Good evening and welcome to the regular meeting of the board of education for Tuesday, October 14th, 2025. This meeting is now called to order. May we please have a roll call? >> Yes, Miss Smith. She just stepped out. Okay. Uh Mr. Rinto
>> here. >> Miss Heinrich >> present. >> Mr. Hall >> here. >> Mr. Walker >> here. >> I myself am here. President Williams. I'm here. >> We are all present. Thank you. We will now stand for the pledge. >> I pledge algiance to the flag of the
United States of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. >> Thank you. Um, >> we're going to add those.
>> We'll entertain a motion. >> Um, did >> I think she has it though? >> Yeah, you do. Yeah. >> All right. I move to amend the October 14th, 2025 regular meeting agenda as follows.
Remove personnel items under consent agenda. Um 11B and in its place add 2026 resolution compliance PA152 under the consent agenda and to approve
the agenda as amended. >> Support. Motion made to amend the agenda for the October 14th regular meeting to remove personnel items under consent agenda 11B and add 2026 resolution
compliance PA152 under the consent agenda and to approve the amended as uh amended. Is there any discussion? Seeing none, all in favor? >> Any opposed? Any abstensions? That motion passes.
We will now move to announcements. Uh I have a few. First, I want to uh make everyone aware that yesterday the city of Farmington Hills issued a proclamation recognizing November as epilepsy awareness month. Uh many of our
students live with seizure disorders. Uh many of them often invisibly. Uh but they can thrive when adults around them know what to do. Uh I applaud the city for increasing awareness and I also want to announce that there is an epilepsy
scavenger hunt on November 8th in Farmington, Michigan uh that is being led by the Epilepsy Foundation. I want to uh with extreme sadness uh announce that Kathy Stern has passed
away. Uh she began her career with Farmington Public Schools as a noon aid about 20 years ago at Hillside Elementary. Uh she served in many capacities before becoming the executive assistant of the superintendent and of the board of education. Uh in um several
years ago, she was admired for her warmth, for her her kindness, for her genuine concern for others and her utmost professionalism. Uh she will be missed and the board wishes to extend condolences to her family.
I also want to mention that a former board member has passed away. His name was Ken Parin. He uh was serving far before my time. He served in the 70s, but uh he was uh a tireless board member. He was also a member of the
Oakland County School Boards Association, the Farmington Hills Police Handicap Enforcement Program, the Farmington Area Recreation Commission, and was active in several subdivisions. Uh I have a huge appreciation for board members uh for all elected officials
really who serve. Uh it is often especially at this level um a uh a huge task and is often pretty thankless. Uh I appreciate everyone who is supporting education uh from those in uh elected
officer positions to administration to all of our staff. Uh there is a lot of great work going on in and across our system and I want to applaud um the folks in our system who are contributing to this effort. Uh we know that change
takes time and sometimes it's hard but I'm really pleased with the effort and the results that we're starting to see and I want to continue to uh promote that and I know this board will continue to have discussions in that area. Um to
that end, I also want to uh thank some of our board members who are attending training. Uh there is a three to five day uh training that's being held in Traverse City. This happens annually and often multiple times a year and most of
all of our board members uh have attended these trainings over the years. This is additional hours, days, months of our time over over years where our board members are committed to continuing professional education. And I want to thank our newest board members,
especially Mr. Ron Rossinto and Mr. Thomas Hull for uh uh joining in that training. I know all of us have been and that um some of us are going to be delegates this um uh meeting. Yes. So, thank you. You're going to be a delegate as well. Thought there was only Oh,
you're the alternate. Thank you. Um, so appreciate you guys for all of the time that you spent doing those activities. Um, I wanted to also mention that, you know, again, we are constantly focused on student achievement and student
growth, but I I want to make mention wherever I can that we are not in this alone. We need our community and especially our parents to do their part. Uh, in our last meeting, we talked about absenteeism. Absenteeism is a problem. And to the extent that your child is
absent more than one time every other week, you are chronically absent. And to be chronically absent, especially at an elementary level, means that you are losing 400,000 words, about 7 hours of reading a year. And
over time, that makes a pretty big dent in your educational outcomes studies show. So please please make sure that your student is arriving at school every day and on time. When you are not, you
are uh significantly contributing to uh poor outcomes for your student and for the school district. Similarly, I read a a recent report about the impact of social media. We all know this, but studies have now proven that 9 to 13
year olds who are spending 1 to three hours on social media a day are five points lower on standardized testing. So, this is another area I want to bring up for parents. Please monitor your children's social media, monitor your
children's um electronic usage. All of that is important and studies are proving that they have a detrimental effect on uh their learning. Uh the board had a really good discussion earlier today on board goals and superintendent goals. Uh the board
has agreed that we're going to uh work a bit more to make our goals smarter, but we will have goals in the area of student achievement uh in terms of board governance in terms of district resources and also with respect to
community engagement and communications. Uh we were really pleased with the superintendent's goals so far. Uh we are pleased especially with the focus on uh accelerated learning on college and career readiness. Um I'm particularly
excited about our move to competency based um uh uh learning and uh we asked the superintendent to synthesize a bit and make sure that her goals as well were smart. Uh the board is leaning towards ensuring that our committees are
are aligned with our goals and that will likely mean that we will add a committee uh called um something related to student success so that we can monitor our uh blueprint for student success going forward. So uh I think we're all aligned on that and we'll continue to
further discussion in the in the weeks ahead. With that we will move on to our first public comment. If you have uh public comment, please fill out a card at the back. Uh we have two opportunities for public comment, but you may only do
