Thank you. At the risk of us falling asleep >> Good idea on the coffee. No, no, it's good. I had two. I had my share. I don't want to over indulge. >> 1 2 3 4
We are now returning from the closed session for the purpose of adjournment. The closed session is now closed. Welcome to the June 16th
special meeting of nope, regular meeting of the Board of Education for Tuesday, June 16th. This is now called to order. May we have a roll call, please, Ms. Secretary? >> Yes. Ms. Smith? >> Here. >> Mr. Resendez? >> Here.
>> Ms. Heinrich? >> Here. >> Mr. Walker? >> Here. >> Mr. Hall? >> Here. >> I myself am here, President Weems. >> I am here. >> You're all here. >> Thank you. We will now stand for the pledge. >> I pledge allegiance 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. Is there a motion to approve the agenda? >> I move to approve the agenda for the regular meeting of the Board of
Education, Tuesday, June 16th, 2026, as presented. >> Support. >> Motion made by Ms. Heinrich, supported by Mr. Walker, to approve the agenda. Is there any discussion? Seeing none, all in favor? >> Aye. >> Any opposed? Any abstentions? That
motion passes. Moving on to announcements. Congratulations to all graduates and to all parents of graduates. >> [applause] [laughter] [laughter] >> I hope everyone appreciates all of the
graduation ceremonies and the parties and acknowledgements and all of that good stuff. It's always a really good time of the year. So, and thank you to our staff members, especially those who are retiring. I know that this was a really special year and a special
celebration for them as well. Moving on, we had a closed session earlier today where we had some discussions with our superintendent, provided some really great feedback. We are all ex- exceedingly pleased at some
of the progress, particularly on uh the transparency that we now have with respect to data and information uh on our dashboard. I'm really happy uh to see that as are my colleagues, and we look forward to rolling that out uh July
1st. So, stay tuned. Uh we will now move to public comments. Is there any public comment? Any public comment? Yes. All right. First, we have Mr. Loveway, followed by Henry Francis. If there are any other members who'd
like to make public comment, please fill out a comment card at this time. There are only two public comment cards that I have. There is another opportunity to make public comment, but it is at uh uh lower on the agenda, and there's only one opportunity in a meeting to have
public comment. You may only do it once. You have 3 minutes. Mr. Loveway, you're pretty familiar with our process. You may start. >> Okay. Well, uh at our last [clears throat] meeting, you had an open meeting uh on the budget, and it was limited to
3 minutes, which on the budget that's 47 pages long is crazy. It is not responsible to our public, and I wrote up my comments ahead of time, and had them distributed, so the board at least knew where I was
coming from on it. And uh I think hell may freeze over before I hear any uh feedback from anybody on the board a- as to my comments and my questions. Uh
the 3 minutes was really upsetting to me. Uh in the good old days, I remember where they had uh hours-long meetings to discuss the budget uh with the public.
And it wasn't just kept hidden within the board. And uh so I walked out, which was uh sure better than saying what I was thinking. Although I said a little bit of it.
Uh but this board doesn't believe in talking to the public, doesn't believe in dialogue, doesn't follow their own bylaws because their committees, the main committees, are staffed only by board members.
So I left, and then I watched the I watched the video. I saw uh that I was accused of bullying the board. My god, there are seven of you up there. How could I possibly bully you?
I accused the board of violating your own bylaws as far as public uh bullying the public. Uh you certainly could resolve a lot of that by actually talking to somebody. And uh
the only comment I did hear was a uh statement that a budget is a living document. It isn't. It's a report of your checkbook, basically. It doesn't say anything at all about the quality of our education, which is the point that I made.
Why don't you educate our poor readers, which are poor kids, black kids, and I've never seen you tackle that issue, period. And if you do it, you do it in your hidden
uh cave on Saturday. And I I did notice that you did look at the budget because uh that I submitted because you had a couple of comments that ran uh directly to the comments that into that.
Not a good look for board, and I hope that you don't elect officers of the board who are as unresponsive and untransparent to the public as you have been. >> Thank you for your feedback. Um I I I will respond here. Um Mr. Loveway, you
can speak for yourself and what you believe in, but you do not speak for me. You may not tell me what I believe in, and you cannot tell this board what we believe in. You're entitled to your comments though, and we respect that. Thank you, Mr. Francis.
>> Uh good evening, board members. >> Good evening. >> Good evening. >> Hope you're all doing well, gearing up for the summer and all. Uh so, obviously, my name is Henry Francis. I just finished up my first year of college, so I haven't been in um as many board meetings as I normally would be, but I have been paying some
light attention over the past few weeks just to kind of catch myself up on uh what's going on in the district, and particularly, I'm interested in the upcoming bond that will be going to vote uh on election day in 2026. It'll be the
first election that I get to participate in for this district um and voting for a bond. And right now, I don't know if I in good faith can trust myself to say yes to
um the 2026 bond. It's uh come to my attention that uh there isn't a clear set path for uh further STEM expansion in the district beyond the iCenters at the elementary
level, which I am excited about. I think that's a really great thing. Um and you know, I I'm extremely proud of the board for coming up with that and making sure that we are prioritizing [clears throat] it at a young age getting into STEM and steam activities.
But what I'm most concerned about is the fact that as you age up into middle and high school, there's no current plan to expand into a full-blown facility that would include CTE classes as well as
robotic spaces which I've been concerned about. Obviously, right now we are expanding Farmington High School to have a half-field space for the robotics team as well as a new multi-purpose space that will be in that same room, but
I don't see that as enough and I think that is expressed a lot by the community as well. There were some polls that you folks were showing at an earlier board meeting and I don't remember the exact numbers,
but it had STEM and steam spending as one of the top three, I believe, priorities that parents in the district have for the district going forward. And as I mentioned, the only thing I saw in
in the plans was those I centers at the elementary level. And you know, it's easy for me to get up here, sit on my soapbox, and tell you that we need to expand to bigger and better things, but it wouldn't make sense if there weren't
proof around us that it's working, but there is. And you can see that with Novi, Northville, Plymouth-Canton just expanded. They built out a new STEM center and have that running as of this year and it's been great for their students.
So, I just encourage you to consider that going forward with the bond language. Thank you. >> Thank you. Is there any further public comment? Seeing no further public comment, the this public comment period is closed and we'll move on to items from the
secretary. >> Uh yes, the board received the following communications: the FPS budget hearing analysis and questions, the FHS IB Castle newsletter, the June edition, the office of Head Start notifications, FEA scholarship, and uh multiple emails
were received regarding a Warner Middle School matter. The board acknowledges all communications and responds as appropriate. A list of correspondence is included in the board packet, which is available on the FPS website. >> Thank you. We'll move now to legislative update.
>> Uh thank you. Um the biggest um update on the legislative front is the lack of a budget. And um on that note, um I know that Speaker Hall uh has proposed a sort of continuing resolution to continue current funding until a new governor is
um or a new governor is uh elected. Uh that poses many, many problems as we all know in school districts uh waiting for a budget uh that was that is supposed to be passed by July 1st. Um uh MASB and other uh
uh so- supporters of school aid fund are encouraging folks out there to write your legislator, tell them to pass the budget. They've um um encouraged school boards to pass resolutions, and they did offer a sample one. It's something maybe we can maybe discuss at a later date. But um
all in all, there's so many um negatives not having a budget. As again, we are we are by law supposed to pass our budget by certain time frames, and we adhere to that. And so again, I urge everyone out there um to reach out to their um appropriate
legislator legislators and encourage uh that this budget be passed. Um beyond that, um I would just keep it at that. >> Thank you. Uh we will now move on to district updates, Dr. Coffin. >> All right, thank you, President Weems.
