right. We have a motion by Trusty Ferris Highland, seconded by Trusty Chambers and Edel. That's what I heard. Um um >> we are really all bored in this winter weather. >> Everyone's jumping at it. Very exciting.
Um any >> Can we have discussion on this one? Yeah, we can. Right. Any discussion on this uh motion? >> Well, I for one, I'm very excited to have you >> Yes. step up and fill that role and and
welcome. >> I mean, you're already there, but yeah, >> I echo the excitement. Um, of course, I was sad to hear that um, Miss Q is moving on. That was devastating news. Um, but when I heard the name and heard
what was going to happen, I was so excited. you're going to be such an I mean, you're already contributing to the team, but um so excited for what you're going to contribute to our community. Thank you so much. >> I also want to echo I after reading
materials and I mean you you pulled somebody out into like this winter vortex so clearly, you know, you have such a strong the others very very much welcome to the team. We're really we're very fortunate to have you as part of the community.
All right. Um, well, we will move to vote. And so, all in favor? >> I. >> Any oppose? All right. Motion passes. Welcome. Please come.
>> I would have sat in my back for that. All good. We'll wait. >> You're worth it. >> Mhm. >> Yeah. The design is counterintuitive. >> Yeah. >> To go back to come up there at the back. >> High school kids.
>> I'm very excited um to be the new AP at East Lancen High School. I love my job and I love my co-workers. I'm so happy to be a part of the team and um I love this community. I mean many of you all know that my husband and I raising our kids here. I mean they act like they
don't want to be here but they are here. Look at them. They just they're just amazing and my littlest. Um but I didn't know that Kristen was coming tonight u to talk about me. I appreciate that. I thought you were coming about the German trip with Adam. Um but uh thank you very
much. And um like I said in our meetings before and in our interviews before, I'm like, I just want to go home knowing that I did an excellent job serving these kiddos, working with our team, and I'm excited about all the good work that we're going to continue to do. So, thank you.
>> Y thank you so much. >> Clap for your mother. >> They were like, "All right." Or snap. We're good. >> Cheers and snaps and claps and everything. There should be confetti. >> Yeah. >> All right, we will move on to our
committee reports. Um, academic and tech. Uh, Trusty Chambers. >> Oh, snap. Um, yes, we have not met, but we have a meeting come up coming up on there's going to be a Oh, I get to go first. So, to say if you
are looking to come to sit in on these committee meetings, we have three of them scheduled on February 2nd. Academic Tech will be from noon to 1, smack in the middle of policy and finance. >> You said February 2nd. >> Yes.
>> February 2nd, 12:00 to 1 in the hub. >> Awesome. Facilities, >> we are meeting this Friday at 1:30 in the hub. >> Finance, >> we are meeting February 2nd at 1:30, >> I think. One
>> one One one >> intergovernmental relations. >> We are meeting by February 3rd at 11 in the hub >> and personnel
>> no report >> policy >> 10:30 February 2nd in the hub. I did that. >> And ISO >> we are meeting Wednesday, February 4 at 8 a.m.
>> on Zoom. >> I think I might be. >> Yes, I think I think so. >> All right. Um, announcements. Um, our next regular scheduled meeting of the board of education is February 9th, 2026. Do we have any other announcements?
I would add that I think we will still be here for the February 9th meeting, but I'm going to go out on a limb and say hopefully we'll be in our new space for the February 23rd meeting, but for the 9th, we'll still be here. So, my
high schooler has told me there is an Allied basketball game happening on a Friday someday in February or March or April at some time during the day. >> Oh, wow. >> So, put it on your calendars.
>> We'll do. >> Thank you, Marcus. >> And any clarity I can get on that would really be helpful. >> What's that? >> Marcus may know more than we do. Well, that's Gary. >> Any other announcements?
>> All right. Not seeing or hearing any. So, we will adjourn at 7:31. >> Congrat