public comment once. When I call your name, you will have three minutes to address the board. We ask that you uh keep your comments respectful. Uh and uh direct your comments to the board, not to the audience. If you have uh a name
of a person, uh we ask that you refrain from using names where uh anonymity would be more appropriate, especially if you're talking about a student or a staff member. With that said, we're going to start with uh Eugene Greenstein. >> Good evening. I want like to start by
thanking you, Mrs. Williams, for your excellent response to my letter. And I don't intend to read that letter, but I will reference it if you will. Uh, so this is what I'm reading from is the NEA's Jewish Affairs Caucus, which is not part of the NEA, but is an external
caucus. As the Jewish Affairs Caucus, we express our deep disappointment and concern over the National Education Association's recent distribution of third-party classroom resources in recognition of Indigenous People's Day that included anti-Semitic contact,
terror linked, and falsified content. The Indigenous People Day email sent to nearly three million educators linked to the native land digital, a site whose map erases Israel and promotes materials connected to hate and violence. Among the among
these were resources that glorified terror terrorism, denied the Holocaust and cons and spread conspiracies like Zionists allied with Nazis. These materials were distributed under the NEA's name without review or warning and
were removed only after public outrage. Even more concerning is that the NEA statement condemning the content was grossly inadequate. It offered no apology to the Jewish members, no directive to teachers to stop using the materials and once again diluted
accountability by pairing anti-semitism with anti-Palestinian bigotry. Jewish pain was treated as an afterthought rather than a focus. When I went to school and I think when you went to school, teachers were gods. We we believed everything they said. We held
them in the most highest esteem. At least I did. Maybe I was. I should have been smarter, but I don't think so. The NEA's actions are very disturbing. How can they send material to teachers which
I would assume if I were a teacher is vetted and accurate and clearly this wasn't. So it begs the question, what other materials that they have sent to teachers that are on their website are accurate and reasonable and rational? And I would sit there and say no teacher
should use anything from the NEA given this without it being thoroughly vetted. Uh, and I would hope that the school board besides the actions it's taking in your letter would would champion a
response to the NEA itself and the Michigan Education Association, which is a subordinate telling about the outrage you feel and the betrayal I would assume you feel like I do by how they responded.
Uh the I have a copy of this that Colleen will pass out to you and thank you very much for your attention. >> Thank you. Uh the next comment is from Mark Fory and followed by Henrietta Forsy. >> Hello. A friend sent a note about um uh
and it read, "The Michigan Department of Education is doing what is perceived as workaround legislation to incorporate sexual and gender identity into the health education of Michigan K through 12 schools, kindergarten. This has been
brought to the attention of several faculty members in health education and parents of young children in the public schools of Michigan. I'm reaching out to you because I know you care about education and the safety of children. Now, there's a uh a watchdog group
called uh uh Saltlight Global. It's all one word, saltlight global.org. Uh and they give a little background. It says in the fall of 2024, a radical sexed overhaul bill uh HB6068
was introduced and defeated. But like uh Dracula, it doesn't this kind of measure doesn't die. Now the Michigan State Board of Education is trying to incorporate many of the same radical ideas about sex and identity uh
education into curriculum and uh K through 12 grade public schools. The proposal bypasses bypasses the legislative process and usurps the role of parents by hiding radical immoral teachings about sex and
identity in a curriculum that parents can't opt out of or approve. Though these through these new health standards, children will be compulsory indoctrinated with values that directly contradict the s sincerely held
religious beliefs of their family. So, I I'm sure some of you are already aware of this, but I hope there's someone here who will be alarmed by this and would actually stand up and speak up against this. There was a hearing in Lancing today.
Um, as far as I know, they were just hearing things. I don't I don't think the board was interacting with people. So, I I couldn't get more information than that. But this is a serious matter when a bill was defeated in last fall and then
people say, "Well, who cares what the people want? Who cares what the people representatives want? We're going to do it a sneaky uh camouflaged way." So, that's not healthy for the schools, for the kids, or for the board or anyone in Farmington or Farmington Hill. So, I I
hope you'll you'll stay on top of this and oppose it. Thank you. >> Thank you, President Williams. We can't I can't hear from that the the people with their public comment. It's on because it's really hard to hear them.
>> Is somebody else coming? >> It's me. >> Oh, some room. >> Okay. >> It comes with age. Maybe I need to go get some hearing aids, but Okay. Thank you. >> Uh Henrietta Forin followed by Bill
Love. I'm I'm sorry. Bill Loveway, did you have another comment or is this No, you do have another comment. So, um, Henrietta for >> Henrietta for she followed by Bill Love. >> Um, honor they only get one >> and I'm >> It's a different meeting.
>> I'm with my uh husband's elk here. So, uh, mine is protect childhood, keep classroom safe, and age appropriate. And this is from the Detroit News columnist Caitlyn Boss. Pushing sex ed under guise of health ed. It's a call to reject
radical health ed changes. Good evening members of the board. Thank you for allowing comment on this critical issue. I stand firmly against the proposed health education revisions now being advanced at the state level. Under the
banner of health, these changes would expose children to inappropriate sexual conduct, ideological lessons, and personal topics that belong at home, not in the classroom. Why these changes are dangerous? The new health ed framework
introduces explicit topics about sexuality and gender identity in early grades. It undermines parental authority by minimizing optout rights and limiting curriculum transparency.
It replaces biologically based education with controversial ideology, confusing rather than protecting students. It shifts control from local communities and parents to outside groups and state bureaucrats.