Uh, as as we all know, the 2020-2026 school year is coming has come to a close, and we are now fully involved in planning for the 2026-2027 school year. Even though the school year ended, the learning certainly has not. Our students across all grade levels are
participating in summer learning opportunities that extend their learning well beyond the regular school year. In addition, a a roomful of 90 educators from each building have together have been working over the last 2 days as part of our InnoCon and planning for the
upcoming school year. InnoCon is an opportunity for our educators to learn from our current Level Up schools, and the board has shared had an at a presentation shared by some of our principals about that at the last meeting about [clears throat] how they have
changed their instructional practices in their buildings and how they made this happen. The focus is on positioning, student engagement, and designing lessons for meaning making, and it's truly making an impact on the student learning experience. I had the opportunity to be with them this
morning, and I so appreciate their dedication not only to our students, but to their colleagues as they lead the way for improvement for all. Finally, I had the opportunity this weekend to take part at a it was called LTUWON
conference. It's a women's officials network that took place at Lawrence Tech uh University. It had educational leaders, so there were teachers, there were students, there were district leaders, and our state superintendent was also there to discuss education,
focused solely on the education in Michigan. I had a few key takeaways that I wanted to share. One included that education, we know, can be a great equalizer, but we were also cautioned that absent of any in- innovation or change, it can also serve as a way to
keep the status quo, even when the system we know doesn't work for all. Educators shared the importance of having a positive impact to scale. And and I know that that's what this board is interested in. Not resting on the good intentions of the adults without
providing that alignment. In the end, a classroom teacher reminded us that our systems need to believe in our children, recognizing their strengths and helping them create their own pathway to success. We also had a student who talked about
the importance of making sure we have high-quality teachers, teachers who care about them and want to help them in our classrooms. Today, when I stopped by to see the group at Inacon, I shared with them how fortunate we were to have those
type of educators in our district. I want to wish all of our educators, our families, and our students a wonderful and restful summer, and we'll see everyone again in the fall. Thank you. Next, we have our district improvement
update. So, I want to welcome Ms. Rhonda Henry, assistant superintendent of innovation and strategic initiatives, as well as Margaret Hendrickson, our director of curriculum, instruction, and assessment, to provide our spring district improvement update. >> Good evening, President Weems, members
of the board, and Dr. Coffin. Our instructional service department has completed a deep analysis of our spring NWEA data, specifically focusing on growth and achievement from the fall to spring. We're eager to walk through the progress
we've made and then our refined plans in the areas of literacy and mathematics. For this update, we're intentionally focusing on curriculum, instruction, and assessment and how it relates to continuous learning and improvements.
And the data today that we will show with share with you demonstrates the impact that our focused investments in these areas have made. You've seen this slide before. Our intentional focus on ensuring that all truly means all,
and these are the four pillars that we focus on. Today you will see snapshots from specific buildings demonstrating how these pillars come to life. They prove that when we align our resources, professional development, and tools that we see clear gains. And
our theme today is how we can refine and bring this impactful work to scale across the district. So as we consider those four foundational pillars, we want to provide a snapshot of how they translate into
our daily practice. Okay, sorry. Yeah, thank you. And I want to share an example from Woodcreek Elementary where we saw measurable impact on student outcomes. At Woodcreek, our fifth grade team focuses heavily on shifting towards
deeper learning, and they did this by analyzing their core resources and isolating high-impact components of each lesson. They structured into their daily schedule three times a week, 30 minutes of targeted acceleration in both
literacy and math, and they also used a teaming model to support all students. Teachers directly applied their professional development in math recovery, building thinking classrooms, while integrating Magna Math to
facilitate conversations and student problem-solving, which you saw firsthand in the fall when you visited Woodcreek. And I'd like to acknowledge Principal Lewis and her staff for their intentionality and all of their hard work.
What we saw at Wood Creek is a direct result of intentional investments that we're making in high-quality instructional materials and teacher resources. So, as we transition and share upcoming data, our focus really shifts to scaling that work. As I mentioned before,
district-wide, our teachers have the same high-quality resources and professional learning. And so, our challenge now is to scale that type of achievement across all of our buildings. We've talked all year about the importance of stick-to-it-ness and our
plan for literacy and math. This is just a reminder of our scaled work in the areas of literacy and math. >> Okay. >> I know I did edit that. That's weird. Okay, some slides got moved. But, so as we move
into um looking for leading indicators of impact, um when we take an overall look at our NWEA data in both growth and achievement, we see areas where we're continuing to maintain, even if some of that maintenance is at high average and
high. We have areas where maintaining, but we also have areas where we see progress in achievement and growth. And so, one of the things that we've noticed when we go down to the building level, grade level, or student groups, there's still some performance variability that varies from building to building, which
really speaks to that scaling that um Ms. Henry spoke about. And then continued focus um on this work is really important in order to really bring to scale the work so that we can ensure that all students have access to high levels of learning.
So, in light of this data um that we're about to share with you, and all the observations that we've done this year, all the conversations, our leap survey, our myfi survey, all of the data, we are still maintaining our focus on literacy and math, but we're always finding ways
to refine what our next steps are based on our stick-to-itiveness plan. And today you'll hear both about the data and our refined plans. So, as we think about progress monitoring, we come to the board frequently either at board meetings, Board of Ed retreats, or Board of Ed
briefs to really show you what kind of impact that we're seeing. And we appreciate those conversations with you that will continue tonight. Achievement is critical when we look at NWA. As the board knows, NWA is one of those only indicators we have to really
forecast forward where our achievement might be on state assessments. So, one of the things we look at in NWA is achievement. We consistently are proud that at the elementary in literacy, we have high average to high achievement at each grade level relative to the
national norm, which means we are outperforming the national norm. And while we see areas where we're maintaining, we'll notice in the upper L's, we're starting to see either one-year gain or a multi-year gains. We're continuing to look at that in our achievement in elementary literacy with
our investment in the different resources and tools. But we don't just look at achievement. We also look at growth, because if we're growing students, we can increase achievement. So, we always look at the growth and we look at our conditional percentile ranks. We consistently at elementary
have high average to high school conditional growth, which means the growth of our students are outperforming our national peers. But one of the things we like to do, and we've always shared with the Board of Ed, is the percent of students that have met their expected growth. Let's look at individual students. When we first
started coming to the board a few years ago, Dr. Coffin and I, when she was in um Ms. Henry's position, we set an expectation that 65% of students will meet their expected growth. And that was a reach target for us. What we're noticing is
literacy is we are close to 65% at each grade level meeting their expected growth. Some a little bit higher, some a little bit lower, but we have increased the percent meeting their growth expectations. So, something for us to be proud of, but we know there's still a lot of work to do.
As we think about the investment we've made in literacy K5, we have to continue to refine that work. In our classroom observations and conversations with students, we know that fluency and vocabulary are high leverage areas to
increase um knowledge of for students in order to impact reading and comprehension. So, this year there's significant professional development being offered around fluency and vocabulary as it already exists in Wit & Wisdom. So, we're going to try to deepen that practice. Another piece we're
looking at is based on what we've seen with our intervention work and our tier one core instruction work, the use of small group instruction transitioning from our old balanced literacy to what we're doing now needs some refinement and some
continuous re-education on what quality groups look like and sound like. So, we are having specific professional development around that as well as bringing back more choice reading and sustained daily reading on choice text, which is a key lever for um increasing
vocabulary and fluency. The other piece is that we have um prototyped in a number of classrooms Course Mojo, which sits right alongside inside Wit & Wisdom, uh shared recently in a Board of Ed brief, and it gives immediate feedback on writing, which we
know M-STEP has a significant writing component and NWEA does not. So, at 3-5 we need to target writing with a little more intentionality to speak to that piece of the state assessment. So, these are the areas that we're continuing to
navigate in the coming school year. When we look at literacy in middle school, we would we'll say to the board we're kind of where we have been in terms of high average grade level achievement. Um you'll see some stability there. We're noticing some things at sixth grade in
terms of that slight decline. So we've been looking at each building and each grade level and started having meetings with sixth grade um to see what they're noticing about student performance coming in. Um so we're continuing to look at achievement there. We'll also adding
some next steps which we'll speak about in a moment. But again, growth is really important. We know we have average a high average growth which compared to the national norm in literacy um in middle school. Our percent meeting their growth
expectation expectations is similar to where we've been. It's about that 50% mark which is 50% of kids are expected to meet their growth. So we haven't pushed that growth far enough which is why we're having some one-on-one groups with the grade levels to kind of see what they're noticing about what kids
are coming in with and what they need. A conversation I had with a sixth grade teacher today at Power Middle School said the following. Kids are coming in from fifth grade with more knowledge in literacy than they've had before. So what they noticed they were doing is they were re-teaching some
redundancy in the curriculum and now kids are coming in a different place. So they've been retooling their sixth grade instruction to meet that response which is a good sign when we have middle school teachers telling us kids are coming in with higher writing and
understanding of text structures as two examples. When we think about secondary literacy as a whole, we've been doing a lot of research around best practice to move adolescent literacy forward different than early literacy. Language and vocabulary routines are critical. So we
are integrating new routines into the curriculum in the coming year via professional development with our staff into the middle school and high school. All middle school grades, all high school grades. We also continue to do the redesign of our curriculum and we're hoping to bring to the board in the fall
some exemplars of that new curriculum that you invested in in those new courses and some of the ways we're integrating into PBL. But one of the things we've added is a secondary literacy coach in the coming school year. We've noticed we need to bring to scale some newer practices
similar to what we did in elementary that are now available different resources etc. for middle school and high school. So we're investing in a literacy coach to do lesson studies with each and every literacy teacher between professional development sessions this year. Along with using a tool called
Newsela that will help with writing support and immediate feedback for students. One of those challenges students receive is they do a lot of writing, how do they get immediate feedback and how do teachers get good feedback on that? So these are some high leverage areas that we've chosen to invest in in the coming school year.
That builds on our work up until now. Mathematics as we've known and our conversation with the Board of Education, our investments and tweaks over the last few years have shown some gains in achievement um particularly at our upper grade levels and we're very
proud of that work but also recognize that when we look at student group data or we look at particular buildings or grade levels, there's still work to do to bring to scale but to see gains at a district level means things are changing in the student experience.
Growth is average to high um so we have some grade levels at average um conditional growth, some at at high average and some at high relative to the national norm. Something we're still proud of being relatively above the national norm. Um what I am interested
in here again as we talked about percent met growth, we set a target a number of years ago to get to 65% or more students meeting their growth expectation, [clears throat] and we are getting there. Elementary, we're continuing to tweak
what we're already doing. We are going to push staff to do more hands-on everyday math games rather than the online ones for a few different reasons. Just like we heard from some of our principals on leveled up, increased student-centered meaning making in the
elementary task-based mathematics. Magma Math, we've learned a lot this year about ranges of integration, like you saw at Wood Creek Elementary, they've kind of become a model. Um, and we're going to be sharing those examples of how those are integrated and actually engaging in a case study with
Magma Math directly on the way we're integrating here in Farmington. And continuing math recovery and building thinking classrooms in the coming year, which teachers continually tell us are really making shifts to student-centered classrooms.
Middle school and high school, we know we did a brand new adoption this year, Illustrative Mathematics. It's the first year of that program with first year of professional development. We are seeing high average achievement relative to the national norm, which we're we're proud
of because in previously we had been more average conditional growth. So, we've had some changes over time even before Illustrative Math, but you'll notice that seventh and eighth we continue to gain this year. So, we're we are seeing early indicators in the student experience and in
achievement that Illustrative Math may be bringing us growth at the middle and high school level. Again, we can't increase achievement if we're not increasing growth. Um, this is still an area of urgency for us to get average growth at the middle
school in mathematics up so we can increase that achievement. Our investment in the coaching, our investment in the new instructional resource, we're um, seeing early indicators of the student experience changing. So, we hope to anticipate with this resource changes in achievement.
Our percent met growth are not where we'd like to see. They've been where we are historically. We aren't at that 65% target that we are monitoring and pushing towards. One of the things that was very exciting for the board is that you heard from Corey Porterfield at Warner Middle
School about his level up work. When we looked at each building's data because we need growth to drive achievement. I looked at which building had the greatest gains in growth over time, and Warner Middle School is showing greatest gains in growth over
time. Over the last four years. We attribute this to the building leadership and how they've been focusing in the focusing in the last year and a half on very specific school improvement goals, which is what helps us bring this to scale, school improvement goals, and
the work they've been doing around that positioning blueprint because that enhanced their understanding of the new illustrative math resource. So, we're excited by early indicators there, and teachers speak highly of what they're seeing in the classroom. Lastly, as we think about both middle
school and high school being in year two of illustrative mathematics, we are intensifying our illustrative math professional development. Our coaches are doing lesson studies similar to what we'll do in ELA, and I know Miss Heinrick, you talked about lesson studies and how valuable those are in
moving professional growth forward, and you've mentioned it, so it is here. And again, continuing Magma Math, which has been something that we haven't quickly seen teachers latch onto a new technology, and they are latching on. And so, we're very excited about that.
We know that the board is very much wondering where we're going to be on our state assessment this spring. We don't start to get data till July. Uh maybe data files, but it's mostly August, late August, where we start to see the data. NWEA is powerful because it's the only
thing that tells us where we might be. And last year we shared um I shared with Dr. Coffin, and I think she shared with the Board of Ed or will, that last year the predictions for literacy and math at literacy, NWEA we were either near it or above it. And
in math, we were consistently above the projections for NWEA. We'll see how we land this next semester. Again, the re-norming of the assessment, how we It still has the proper linking study, but I'm interested to see um where that comes about.
And in closing, we want to share one more celebration with you. Um Long Acre Elementary has a story to tell, just like many of our buildings. And they are another example of how they're taking the current resources, structures, and professional
development, and a high-functioning team, and showing major growth in fourth grade compared to that grade level's performance in the prior year. You'll see here, they're using a core resource. You'll see here, they're doing dynamic groups through a
team-based staffing model. You You see here where teacher leaders are using their expertise to lead instruction at the right time and the right moment. They are doing formative assessment to really know where their kids are daily, and they're doing acceleration. That's
acceleration for every student on the continuum. And I have to give a lot of credit, not just cuz Ms. Henry is standing next to me, but that building leadership around school improvement under her leadership and under the continued leadership of DeBella, they have a targeted school improvement focus
to bring the work to scale. That is the message today that it's about scaling student-centered learning. And when we talked to you earlier, I don't know, a month ago, around level up, the point of level up is to use school improvement efforts to
bring everything to scale. Goal to action, accountability, um objectives, pacing those out over the years, having a timeline. That was the last two days at Inacon was buildings really intensifying their school improvement and making commitment
exactly how they're going to lead that forward. And Ms. Weems, you always talk about what's that accountability of school improvement. We are increasing that pressure in a good way, warm demander, with the way we're structuring these level ups and where how they're going to have to document,
um in a good way to celebrate their story about their progress. So, really appreciate your time tonight and have letting you tell our story. >> Thank you, Ms. [snorts] Smith. So, thank you for um this presentation.