Our duty to protect children. Children deserve to learn in classrooms that nurture innocence, respect, and age appropriate truth. It's not the role of public schools to introduce complex sexual or identity concepts to
impressionable students. Parents, not political agendas, must guide these conversations with their own homes and faith traditions. What the school board can do, reject or postpone adoption of
the new health ed framework until full community review is completed. Demand full transparency from the Michigan Department of Education before any vote. Protect local and parental rights over
curriculum content. Publicly affirm that protecting children's innocence is a top priority of this district. Closing appeal. This is not about opposing education. It's about ensuring education remains safe, age appropriate, and
moral. Please take a firm stand to protect our children from exposure to sexualized materials in the name of health. Our families and our community are counting on your courage and leadership. Thank you very much.
>> Thank you, Mr. Loveway. Is there any further public comment? I have no further public comment cards. This will be the last public comment. Hello again. I I want to talk about uh
community communication. Uh which we don't have communication. Communication is two-way discussions. Uh if people bring a point up, it's a yes or no. Just say yes or no. if there's some need for clarifi clarification.
Uh what's wrong with talking about it? So, uh I'm I'm a little bit disturbed with I'm a little bit disturbed with uh the current trend. Uh right now we have the uh items from the secretary list
that used to be displayed with the agenda. It's now hidden in a retroactive agenda and you don't even mark on there that that's amended or changed or whatever the heck you call it. Uh so it's hidden. Uh board minutes are not
published. You just change that. Uh you don't publish them with the agenda. I'm not sure where you can find them. The community can't. And he had something about a draft or final and 13 days. What you want to do is charge a fee for us to
look at our minutes. I pay taxes. I don't have to pay fees. Uh, and it's crazy that you ask for that. Uh, public comments. You talk about flapping your lips with no answers. >> Uh, I've got
uh more than a few responses and which are basically well here. Well, you asked that. we're not going to tell you the answer or you just ignore it. Uh which that's not exactly free speech and it's not
communication. You don't believe in dialogue. Uh you don't always listen and then you zing out your replies to public comments. And that happened to me at a recent meeting where they missed the whole main point of my discussion for a
couple of reasons. One was asking why we uh didn't have a a response, why I didn't get a response as to whether or not the proclamation was still in effect given you just kind of snuck it off the website without saying anything about
it. Despite the fact that you had some very acrimonious meetings about it four or five years ago, it just disappeared. And so when I start off my discussion uh wondering whether that's still in effect nothing it ruins my discussion uh
and it ruins the point. So, my point that I made was uh it had to do with uh the I'm out of time with reading and I suggested that the reading problem wasn't because kids were black. It was
because we missed the opportunity to show that they were impoverished. >> Thank you, Mr. Love Boy. Seeing no further public comment, no further public comment, we will close this public comment period and we will
move to items from the secretary. >> Uh yes, hang on. >> Oh, uh the board received communications regarding communications from the office of Head Start and student parking lot lights at Farmington High School. The board acknowledges all communication
during response as appropriate. A list of correspondents is included in the board packet which is available on the Farmington Public Schools website. Thank you. We will now move to legislative update. I don't have anything to report this evening. However, tomorrow night uh
there will be a thorough legislative update provided at the Oakland County Schoolboard Association meeting which I will be attending. So, uh, at our next, uh, board meeting, I will have a thorough legislative update for us, uh, at that time.
>> Thank you. Uh, we will now move to district updates. Dr. Coffin. >> Uh, yes. Thank you. Uh, President Williams, I wanted to just share a few highlights from the past couple of weeks. Uh, first of all, our initial count day data is in, and I'm really happy to report our enrollment has held
steady. Um and it may even be a touch higher than it was last year uh than we projected. Uh this stability is a huge indicator uh that our community continues to have confidence in the high standards that we are maintaining and it's our commitment to success starts
here for every student. We're also actively focusing on developing our leadership capacity across the district. Recently, our cabinet, as an example, started our book study conversation on the book uh leadership on the line, and several of our team members are also
participating in executive coaching to continue to build their leadership skills. On the instructional side, we're now in our fourth year of implementing our instructional framework in our partnership with learning works. This sustained commitment has been key in
offering our administrators and our teachers not only the clarity but a base level of support that they need to keep growing and deepening the critical work throughout our schools. Last week we held our first lunch and learn. Um what
a great conversation we had. The students were fantastic and I do want to thank our board members who uh took the time to join the building principal and myself. It's so valuable to hear directly right from our students. FPS
also received some exciting recognition last week. As a district in the Michigan Futures of Learning Council, Farmington was identified as what's called a Thrive district. This designation is directly related to the systemic changes and vision-driven leadership we've
demonstrated, all aligning with the our strong our profile of a lifelong learner. It is thrilling to be recognized and selected by our peers as someone who is leading the way in K12 educational transformation. Finally, for our parents, we'll be
sending out a brief survey uh for the purpose of improving um uh the way that we communicate uh both as a district and and through our buildings. uh your feedback is going to be very important to inir inform our current efforts as well as um make sure that we are meeting
the needs of those that we serve. So that is all I have tonight. Thank you. >> Thank you. Uh did you also have a district? >> Yep. >> Thanks. Uh next I would like to welcome Mr. Jeff Higgins and Miss Renee Esper uh
to the podium from Plant Moran to present the annual district audit update. Well, thank you and good evening. We appreciate the opportunity to be here tonight to again present the results of the district's annual audit for the year ended June 30th, 2025. Again, my name is
Jeff Higgins. I'm a partner with Plant Moran, an overall charge of the audit. With me is Renee Epser, who's the uh manager on the audit. There are several documents that come out of the audit process. And we've put together this brief presentation just to try to touch upon some of the highlights throughout
the various documents that uh are reported out on. >> Okay. >> Okay. As you can see, technology skills are not my forte today, but we'll start with just a few of the key highlights from the audit process.