And um Ms. Henry, I'm sorry. I did all I could, you know, our little conversation we had the other day. I tried. Um That's on personal. Um Did you um Ms. Hendrickson say, you spoke to a
sixth-grade teacher and said that the fifth grade was coming in not ready or was ready? >> They had larger number of skills than they had historically been coming into. >> Okay. >> So, that with our literacy work, they're seeing kids coming in with better
knowledge and skills. >> Okay. >> And then that means, ooh, we've got to increase our expectations of where students are in the sixth-grade instruction. >> Cuz at first I thought you said that they came in not. And I was going to say, well, aren't you over the curriculum from
>> No. No, it was a celebration today. >> We need to have a conversation. >> [laughter] >> But um thank you. Thank you for your presentation. Thank you both. Um we do still have some work to do. Not some work, a lot of work. Um, not just moving
the needle a little bit. Let's not drive, you know, in the 55 mile lane on the Lodge. Ain't nobody watching. Get on over there and do 100. Let's go. We need to take care of these kids. >> work for Dr. Coffin and be in the slow lane. Um,
I agree with you, Ms. [laughter] Smith. Uh, we have a lot to do and we've been really analyzing the data and our efforts, like our resources and tools, and we've been looking for where we're seeing things working and coming together. It's that scaling to 600 classrooms. That is our
challenge, like any system, which is why I appreciate us thinking about staffing models, structure, and all of those pieces. So, I appreciate you continuing to push that for us. Um, we feel the same urgency. >> And I hope the police officer didn't hear me say go 100, but, you know.
>> [laughter] [laughter] >> I had a quick I'll go ahead. Go ahead. >> Mr. Walker and then Ms. Heinrich. >> Thank you so much for the presentation. Um, my question is around our transition from 3rd to 6th grade and
middle school. I think historically, correct me if I'm wrong, we always take a dip, whether it's math or reading, may maybe reading not as much, when we get to middle school. Do we have any information around why that transition seems to be so
impactful? Um, it seems to go in a different direction once they clear 8th grade and make the transition to high school, but I'm just really curious, what's going on, um, between 5th and 6th? Do we have anything around that?
>> Thank you for asking that question. I was recently in a conversation with some of our middle school building leaders and how they had had conversations with the elementary principals around that fifth to sixth grade transition. So, what can we do in terms of acclimating students during that
transition? That is always a piece that happens in middle school just like eighth to ninth. And so, as kids move from fifth to sixth, what's different about the building structure and environment, expectations, and how do we provide the support they need to smooth that out and make sure they're seen as
early as possible cuz what we also hear at the middle school is kids feel like they're seen. And so, we're trying to they're working on that piece. Another piece um uh we are starting to meet with all of the sixth grade teams um to see from math and literacy perspective what
are they noticing about what kids are coming in with and or not coming in with and how does that connect? And it was interesting, I started a conversation today, as I mentioned, with a a a teacher over at Power Middle School that they're seeing kids come in different and they really suggest we do
some articulation between uh curriculum at fifth and sixth grade. Um they are also transitioning in the resource types. So, when you're going from Everyday Math to now Illustrative Math, it's a different resource. So, they're learning new routines around a lot of the new curriculum resources and
some of the tools. Um we also recognize in middle school there's an identity and social interaction piece that changes from elementary to middle school as to what they value. Um that more egocentric um brain, but also very interested in
what everyone else thinks. So, there's a huge change in like that social status um that happens. So, and all of those other pieces. But, going into this school year we're actually going to have meetings with all of our sixth grade teams separate from the PD times. We're
also going to have conversations with our third grade teams and looking at our third grade data and what are they noticing about second graders coming in. And so, there's a couple areas where we just want to have some continued conversation with those that are closest to the work. I know
that miss Mr. O'Brien is working on solidifying the MTSS processes from elementary to middle school. There's been a lot of work happening there and so just making sure those are consistent. So we've been looking at a lot of different potential causal
categories there. >> Would it be possible to get some information around the results of those conversations? >> Sure. >> Fifth and sixth grade teachers. >> Yeah. >> Building stuff would be >> Yeah, those are types of data points I can bring to the table. Yes. >> Thank you. >> Uh Mrs. Heinrich and then miss Mr. Holt.
>> Yeah, thank you for the presentation. That was really really helpful to have that information. We celebrated a lot of retirements and there's a lot of changes over the summer staffing and you know, sometimes teachers take on new grades and things
like that. So what do you have in place for extra support to bring for all the work that our existing staff is doing to bring the new staff to speed because just being new to a to a job in a building is is is a lot the first year
and getting on board. So do you have things in place to support that? >> of support. So when we think about new staff, there's actually new staff induction program of learning that happens starts in August and happens month once a month after school as well.
And we have new staff staff induction facilitators that help design those pieces. They get introduced to the district, district language, district resources, the priorities and then also once teachers are at the building, they meet with their building leader to get
acquainted to the to the building. They meet with their PLC which is generally their grade level or department peers that help onboard them. Our instructional leaders at the buildings get help that out too. Each new teacher gets a mentor that helps them out and
then the instructional coaches and curriculum coordinators also can set up time to meet with them. So we have multiple layers of support that can help a new teacher come into our system, but also when people change grade levels, they very strong department and or grade level
teams that helps onboard. While they're using the same resource, the units of study focus on different things and so their PLC strongly help them transition. But it's not uncommon for my team to get called in and a teacher says, "You know, can you reorient me to a new grade?"
>> Okay, thank you. >> They're assigned instructional coach for cycles. So they'll the the coach will co-teach, they'll design lessons with them, they'll run a lesson and and the new teacher can observe and then ask questions afterwards. >> Thank you. Mr. Hall?
>> Yes. I was the previous conversation with uh with Mr. Walker, uh they asked of what was the the transition from the fifth to sixth grade and I was going to weigh in on >> [clears throat] >> personal experience due to a fact that
my daughter has just completed the sixth grade year and I think it is what you said is is is is more of a the structure different. You know, come from an elementary style that you're you know, you're in one classroom
all day to now have freedom and I don't know how to handle that. So uh with that it was it it was somewhat trying good, you know, come to Jesus conversations that we had, you know, to to get yourself you got to get
yourself disciplined in order in order and and after, you know, much deliberation and and much love much love. Um >> [laughter] >> We we you know, everything turned around
and we end up having a almost a straight A um school year. So, it is a it's that it's that transition [clears throat] year that that's really that's a lot. Thank you. >> [laughter] >> Uh Did anyone else have something to add?
>> I just had a quick question. Um you said that the percent met growth is 65%. Is that across all the uh middle school and and elementary? >> Our intention is that each grade level has 65% of their students meeting their growth expectation. So, what we're
noticing at certain grade bands is we're either exceeding that or getting really close to that compared to where we were a number of years ago. But at middle school, we haven't been moving that as nicely as we moved at the elementary um and that speaks to some of the new work
we're we're doing there. >> And then can you I'm sorry explain the um NewsELA new you said that is that a real-time writing thing where if someone's writing it's underlined or >> NewsELA is a tool we've actually had the system for a long time that provides
additional digital texts for kids to read newspaper Think of them as newspaper articles, magazine articles that students can read that can be put to their reading level, but they also have ability to answer questions relative to those um text pieces. But Newsela has really
expanded its tool and it now has some AI features. And so, you're able to have kids engage in writing with the Newsela related to the text or not related to the text and it gives AI feedback to the student on their writing in addition to
information to the teacher. So, we're trying to use an existing tool that our ELA teachers already use for additional text in the classroom to also support that writing piece. That'll be new for us this year, but we're excited to see how that works. >> And lastly, I know you you keep talking
about bringing it to scale. So, like what does that look like? I know you still like I guess my thinking is level up is one thing in Warner and that's piloted or is that all the way is it used in all grades? >> So, coming this school year every single
building has an executive coach with Learning Works and they look at their school improvement goals, align it to the district work cuz we're all doing the same work and they put goals in place that meet their teachers where they are and put in strategies and activities throughout the year that
allows them to move teacher practice forward in the classroom that then has impact on changing the student experience which would then have impact on student outcomes. And so by having that side by side monthly support, it really creates a
rigorous, accountable, but positive movement to make sure our school improvement plans aren't just in a binder or on a wall, but they are getting to action in the classroom and happening in every classroom. So, when we talk about scale, how do we get all
of our 250 elementary classrooms in that strong best practice? And so, the more we can have the buildings doing work at the building level married with the type of professional development and resources that we provide, then we have more
opportunities for that to come to scale. >> Okay. >> I hope I answered your question. >> so, yeah. >> That big question of scale is a big question. I mean, that's what we're trying to do with this system. Kelly, did you want to add something? >> No, I was just going to say we had a pilot or a proof of concept this year and we're moving to expanding to every
single building. >> Okay, that's what I was trying to get at. Is it just one or two buildings or one or two classrooms going to scale? Is it is it incremental or is it building wide? >> Mrs. Heinrich? >> Yeah, I mean Mr. Rosato brought this up and you
talked about your target is for 65% to meet their projected growth. So, what about the other 35%? >> Yeah. >> What are you doing about them? >> Yeah, but yeah. >> Um so, um one of the things the board asked us to do was set targets. Where
are we now? Where do we want to go? So, a few years ago, we set that 65% meeting their expected growth is our target, and now we need to, as Kelly always says, increase it. But, it does mean our core resources, that's why we get new core
resources, our intervention resources, our NTSS structures, all of those allow us to meet the needs of all kids to to accelerate learning for whether you're already achieving at or above grade level or not quite at grade level. So, just because 65% of students are meeting
their expected growth, we're not comfortable with that. That was a target, and now we have to set a new target. The idea is each and every learner gets opportunities to accelerate, which is why we're not just looking at core resources and professional development, we're looking at staffing structures, NTSS structures,
so every kid gets what they need. We're not there yet, but we're still doing that work cuz really we want 100% of kids to meet their expected growth. From the NWEA side, because it's a normed assessment, that that's a challenge. You have to do real
work that changes the student experience and system for that to happen, and that's what we're targeting in our work. >> Okay, thank you. >> Um thank you for this presentation. >> [clears throat] >> Um I
really appreciate these discussions and look forward to the deep dives that we'll have at our retreats. Um I'm curious to understand where does the benchmark, I guess, come from around
highlighting average and high average because >> So, NWEA, when they norm the data, they look at their bell curve. The top of the bell curve is average. And then you have high average and high.
So, NWEA tells us which percentile ranks are high average or high. So, when I say to you, we have high average to high growth, that means our percentile ranks are on the top of the bell curve. We are outperforming the norm. So, all of those
terms are coming from NWEA that have set those norms and what percentile ranks >> mean what? >> So, when I see 46% of student students meeting their projected growth, that that is average
or high average as defined by NWEA. >> So, percent met growth doesn't have a high or high average um rating. It's just anything that's on a percentile uh on the bell curve of percentile rank as the unit of measure.
So, what NWEA says is that 50% of their kids of our kids will meet their growth expectations. They set a growth expectation for Terri Weems by saying, "What's the average growth at that grade level?" And that is the middle. That's 50
percentile rank. And if you're performing above that, you've you've grown more than the average growth. So, what we're looking at when we're looking at growth is or or achieve I'm not saying this very well. I'm starting to Let me back up a minute. Your question was, when we think about percent met
growth, that isn't a percentile rank, does not sit on that bell curve. So, we don't have a average, high average, or high designation for that. What's nice about percent met growth is every student needs to meet their growth expectation, not just a student who is
um not performing yet at grade level. It includes those students that are above grade level and need to continue to grow. That's why that percent met growth is really important because we want 100% of our kids to meet that growth expectation. >> Correct. Correct. And and so that's what
I was focused on and I was a little confused by um the percent of students who met that growth and designating that as high average school conditional growth.
>> That's the percentile rank cuz there's two growth measures. >> what that means is that as a country more young people are not meeting their years worth of growth is what that means. >> We're doing better than them. >> Um which means that unfortunately, you
know, um more than half of our young people are not meeting one years of growth is what that means. >> The fifth Yes, if it's like 49% 49% are meeting their years of growth. But the grade level might have exceeded what they predicted our grade level to do.
And that's why we might have a high average, average, or high growth. They're kind of two different metrics. And I know that gets complicated. It gets really in the weeds with this data, but yes. >> Yes, I guess that's something I would like to talk more about in in our retreats. >> Yep.
>> Um math is looking really promising. That's really great to hear. Thank you for sharing that data. What I'm most um happy about is I'm seeing growth across K5. It's not designated in any one grade
level. It This says to me that something great is happening on the math side across the board. So, um kudos there and and continue to look forward to um progression um both at the elementary school level and the middle
school level, which is awesome. So, uh great news. Thank you for that and uh as always, you know, I think this is an area where we continue to like to have good conversations. >> If there are no further questions, I think we can move on to our next area.
>> Yep, that's all I have this evening. >> Okay. We will move on to board uh committees. Are there any reports from board committees? >> I have a a brief report. Um I was in Vacri on behalf of our city of Farmington
and had an opportunity to represent our our school board and our school district. Um I wish there had been more of an opportunity to talk with the students and the uh teachers, but I was at least able to read a story to the whole school in Vacri, which is about 45
students, kindergarten through grade eight, and I studied in advance so that I could read it to them in Italian because English is not the language they learn at their school. It's French. So um uh the um sister city relationship
that we have begun to forge with them uh opens many possibilities in terms of cross-cultural exchange, and I look forward to helping uh forge that uh relationship. >> Thank you. Any other reports from committees?
No? All right, we will move on to discussion items. The first item, Dr. Coffin? >> Uh the first item is the super superintendent succession plan. So I think that's something that the board um continues to approve. Uh this year it's been uh assistant superintendent Ronda
and that has been working out very well. Uh so the purpose of this is for uh if in the event I'm out of the district, there's somebody here who has access uh and works directly with our principals. So I would um recommend the board continuing um in that direction.
>> Thank you. And just for everyone's uh uh as a reminder, this is something we're required to do um is identify someone who would step in in the event of an emergency uh for a short-term period. This is not necessarily who is
going to be our next superintendent. This is a requirement to identify someone else in the district who will stand in for the superintendent, and this continues to be aligned with the roles that we've done in the past. That will come up for approval later on in this meeting.
The next two items are with respect to tentative agreements. >> Yes, so I'd like to welcome Mr. Brad Paddock, our assistant superintendent for HR and talent development to the podium to provide information to the board on both our ESP and FMC bargaining
contracts. >> Thank you so much, Dr. Kauffman. Good evening, President Williams, Board of Education. This evening we are introducing for discussion two tentative collective bargaining agreements for our support staff groups that we work with on
successor agreements. Both of these are set to expire June 30th. These agreements at this time are with Farmington maintenance cafeteria, FMC, and our educational support professionals, ESP.
In each are for a two-year successor agreement. This is represented, as you said, Ms. Williams, in letters B and C of the discussion items in the agenda. Together, these groups represent approximately 355 of our employees, which is slightly just
below 30% of our total workforce here in Farmington. Over the course of nearly 10 weeks, we as a district met five times with each group for our bargaining sessions. The process was conducted in good faith, and because of the district's continued
financial responsibilities and stewardship, we were able to offer on-scale wage increases for both groups with step advancements, and there's always some language cleanup in addition to that, but it's not always can we offer on scale wage increases and we
certainly are pleased to bring that forward this evening. Uh throughout the process our district team has kept you informed through board brief updates, uh redline documents showing some contract changes along the way, and two uh kind of one and a half two closed
sessions for us to be able to talk about our goals with bargaining and then eventually where we ended up. Your involvement and willingness to ask questions throughout the process really through your fiduciary lens and responsibilities uh means a great deal to our team and it
shows that you truly care about the employees and we are appreciative and we thank you for being involved in the process and asking the questions along the way. At the same time you did trust our team and that is very appreciative. For the district negotiations team I'd
like to thank Mrs. Jennifer Kaminsky, Dr. Lydia Moore, Mrs. Kelly Kaminsky, and Mr. Luke Caddeo for being part of the bargaining teams representing the district side on either F for [clears throat] FMC or ESP. For the associations uh both presidents
and the new ESP president-elect demonstrated positive leadership and our team thoroughly enjoyed the professionalism and respectful dialogue throughout the process and I do have some of those folks uh with the ESP sitting to your right and my left this
evening in the audience. We appreciate the conversation. Bargaining does not happen just at the bargaining table. It happens year round with the relationship and we certainly appreciate uh your professionalism and dialogue. Both sides are never supposed to get everything
that they want and certainly that's why it's called negotiations. This evening's discussion items in letter B and C provides an opportunity for any final questions or comments before the two individual action items come forward later on in the agenda.