So, there's actually two separate audits that we perform. We do an audit on the basic financial statements, which would comprise the financials of the audit and all the various fund level statements. We also do a separate audit of the federal programs administered by the district. And on both of those, as you can see, we've issued an unmodified
opinion, which is also a clean opinion. It would be the highest level of assurance that we can provide on a set of financial statements. So again, an unmodified opinion with no deficiencies noted on the federal program audit side. Again, unmodified or clean opinion with no findings or question costs noted. So
again, a clean audit result from our review of the district's uh financial statements and federal programs. We recorded no violations of the Uniform Budgeting and Accounting Act. And it's also worth noting that the district did receive again for 2024 the uh
certificate of uh excellence financial reporting which is issued by the uh Michig association of school business officials. So again the district submits its financial information to this separate body for review and consideration. There's less than 20 districts in the entire state of
Michigan that actually receive this award. The districts have received this award for over 25 years. So this really demonstrates the district's commitment to accurate and transparent financial reporting. So again district should be commended for that. It goes above and beyond in terms of just presenting the
financials. They of a comprehensive uh report includes a lot of additional information subjected to the secondary review by this outside body and it for 25 years has received this uh certificate of u excellence financial reporting. So with that we'll get into some of the
details from this year's audit. Again, as I just mentioned, it's our job as the district's independent auditors to express an opinion on the district's financial statement. So, as I mentioned, we've issued an unmodified or a clean opinion. In order for us to provide this opinion, we do have to conduct an audit
in accordance with auditing standards generally accepted in the United States of America. There's several tests and procedures and processes that we have to go through in order to render this opinion. Um but again we did ultimately get to the point where we had this unmodified opinion. The activities of
the district are recorded in various different funds to show how the particular expenditures are used for related to specific revenue sources. So we're going to focus on the general fund tonight because that represents the general operating fund of the district and Renee will walk us through some of
those financial highlights. >> All right. So the first slide here, this will cover the general fund revenue. We'll also go through the expenditures and then the fund balance of the district. So here for general fund revenue for the fiscal year was a total
of 176.6 million. As you can see that orange slice represents the state revenue which makes up majority at 60%. Followed by the local revenue at 29% which that would include the district's property tax revenue.
And then the remaining sources there, the interd district and federal revenues. If you were to compare this slide to last year, you would see a shift in percentages from federal to state and local. That's mainly due to the decrease in the federal funding as
the co funding has concluded. And then this slide here takes that same general fund revenue as the previous slide focusing on what the foundation allowance specifically provides. So you can see 59% of the revenue there. That's the foundation allowance piece from the
state and that's still making up majority of the revenue of the district. So overall this slide and the previous slide show how dependent the district is on that state money. And then this slide here presents the history of that per pupil foundation
allowance for the district. 2025 foundation allowance up in the top right corner of the graph there remained the same as 2024 at $11,484 per pupil. As you can see, in the more recent years, there has been an increase
as the district is finally recovering from 2009 cuts, which is that dip there in the middle of the graph. And this overall increase primarily goes to supporting the salaries and wages increasing. And then this slide shows the history of
the per pupil funding compared to the inflation rate. So the top line there is the inflation rate increase and the bottom line is the per pupil foundation funding. As you can see, there's a large difference there, which just shows the district has not kept pace with the with
inflation on a per pupil basis. And that difference does continue to grow. And then this slide takes a look at the student population over the last several years. You can see overall there's been a decline in the district looking back
to 2010. But looking at the more recent years off to the right in the blue there, uh the district has since weathered that drop, stabilize, and has seen that student population level off. The current year there was a slight increase of six
students for a total of 9,096. This is the third year in the row, third year in a row where there has been that slight increase. Now moving on to the general fund expenditures. This slide shows them by function or how
they're being allocated. Of the total general fund expenditures of 173.4 million. You can see majority there or 58% represents expenditures allocated to instruction as you would expect for a learning organization for majority of
the spend to be there. And then this slide takes that same general fund expenditures now showing them by object or where they are being spent. As you would expect for an organization of people, the largest component is the salaries and benefits
which makes up 83%. And then one item to also note in purchase services in the orange red slice of the pie that would also include substitute teachers supporting even more dollars are being spent on people of the
district. And then this slide takes the there was 144 million of salaries and benefits on the previous slide and takes a further look at that. So of that you can see the largest component is salaries at 60%.
And then 22% represents FICA and retirement. 11% represents insurance. And then that last 7% is your retirement UAL which that's a specific amount determined by the state out of the
district's control. That's money received by the state and then remitted right back for theers liability. But overall this just shows that salaries and retirement expense can continue to represent majority of the
spend here. And this slide takes a further look at retirement expense of the district showing historical spend compared to where it's at today and then how it's trending forward. So in 2025 towards the top of it there retirement expense was
34.5 million which another way to put this in perspective as well is that for every dollar spent on salaries 40 cents goes to the Mipers retirement system and looking at the trends you can see there's been a slight decrease in 2025
but this is expected to steadily climb as the rates will increase going forward each here. >> So, next we wanted to spend a few minutes talking about fund balance. So, we've looked at revenue, some revenue trends, expenditures, expenditure trends, and essentially all of that
funnels into your fund balance. So, as we just saw, the revenues were about 176 million. Your expenditures about 173 million. So, you had about $3 million of revenue over expenditures. that then adds into your fund balance. Your fund
balance essentially represents the financial reserves of the district. So the question becomes, what's an adequate level of financial reserve? And this is what we're trying to give a little bit of context here on this graph. Fund balance is often assessed as a
percentage of expenditures. So if you take your fund balance at the end of the year as of June 30th 2025 of 42.5 million you divide that by the expenditures for the year about 173 million. This gives you a percentage of about 24.5%.