If there are no further discussions needed, our teams look forward to the board's consideration and approval of both agreements later this evening. Thanks for allowing me to say a few words. >> I think just say one thing. Yes. Brad, I just want to thank you and Jennifer for
taking the time this week also and I appreciate the board members coming in and getting their questions answered and I think that really helped us be [clears throat] able to move this forward and make sure the board had everything that they need. So, thank you for that. >> Thank you. It's a pleasure to do the
work. >> Thank you, Mrs. Smith. >> Um out of the 11 years that I've been on this board, I've never had the opportunity for HR or Jennifer Kaminsky to sit down and ask
us, do you want to have a conversation and if you have any questions come for you know, instead of sitting here and being here till about 10:00 at night asking a bunch of questions. You answered them. Both of you were very
thorough. I asked several questions and it helped to have not only the two of you but Miss Scripture over there, you know, it it was it was enlightening and you were both very transparent. So,
I appreciate both of you not only the time that you gave me even though I kept flipping hours or whatever, but you made that time for me and you let me ask the questions that needed to be asked.
And I appreciate it. Thank you and do it again next year too or two years from now. >> Thank you for your time, Lois. Appreciate it. >> Thank you, Mrs. Smith. Mr. Walker. >> Yes, I'd like to echo Trustee Smith's comments. It it was very very helpful to have the opportunity to sit down with you all
one-on-one if you will, to ask questions about the contracts, about the negotiation process, to be involved, and and to understand some of the intricacies that took place uh along the way. Granted, I haven't been a part of the board um like some of my more seasoned, you know,
>> That's right now. >> [laughter] >> But, I I think that that's I I really would like to see that as a practice whenever possible as we continue to go forward in this board, in my opinion, tends to be a little We want to be a little bit more involved. Not getting in the weeds, but
just understanding the process so that we hopefully can make the best possible decisions when we're sitting here on a Tuesday night. And so, again, the access that we were given to your staff, to your team uh is greatly appreciated. So, I just want to say thank you. >> Thank you. You're welcome.
>> Uh I echo. Uh this board has lots of questions, and we always want to um have an opportunity to sit down and talk through those. And today's meeting was very packed uh with meetings at 4:00 and 5:00 ahead of our 6:00. So, I also appreciate you guys making that time
available prior to this meeting. >> Thank you. We We build our culture and climate one employee at a time, and through collective bargaining, and when we have good agreements, we can attract the very best people. Look forward to your vote this evening. >> Thank you. >> Thank you. >> Uh next is the review of resolution
regarding executive administrative contracts. >> Yes, thank you, President Williams. Uh in your board packet, the board received a resolution uh that addresses uh um something that was put in place in the 25-26 school year. And there were
some just some small adaptations made to the executive administrator contracts, and that just covers four different four different employees, our assistant superintendents and our executive directors. Um so, I'm requesting, now that we've lived into that language for a year, there's uh some language in there that
had an It just automatically renews uh into perpetuity. And so, I'm asking the board to uh pass the resolution that um removes that language, still allowing for the for the executive contracts to have a
2-year contract and signing each year so they continue to have a 2-year contract, um but it just stops the automatic renewal. Um and the board is the one that can can make that change. This 2-year is consistent with other
contracts across the district. So, something we lived into and want to move [clears throat] back to a 2-year contract that we can keep moving. >> All right. Thank you very much. Uh seeing no questions on that one, we will move on to public comment. This is our second opportunity for public comment. Is there
any public comment? Is there any public comment? Seeing no public commentors, we will move on to our next item, which are action items. We have a lot to cover today. Uh this is our generally our organizational meeting.
So, this is the time in which we review annually um things like superintendent succession and uh legal contracts and banking relationships and the election of officers and so forth and so on. So, uh with that, I will move to our first
item, which is the approval of the proposed budget. As a reminder, this was presented in detail at the June 2nd board meeting. And uh we are looking for a motion to approve. Yes. >> I move that the Board of Education
approve the 2026-2027 General Appropriations Resolution uh as presented and waive the reading of the resolution. >> Second. >> Motion made by VP Walker and seconded by Trustee Resendez to approve the
2026-2027 General Appropriations Resolution. >> Nope. Am I in the right one? Yes. And waive the reading of the resolution. Is there any discussion?
Seeing none, won't we have a roll call vote, please? >> Yes. Ms. Smith? >> Yes. >> Mr. Resendez? >> Yes. >> Ms. Heinrick? >> Yes. >> Mr. Walker? >> Yes. >> Mr. Hall? >> Yes. >> I myself am a yes. President Weems? >> I'm a yes. >> Thank you. That motion passes. Next we have the tax levy. This was also
presented in detail at our last board meeting. Trustee Heinrick? >> I move that the Board of Education approve the 2025-2026 revised general appropriation. No, I'm reading the wrong one.
>> Uh XB. >> I'm on the second budget method. Sorry. >> No problem. >> My mouse isn't working. >> I can >> All right. Yeah, go ahead. >> I move that the Board of Education approve the form L-4029
tax rate request for all properties, which results in a 7.8516 mills on homesteads and industrial personal property. 21.2000 mills on non-residential homesteads and a 13.8516
mills on commercial personal property. >> Support. >> Motion made by Trustee Hall, supported by Trustee Smith to approve the tax rate request for all properties resulting in uh a 7.8516 mills on homesteads,
21.2 mills on non-homesteads, and 13.8516 mills on commercial personal property. Is there any discussion? Seeing none, may we have a roll call vote, please? >> Mr. Hall? >> Yes. >> Mr. Walker? >> Yes. >> Ms. Heinrick? >> Yes. >> Mr. Resendez?
>> Yes. >> Ms. Smith? >> Yes. >> I myself am a yes, and President Weems? >> Yes. Thank you. That motion passes as well. Is there a motion on the second budget amendment was which was also presented Mrs. Heinrich. >> All right, I move that the Board of Education approve the 2025-2026
revised general appropriations resolution as presented and waive the reading of the resolution. >> Support. >> Motion made by Trustee Heinrich, supported by Trustee Walker to approve the 2025-2026 revised general
appropriations resolution. Is there any discussion? Seeing none, can we have a roll call vote, please? >> Yes, Ms. Smith. >> Yes. >> Mr. Recinto. >> Yes. >> Ms. Heinrich. >> Yes. >> Mr. Walker. >> Yes. >> Mr. Hull. >> Yes.
>> [clears throat] >> Yes, President Weems. >> I am a yes. That motion passes as well. Is there a motion for the for certifying the school improvement bond proposition? >> Yes. >> I move that the Board of Education approve the resolution certifying school improvement bond proposition as
presented and waive the reading of the resolution. >> Support. >> Uh there was a motion made by Mr. Walker, supported by Mrs. Heinrich to approve the resolution certifying school improvement bond proposition. Is there any discussion?
>> Yes. >> This is the zero mill increase. Is that what That's what that is. So, that's what we've been talking about to for our school improvement five-year plan. >> Yes, thank you for that. Is there any discussion further
discussion? Seeing none, may we have a roll call vote, please? >> Yes. Uh Mr. Hull. >> Yes. >> Mr. Walker. >> Yes. >> Ms. Heinrich. >> Yes. >> Mr. Recinto. >> Yes. >> Ms. Smith. >> Yes. >> And myself I'm a yes, President Weems. >> Yes.