So that's your total fund balance percentage. As a point of reference the state average as of June 30th 2024 which would be the last year for which data is currently available. Districts are still of course reporting their June 25 financials. Last year's fund balance percentage was about 24.7%
on a total fund balance percentage. So right about at that state average level on a total fund balance perspective. But it's important to keep in mind that there is roughly 9% of fund balance what we reflect on here that is committed or assigned for other purposes. Essentially
these are funds that have already been allocated for other specific purposes. So for example, there's monies allocated for future future contractual obligations for retirement, vacation, sick pay for example. There's some obligations that are coming up for cash flow and budget deficiencies related to
2025 2026 and other instructional initiatives that are planned for at the the district. So essentially of that 24.5% total fund balance, there's roughly 9% that is essentially accounted for through these specific allocations.
That would leave you with a excuse me, that would leave you with a remaining unassigned fund balance of about 15.25% after these these uh other commitments. And so if you look at that 15.25% of unassigned fund balance, if you kind of
figure that based on 180day school year, that means you have about 27 days of operations in reserve at the fund balance level. So just continuing on a little bit more about the importance of fund balance and the the strength of the financial reserves. Fund balance does minimize the
need to borrow and it allows the district to meet its monthly cash flow needs. So again monthly average payroll is roughly $10 million or $12 million. So having that fund balance makes it those funds available to pay the payroll without having to go out and borrow and incur interest expense. Helps the
district fall into a deficit. allows for flexibility in adjusting spending levels during the school year to account for unknowns that arise throughout the year and then it also helps provide funds for reimburseable reimburseable federal expenditures. So the federal programs
are um accounted for on a reimbursement basis. So you first have to expend those dollars and request reimbursement and you're subsequently reimbured. So having fund balance provides that cash to fund those uh activities in advance of when
you're actually going to get reimbursed for those. And just to have a little bit more context, the Michigan School Business Officials recommends a fund balance level of 15% of your total expenditures. The Governmental Finance Officers Association recommends two months operating expenditures, which
translates into about 16 17% uh of an expenditure level. And the board has actually approved a target fund balance level of 10 to 15%. So again, just to provide some context as to where your fund balance stands in relation to those various uh recommendations and that that
target level. So that concludes our our presentation on the the financials for the year ended June 30th, 2025. Thank you. Are there any questions or feedback from board members? Um two things. one, thank you for your
report. Um, I know that the finance committee uh got a chance to review the report uh in advance and so there was a lot of discussion, really great discussion there. Um, one of the conversations that we had and I don't want to steal Mrs. Hinrich's um thunder,
but I do want to acknowledge that I have been a pretty vocal uh proponent of, you know, reviews of fund balance and I ask that the uh finance and facilities uh committee give some thought to under
Miss Hinrich's um leadership of thinking through whether now is the time to give some uh thought to our fund balance. Uh currently, as you guys all know, we're at 10 to 15%. you have seen these presentations some of you year after
year after year where we've uh acknowledged that the um recommendation is somewhere between uh 15 and 16% I think at the national level and 15% I think maybe at the state level um ours
is again from 10 to 15 but what has been really crystallized for me from this presentation and I've always sort of felt it is that when we look at our fund balance it doesn't necessarily reflect the amounts that we have available for
what folks call a rainy day because there is this you know large amount that is committed about 9% of it and so what really makes me nervous is having a fund balance of 10% and having 9% of it
committed leaving us with one um as you all know 5% is the point at which the uh state invites itself in to become the emergency manager. And maybe I have a little bit of PT PTSD because that's the point at which, you know, I
joined the board. So, I've always been really focused on making sure that we never return to that. Um, we've talked in the past a few times and it never quite felt like the right time to have the conversation. I would like to have the conversation again and I've asked
for the finance committee to I know I have a you know I'm a large personality and a big opinion but for the committee to really give some thought to whether 12 to 15% might be something that the committee thinks about and uh proposes
to the board for the board to think about. So I wanted to be transparent there. Second, um I really value the insights that you provide to us because you audit, you know, especially I know plant mamm audits school districts, that's kind of your forte. Uh so you have a lot of insights from lots of
other school districts. So I appreciate that. And what I did not know, I knew that the distinction that our district has with respect to the recognition it has with respect to that comprehensive annual financial report um is a distinctive one, but I didn't realize how distinctive. So, I want to thank uh
and congratulate the business office for that I don't know like decades long or more uh recognition. Very good. Uh thank you for your report. >> Um Mrs. Smith, I want to thank you all
for with me my past 10 years working with Plant Moran. Um you all have done a great job um breaking things down to me. I am not the CPA um on this board. Um that's the CPA, the one that just
finished. Um thank you for breaking things down to us in layman's terms. if we had questions, if we had concerns, and I appreciated for the past 10 years, your knowledge and bringing things to us and not
sugarcoating and letting us know what we need and what we have and what's available. And this is why we are not looking at an emergency manager. And I want to say thank you not only to you but to Jennifer Kaminsky and her team and um for all the work that you have
done for us in this um because I'm leaving so I just want to say thank you to all of you. Thank you so much. >> Yes. Thank you for um I pretty much broke everything down through a committee uh level and uh after
going through you know the whole presentation and everything gave me a a more of a sense of appreciation of the importance of having a fund balance just because we're um we was about to experience a couple of days ago in which that we were having no any funding and
um and we if we didn't have anything then we'll be pretty much shut down in the whole district. So, this right here very, you know, this enlightened me and gave me that sense of appreciation of what could have happened if we didn't have the the correct financials and and safety net that we had. So, thank you
very much. >> See no further questions. I think you're off the hook. >> All right. Well, thank you. We do appreciate the comments and we would be remiss if we also didn't thank Jennifer Kamisky, Kim Pinchek, that audit is a very thorough and laborious process and we appreciate their preparedness and
cooperation. So, so kudos to the team. >> Thank you. >> All right. Next, I would like to welcome uh Miss Lisa Holmes, chair of the Farmington Farmington Hills Education Foundation to provide an update to the board. Hi, Lisa. >> Thank you. Um, thank you for having me
here tonight and thank you for um, asking me to come and present on um, the current status of the Farmington Farmington Hills Education Foundation. Um, I am here as your new chair. Um, sat on the board for a few years, but we have a fairly new um, executive board
and we represent 12 total members. Um, we're always looking for more, so come join us. Um um our new executive board new executive board um uh includes um uh includes Trevor Medma um as our Trevor Medma um as our vice chair who is vice chair who is a community member um a community member um Kathy Clark who is
Kathy Clark who is a parent at North a parent at North Farm Remington High Farm Remington High School and a School and a treasurer and Denise Gundle treasurer and Denise Gundle White who is White who is our secretary as a retired our secretary as a retired teacher. So teacher. So our board is really our board is really representative of representative of the community and the the community and the people that we people that we serve um as your serve um as your foundation. Um um our foundation. I would rem remiss if our uh don't um mention that Dr. Coffin and Dr.