That motion passes, thank you. We will move to uh the custodial equipment purchase, which was presented at our last board meeting. Mr. Hull. >> I move that the Board of Education approves the purchase of custodial equipment as presented and at district
cost not to exceed $90,000. >> Support. >> Motion made by Trustee Hull, supported by Trustee Smith, to approve the purchase of the custodial equipment at the district at a as presented at a district cost not to exceed $90,000. Is there any discussion?
May we have a roll call vote? >> Yes, Mr. Smith. >> Yes. >> Mr. Resendez. >> Yes. >> Ms. Heinrich. >> Yes. >> Mr. Walker. >> Yes. >> Mr. Hull. >> Yes. >> I myself am a yes. President Weems. >> Yes. >> Thank you. Uh we will move to uh the
nutritional services purchase. >> I move that that the Board of Education approves the purchase of nutritional services equipment as presented at a district cost not to exceed $311,000 and 00 cents. >> Support. Motion made by Trustee
Resendez, supported by Trustee Smith, to approve the purchase of nutritional services equipment in an amount not to exceed $311,000. Is there any discussion? Seeing none, may we have a roll call vote? >> Yes. >> Mr. Hull. >> Yes. >> Mr. Walker. >> Yes. >> Ms. Heinrich. >> Yes. >> Mr. Resendez.
>> Yes. >> Mr. Smith. >> Yes. >> I myself am a yes. President Weems. >> Uh yes, thank you. That motion passes. Um may we have a motion to uh related to the bylaws, Mrs. Heinrich. >> Yeah, um the first one is um the
Oakland County School Board Association uh is introducing a resolution to oppose tying any school funding to waving attorney-client privilege. Um I I move that the Board of Education approve the proposed new resolution as
presented. >> Support. >> Motion made by Trustee Heinrich, supported by Trustee Walker, to approve the proposed new resolution as presented. Is there any discussion? Seeing none, all in favor? >> I. >> Any opposed? Any abstentions? That motion passes.
Mrs. Heinrich? >> Um yeah, the second one there were some amendments to the bylaws that we discussed at the last meeting. Um so I move that the Board of Education approve all the proposed amendments to the Oakland County School Board Association
bylaws as presented. >> Support. Motion made by Mrs. Heinrich, supported by Mrs. Smith uh to approve the proposed amendments to the OCSBA bylaws as presented. Is there any discussion? Seeing none. All in favor? >> I.
>> Any opposed? Any abstentions? That motion passes. Uh next we have the uh board meeting schedule for the next year. Mr. Walker? >> Uh I move that the Board of Education approve the 2026-2027 board meeting schedule including the
January 2027 meeting dates as selected by the board. >> Support. >> Motion made by Trustee Walker, supported by Trustee Smith to approve the meeting schedule including in the January 27 meeting dates.
Yes. >> We haven't discussed them. >> One of the January options. >> Yeah, we have to choose. Mrs. Heinrich, yes. >> Would you like to amend your motion to identify which choice? I think we talked about this one.
>> Okay. You want me to make the statement that we were >> Yes, sir. >> Okay. Uh let's see. Um I move that the Board of Education approve the 2026-2027 board meeting schedule including the January 12th, 2027 and January 26th,
2027 meeting dates as selected by the board. >> Support. Motion made by Trustee Walker, supported by Trustee Smith to approve the 26-27 board meeting schedule including the January 12th date that Mr. Walker just
mentioned. Is there any discussion? See, yes. >> So, just to be clear, we're looking at the second and fourth Tuesday of that January as as >> Correct. Correct. >> Got you. Okay. >> Thank you for clarifying. Any further discussion?
All in favor? >> Aye. >> Any opposed? Any abstentions? That motion passes. Next, we have the superintendent succession. >> [clears throat] >> Mr. Resento? >> I move that the Board of Education authorize Rhonda Henry, assistant superintendent, to serve as acting
superintendent in the event of the superintendent's absence with full authority to carry out the duties and responsibilities of the superintendent effective immediately and continuing through the end of the 2026-2027 school year. >> Support. Motion made by Trustee Resento,
supported by Trustee Smith, to approve Rhonda Henry, assistant superintendent, to act as to to serve as acting superintendent in the event of the superintendent's absence. Is there any discussion? Seeing none, all in favor? >> Aye. >> Any opposed? Any abstentions? That
motion passes. Next, we have the approval of the ESP contract. Mrs. Heinrich? >> I move that the Board of Education approve the tentative bargaining agreement between the Farmington Board of Education and the Farmington
Education Support Professional Association ESP MEA-NEA as presented. >> Support. >> Motion made by Mrs. Heinrich, supported by Mr. Walker, to approve the tentative bargaining agreement between the Board
of Education and the ESP unit. Is there any discussion? Seeing none, may we have a roll call vote, please? >> Yes. Ms. Smith? >> Yes. >> Mr. Resento? >> Yes. >> Mrs. Heinrich? >> Yes. >> Mr. Walker. >> Yes. >> Mr. Hall. >> Yes. >> I myself am a yes. President Weems. >> I'm a yes.
>> Thank you. I'm going to do the next one. >> Sure. >> Thank you. >> I move that the Board of Education approve the tentative bargaining agreement between the Farmington Board of Education and the Farmington Maintenance and Cafeteria Association, FMCMEA-NEA,
as presented. >> Second. >> Motion made by Mrs. Heinrich, seconded by Mr. Rescinto, to approve the tentative bargaining agreement between the Board of Education and FMC. Is there any discussion? Seeing none, uh may we have a roll call vote? >> Yes. Mr. Hall. >> Yes.
>> Mr. Walker. >> Yes. >> Mrs. Heinrich. >> Yes. >> Mr. Rescinto. >> Yes. >> Yes. >> I myself am a yes. President Weems. >> Yes. That motion passes. >> Uh next is the approval of the resolution on executive administrative con- contracts.
Mr. Rescinto. >> I move that the Board of Education approve the resolution provided to the board today to deny the automatic extension for an additional year beyond June 30th, 2027, the employment contracts of the of the district's executive administrators, so that the form of the contracts for those
administrators administrators can be modified and delegating the authority to the superintendent to make and implement the modifications and waive the reading of the resolution. >> Support. >> [cough] >> Motion made by Trustee Rescinto, supported by Trustee Walker. Is there
any discussion? Seeing none, all in favor? >> All right. >> Any opposed? Any abstentions? That motion passes. All right. That moves us to our annual organizational meeting. Um we have
the election of officers. So, uh I propose that we run this the same way we have in the at least the last election cycle, uh as nothing has changed. Uh the president will recognize motions. Um whoever is nominated will then decide
to accept that nomination. If that person accepts the nomination, we will move on to see if there are any other folks that are nominated. We will vote on the people in the order that they were nominated. Is all of that clear? No?
>> No one runs against the person. >> Then that person will be we don't need to vote. Correct. Yeah, so the president will acknowledge whoever wants to nominate someone. That person is nominated. We will ask that person if they accept the nomination. If they do,
great. Then we'll pause and see if there are any other nominations. If there are no other nominations, that person is elected. Yes. >> Do we go in order as in officer position? >> Yes. Thank you. Yeah. >> So I can just say >> No.
I'm sorry. That's a good question. So we'll start with president. Then we'll move on to vice president. And then secretary and then treasurer. Thank you for that question. Any other questions? All right. We will now open up nominations for the office of president.
Is there a nomination for president? Mrs. Smith. >> I name I'm nominate Donald Walker as the president for the year 20 >> 6 27. >> 2027. >> Mr. Walker, do you accept that nomination? >> I accept.