Blau actually also sit as our district and board representatives and um add some insight that we don't necessarily see um as community members. Um, since 2012, we have um raised and given away more than $400,000
to organizations, teachers, parents, um, students themselves in Farmington Public Schools. Um, we act as your nonprofit fundraising
group. Um, as a wrap-up on the 2024 2025 school year, um, we granted more than, um, $18,000 in what we call classroom grants, but in realisticness, they just aren't in classrooms. They are in every
building, every um, area of the school district. Um, and we oversaw the facilitation of $25,000 in scholarships to graduating seniors. And those are representative of many different
community organizations that um give us their money that we then facilitate back out um to those graduating seniors. Um we also oversee the financial funds of um groups like Hackbox and FAPEN.
And in the past year, we also added a memorial fund in memory of M. Micah Rump at North Farmington High School um for the music fund there. So, we service different funds that also help our district. Um we have several different
goals for the 2025 2026 school year. Um after 13 years, um we're looking at a little bit of reimaging maybe. um classroom grants started 12 years ago as a teacher needing an iPad in a classroom and the technology there. We really
don't know what we're going to see as terms of grants this year, but um we know that last year we saw grants that focus in social and emotional learning, which is a huge one since um COVID and learning, you know, remote and that kind of stuff. Um we've added um a couple
additional funds and scholarships that are in the process um from different um community organizations and different individuals that are giving back to our district. We also would like to increase our community awareness. Um a lot of
people don't realize that there is an educational foundation in Farmington public schools. Um, not every school district in the in Michigan has one. And so, you know, it's one of those things that we just need to get out there more. Um, and we would like to increase the
amount of funds that we raise. The amount of funds that we raise turns around and goes right back into our classrooms. Um, so increased funds equal increased funds given. Um, and I would be remiss if I wasn't um here before the
toast to education, which is November 7th. So, we would like to invite everybody there. It is our biggest fundraiser. Dr. Blow has ads and all sorts of fun stuff. Um, it is our biggest fundraiser. It basically is our only fundraiser for the year. And so,
um, we team with, um, Bushes to do a great wine tasting. We have some great raffle baskets that are donated and supported by our PTAs in um different community organizations and businesses.
Um that is November 7th um at um the Meridian down on Hagerty Road. Um so we would love to see you all there. Um that's all any questions? >> Um thank you on your new role. Thank you for sharing with us and congratulations
to you on your new role, Mrs. Smith. >> Lisa, thank you for taking this on. Um, what people don't know is Lisa used to work for this district, too. So, for her to come back and take this on, and I appreciate you coming back and running
the Ed Foundation, it has grown. Um, I love the fact that you are at the Meridian. Um, and not anything against the other place, but this it's really cool. um I won't be able to eat, but I will be able to enjoy um the liquid
desserts and everything else. So, um I'm looking forward to it and um let's just make sure that Miss Williams, President Williams, doesn't win all the gifts as she does every year. But thank you again. I will be there. This is going to
be a great um event and we all have a great time. the band which people don't know which you failed to say is a lot of that b those band members are former teachers or students in the community >> I believe that 90% of the band does make
up either current or former staff members but I could just be throwing Dave Drake on so but it is run by a former teacher and a very active um member of the >> but thank you >> you're welcome >> Dr. Wow. >> How can people get tickets?
>> Oh, that would be a volunteer. >> A volunteer. Absolutely. Um, there is a community link on the Farmington Public Schools web page to the foundation page. You can buy tickets, you can volunteer, you can donate raffle baskets. Um, that
is the easiest link to do. >> So, >> yeah, I've already bought my ticket. >> I just know you have, >> Mr. >> Yes. Uh Lisa, you me and you you and I uh been knowing each other I guess since uh Alamita days when both of our kids
are there. So you know to see her actually you know still very active into this to this uh district and everything feel like that um I'm not alone. So so congratulations on your on your part and u and maybe one day you be up
here too. I no I've said no for 20 years. I will continue to say no for another 20. I am much better off in this role >> assisting you guys in doing the work that you do. So >> thank you. Thank you so much for what you do. >> Thank you
>> and we look forward to seeing you on the seventh. >> Yes, we'll be there. >> Thanks. >> Thank you. >> Uh we will now move to reports from board committees. Mrs. Heinrich. Uh yes, the uh finance facilities committee met on Monday, October 6. Myself, um board
president Williams and board trustee uh Thomas Hall were on the committee and we met virtually with um Jeff Higgins and Renee Asper that we saw in person. And our agenda item was to review the
district audit. And I just want to um just point out again that um our district was awarded a certificate of excellence um for the year end of June 20 June 30th, 2024. Very few districts
in the state less than 20 receive this award. So I want to thank our business department for doing such a fantastic job. um future agenda items. We really had a good conversation about um fund balance and we picked up on committed versus
uncommitted fund balance. And so yeah, it was real enlightening to find out that oh it looks like our fund balance is 24% but really is only 15% because 9% of that is committed. And so, um, in the future, um, we really want to have more
robust discussions on fund balance and budget implications, um, as we, you know, set our vision for our school district to be able to maintain, um, the high level of services that we provide to our students and our
community. So, thank you for that. >> Thank you. Any questions, thoughts, responses to that? Seeing none, we will now move to discussion items. >> Yes. Thank you, President Williams. We have one discussion item tonight. I want to welcome uh Mr. Wes Prescott to the
podium. He is going to talk to the board about a potential student device refresh. >> Good evening. >> Again, thank you for the opportunity to come and share this exciting recommendation uh for your
consideration. Um so as we continue to uh implement the vision for technology and instruction, we look at providing access and equity for all of our students. Um to that end, students currently have a district provided Chromebook. Um as we know with all
technology, those things reach end of life. Um and they are currently near their end of life and in need of being refreshed. Um so the the proposal before you uh is to refresh our fleet of student devices about 10,500
um in an amount not to exceed 4.1 million. Uh and just to give a little bit of background, the instructional tech team and our technology team spent a lot of time um going through looking at different devices, looking at different sizes of devices. Uh we got
demos from three or four actually four or five different manufacturers. Uh we met with reps for I believe three uh different manufacturers. We had our techs tear them apart, drop them, check their durability, how easy they are to repair,
um how cost effective they are to repair. Um we also had a lot of discussions about size of the device. Um we ultimately surveyed uh the students. We sent out a survey to all students. We got about 2,700 responses and about 92%
of those responses were in favor of the device that we chose. Um, which again is why we chose that device. Um, so again, we are in need of refreshing the the student devices. If approved, we'll
order uh probably mid November. They'll be delivered to our vendor. They'll prep them and then get them ready for distribution in probably March or April. >> Uh questions, comments, Mrs. Smith and then Mr. Hull.
>> Um thank you Wes for everything. Um so will you order extra just in case we have new students to come into the district? >> So we typically order about 10% um more than we need so that we have spares and to account for any students that okay um
are entering. And the other is what will you do with the old devices? Are you going to um sell them? >> So So we typically when we recycle them, we do get um some money back from them
if there is value to them. Yes. >> Okay. Appreciate. >> And that's with any piece of technology that we refresh, we recycle those. >> And so they will be high-speed. I mean, I know that the uh city has put in this new sci-fi and so, you know, I want to
make sure that everybody is not like sitting there froze, you know, if they're doing some work or anything. >> But thank you so much for everything that you've done >> for your support. >> I appreciate it, >> Mr. Hall. >> Yes. Uh thank you for your presentation and also for the um proposing the
refresh because uh maybe a lot of uh members of the community had the same issue. My my daughter been having the same laptop since kindergarten and now she's in sixth grade. So it looks like it needs a refresh.
>> Yeah. So so the the Chromebooks the Chromebooks that we provide are meant to be an inexpensive device. They're not, you know, a $1,000 laptop. They're about $400 total with the licensing, with the setup and um the configuration. So, they
are meant to to last. We try to get five years. We're finding four and a half to five is is about the max that we're getting out of. >> U Mr. Rinto and then Mrs. Heinrich. >> Uh just two quick things. Um are you
will you still offer the insurance? >> Yes. >> Okay. And then um and I'm new um is is there any um support for those students who don't have access to the internet? >> Uh that is I do believe there's
something in place. I don't know. I know we've we've handed out hotspots in the past. I don't know if we still are doing that. Um that is not doesn't come from our department. It comes from the community relations department or community ed. >> Uh to answer your question, Mrs. Uh
>> yeah. So our student support services uh provide those for the families that need >> Sorry, I had the wrong >> You're right. >> Mrs. Hinrich. >> So I I was just looking for like more information. So you're replacing the Chromebooks with updated Chromebooks and we're sticking with the Chromebook.
>> Yes. >> So it's um it's the same technology just newer. >> Yeah. >> Version of it basically. >> Yep. >> All right. And there were student surveys and so that's what the students preferred and it worked the best for the students. >> Yep.
>> Okay. Yeah. I I just think that's interesting. >> Yeah. That that was one thing that was really important as we were discussing uh there was a lot of discussion um in our in our team meetings. And what came out of that was we're the adults. We can
have you know all of the adults in the room said, "Yeah, I want the bigger one." Um, I I've done this a few times before. It's been a while, but my thing was every time I've done it, students have always preferred a smaller device. So, I, you know, let's talk to the
students and see what they think. Um, I was wrong. They chose the the larger device out of the two that we had. Um, which I did not expect, but uh, I'm so glad that we we went through that exercise. The students are the ones that are using them. They need to be comfortable with it. Um the adults, you
know, the adults have their own devices and the students have theirs. So, you know, staff had a say in the devices, but they got somewhat. We wanted to make sure the students have that same voice. >> Yeah. I I just found that interesting because I've been to conferences and I've seen people have things like there
it just looks like an iPad and then they are able to like write on the screen and things like that. So, um were the were the kids given were they given other devices to look at? Um, and then it's like, do you like A, B, or C? And did you do focus groups? Or I mean, because
I know, you know, the kids are familiar with them and they're really good at using the Chromebooks. And I'm just wondering if it's because it's something they were familiar with, or is it do they have access? >> So, we provided we provided two different sizes. We provided an 11 in and we provided a 14 inch. The 14inch
device is the one that they've had in the past. Um, and that was by 92% of the 20 just under 2,700 students, 92% chose the 14-inch device. >> Oh, okay.
>> Yep. >> U, but I think to your question was were they provided those two devices? I think you were asking were they also provided other devices outside of that brand? Is that what you were asking? Well, I I'm just wondering if you know because technology is changing at such a fast
pace if we've looked at updating things that are have more features to them or user friendly or they can write on this screen. >> This is a brand new this is a brand new model of Chromebook. >> And and West all K12 are they write on
the screen like they >> they do have a touch screen. Yes, >> touch screen. >> Oh, they do have the touch screen. Oh, okay. We'll see. I just um because I don't have that on my personal device obviously >> they they don't come with a stylus but they do have a touch screen so students are able to man manipulate uh the screen
through touch um and if there is a you know a paint program or some other program where they need to manipulate objects or move things around on the screen they can do that um using touch and not having to use the trackpad. >> Yep. >> Okay. U Mr. Walker
>> question already been answered. I wondered if students from K through 12 had access to these ends. They do. So, thank you. >> Yep. >> Yeah. >> Uh, yes. So, for students, certainly the
older students who need a stylus, how do they require that or pair it with your device? >> Uh, if there was a student that required a stylist for an accommodation, that's something that they would work with the special education department on. >> Okay. I just I I'm familiar with students at
other schools who have to do their, for example, their math homework on their device. Yeah. With their stylist. So, I guess that's not something we're >> we do provide it if it's to if it's needed for the curriculum side. Yes. >> Gotcha. Okay. >> Um I had a couple general questions and
so um one, I know this is coming out of bond funding. I know $4 million is a lot, but it's necessary. We have to refresh our devices every so often. And it sounds like you've squeaked out all of the useful life out of these that you possibly can based off of what Mr. Hull just shared with us.
>> I second that. Yeah. With two kids. >> Um I am interested in understanding our long-term plan for how we're going to finance these going forward. So, I don't know if that's another four or five or six years from now, but um I'm hoping that's going to be part of our um
facilities plan that is inclusive of not just buildings, but also uh some of the other things that we need to be planning for. So, it sounds like we're going to include that >> already. >> I'm also interested in understanding and I think just piggybacking off of what Mrs. Hinrich said, "I want to make sure
that I understand um how these uh devices are um being used and how they're preparing students for life after high school. So, as an example, are we considering what operating
systems are popular post high school?" So, clearly most people are using what is it? Microsoft or Windows, I'm sorry. Right. So, I'm I'm assuming that we're using that. if we're not that that's something that I would be sort of you know questioning similarly Microsoft
Office versus Google you know I I know Google offers a lot of things freer for um for schools but that I'm just trying to understand like are there implications of the decisions that we're making now that might help a student
acclimate more to post secondary or not >> so we provide Chromebooks so they uh they don't have micro it's Google so they have that However, any student that is in business classes, that is the Microsoft Office suite that we Yes.
>> Yes. So, they they do have access to other than Linux, all of the operating systems. So, they have there's Mac Labs um for uh the CAD program and the design uh design programs and then there there
would be office um or desktop computers with Windows and Office on them for the the business applications classes. Thank you. >> You're welcome. >> Uh, seeing no further questions, I think we go ahead. >> Not so much a question, just a thought.
Um, that actually is a good if it's not already happening and a good investigation to have in terms of how are all of our technology usage, how it aligns with general workbased practices along the way. So, if there's information somewhere about that, I
personally would love to just take a look at it. Um, but thank you for bringing that up. That's a very good question. There there was years ago and and I think it was when uh Google started making everything free for schools. There's a lot of debate and discussion around that but I think it's
pretty intuitive both of them are. I I can't personally see any differences. I know my kids are pretty uh you know acclimated to all of them. So I didn't I didn't see anything but there was a lot of discussion around that a few years ago. a lot of workplaces that I've come
into contact with understanding that like people like Apple versus, you know, Android, they'll have both Google and Microsoft available for their employees to use if their funding allows for such a thing. But just a question and thank you for clearing that up.
>> Okay, thank you very much. >> Thank you. Have a great evening. >> You too. I think we are ready now to move to our second public comment. If there's anyone who wants to make public comment that did not make public comment before, this is your opportunity. Any opportunity, I'm sorry, last
opportunity for public comment. Going once. See someone trying to lobby in the audience. Going twice. All right, we will now close public comment. We're moving now to since there are no action items, we're moving to the
consent agenda. And remember the consent agenda was updated. Mrs. Hinrich, >> I move that the board of education approve the October 14, 2025 consent agenda as follows. A, approval of minutes. Number one, September 30th, 2025 regular meeting. Number two,
October 6, 2025 finance facility committee meeting. And B, 2026 resolution compliance PA152. >> Support. >> Motion made by Mrs. Hinrich, uh, supported by Mr. Walker to approve the consent agenda. Is there any discussion?
Seeing none, all in favor? >> Any opposed? Any abstensions? That motion passes. Are there any reports from board representatives? >> Seeing none, I know we just got a um announcement from the education foundation. So, >> Mr. Walker,
>> before we adjourn, just a point of privilege going back to an earlier comment you made in your um comments about absenteeism. I was just curious about any level of transportation assistance the district is in a position to provide or whatever steps we could
possibly provide to assist any parent who may be having transportation issues and as a point of pride may may not be communicating that kind of information. So I don't know what our outreach looks like in terms of that if we even have anything like that but I just wanted to bring it up for thought and or
discussion at a later point for for the district. >> Thank you. Seeing no further discussion items, we are now adjourned. Thank you. Thank you.