>> Are there any other nominations? Seeing none, Mr. Walker, you are now the president. Congratulations. >> [laughter] [applause] >> A point of privilege. It has not been lost on me that President Weems has gotten happier and happier
>> [laughter] >> to this particular point in time. >> Oh, it's just because she had a grand her last graduate. >> All right. >> [laughter] >> I'm sure that was I'm sure that was it. Okay. Um now open up the floor to a motion uh for vice president. Would someone like to
>> Yes. I move to nominate Claudia Heinrich as our vice president for the 2026-27 school year. Do you accept, Daryl? >> Yes. >> [laughter] >> Is there anyone else to nominate for the
vice president position? Seeing as there is none, um we >> [applause] >> We open the floor to uh and ask for a motion for the position of secretary. Mr. Moore. >> I nominate uh Angie Smith to the 2026-27
for secretary. >> Ms. Smith, do you accept? >> I'll think about it. Yes. >> [laughter] >> Anyone else for nominating for secretary? Seeing that that there is none, welcome to secretary. >> [applause] >> And finally, um looking for a motion for
the position of treasurer. Um Angie. >> I nominate Terry Weems as our treasurer for the year 2026-27. >> Ms. Weems, do you accept? >> I accept. >> Anyone else for position of treasurer?
Seeing that there is none, welcome to the treasurer. >> [applause] >> So I I I don't give this agenda back to you at this point, right? >> No. >> [laughter] >> Impressive. >> President Walker. >> Okay. >> say something, please? >> Yes, ma'am.
>> Um over the years we've had Terry in and I can say Terry as our president and I want to thank her for all her hard work and the things that she has done. Um
Terry's job, her real job, is very, very, very, hands-on and time-consuming. And for her to take the time to do the work that she has done, not only for this board,
but for this district, and for what and then to take the time away from her family. Many of you don't know, we get a lot of hate mail and and all kinds of stuff. And Terry takes the brunt and she stands up for all of us. She's the Angelica for
the Rugrats here. And Terry takes on everything and has done a tremendous job. Terry brought back our relationship with both cities, our police department, and our mayor, and
and and and everybody. That bridge was rebuilt, and I thank you, Terry. Thank you for all the work that you have done, and which you I mean, me and Terry done had our moments, but can't nobody mess with Terry Book B. Terry, thank you, and I love you, and I
appreciate everything that you've done. And thank you to the Weems family for allowing us to have her, and the late-night calls that she makes to all of us. Thank you, Terry. >> Thank you. >> I trust you, Mr. Cento. >> Uh I'd like to echo that sentiment, too. Coming in as a parent, I know I've seen
Terry Weems on the stage, behind Plexiglas, interviewed outside, inside of a bar during a newscast, surprised. I've seen her on video, or she was just her name for a
while. Uh so, again, seen her deal with several superintendents and changes, and I think at least as a parent, now as a board member, have seen her bring together a collect a collection of folks on the board, but also
working with the superintendent and the staff and students that that to me I think it's one of the best working relationships that I that I've seen in the in my time in the district as a parent and as a school board member. So, thank you again, Terry. >> Thank you. I appreciate it. >> Paul and then Dr. Blau. >> Yeah, same thing uh echo with uh
president ex former president >> [laughter] >> Please and that every time when I got on the board you were very uh deliberate to make sure that I took care of myself even but I didn't care take care of myself about, you know. So, you care more more about me
than I did about myself a lot times. So, I appreciate that and uh your patience as in trying to explain something without being condescending or arrogant. I really do appreciate that especially for a new board as in you don't want to be exposed to trying to understand the
process and that uh your your your just overall willingness and kindness to be very giving. >> Thank you. >> So, I appreciate that and I've learned a lot from his organizational skills cuz I don't know how you even do it. I think there's a clone of you.
I think so. Um but uh thank you so much and uh look forward to this uh next uh >> Thank you. >> Dr. Blau. >> You have shepherded this board through some of the most difficult
challenges that a board could possibly experience. When uh Ms. Heinrich, Mr. Walker, myself, and Ms. Fox first came onto this board the president, vice president, and
another board member had resigned and so had the superintendent in one fell swoop and there you were with your strong leadership skills and uh your your inner strength and calm demeanor to shepherd us through those difficult times. And
you you've really have been such a source of steadiness and reason during so many difficult challenges that our community and school board have faced and um
I we can't thank you enough thank you for the many ways that you have served us as a board as individuals and as a community. Um also Mr. Walker if she doesn't still have a copy of the step-by-step notes
that she gave me on how to how to what to say when in a board meeting I'm happy to share mine with you they're laminated. >> [laughter] >> And also if you need any help with your new role as treasurer you should check with Terry Weems she's really an expert [laughter]
Thank you. >> So I had this long speech that I was going to give about you and what you have done for this district and the role that you played as president but my colleagues here have said everything that I could have possibly said. I will add this though
in part the reason why she's been so calm recently is because she would pick up the phone call me and give me all the fire and I would have to [laughter] sit back and go bring okay now Terry you can't do that I wouldn't highly recommend you do that we would talk her off the ledge and say okay let's let's
get it back to center and I really appreciated those conversations I truly did and do. I appreciate the mentoring that you've given me in this role as VP and making me feel sane in that role and just because you're moving to the treasurer seat doesn't mean I won't be picking up the phone and getting some
some advice and some you know commentary along the way you you have created some incredibly big shoes to fill I'm not even going to attempt to do it we're just going to set those shoes aside bronze those shoes for people to [laughter] see and it's because to everybody's point
the district has gone through a considerable amount of change and you have been at the helm of all of that. You've taken unnecessary fire. I truly believe unnecessary fire from people within the community and such. But throughout all of it, you maintain a
love for this district. You maintain being a incredible mother to your children >> Thank you. >> and wife and and and family member along the way. You never dropped any of that. I've seen her notes. They're in my pro fonts. >> Yeah. >> I don't know how she reads and stands. >> It's it's a it's incredible the level of
detail that you brought to this position and response to the community as well. Um you set a standard and I'll do my best to to adhere to it as best I possibly can in my own way, but thank you for your leadership 100%.
>> [applause] [applause] >> Okay, point made. >> Maybe there's an elementary school kid kindergarten you can adopt and continue on for 12 more years. >> I >> [laughter] >> love that. I love that. >> I I feel like I should say something to fit in. So >> You be you, Audrey.
>> my my my speech was, you know, several pages long, but um Terry Terry wears 4-in 4-in heels, so Donald, I'm glad you're not trying to fill her shoes. >> [laughter] >> I'd like hate to see you on that, but um yeah, this is a good board and so thank
you for your leadership and thank you the entire team. I mean, because everybody has contributed and um there's no I in team and I think we all bring out the best in all of us and I'm really looking forward to continuing our work that we're doing. So thank you everyone on the team.
>> Thank you. >> That being said, um we'll move on to items from the treasurer. >> That would be me. >> [laughter] [laughter] >> ALL RIGHT. MOTION NUMBER ONE. I move that the Board of Education approve the
expenditures as outlined in the expenditure printout dated June 16th, 2026 as follows. General fund $12,006,329. Athletics $176,089. From the 2023 bond fund $64,750.
From the nutrition fund $411,469. And from the benefits stabilization fund $1,174,929 for a total of $13,833,566. Support. >> Motion made um by treasurer Wings,
uh supported by secretary Smith. Um any discussion? Seeing none. All in favor? >> I. >> I. >> Opposed? >> Motion carried. >> Thank you, sir. Uh I will also move that
the board authorize for the 2026-2027 school year the deposit of school district funds in the following financial institutions. JP Morgan Chase, Comerica Bank, Livingston Oakland County Credit Union, Bank of America, Citizens Bank, Fifth Third Bank.
Fifth Third Bank for Michigan Liquid Asset Fund, Huntington National Bank, PNC Bank, Flagstar, Independent, First Merchants, and authorize the investment of surplus funds through the following financial institutions. Michigan Liquid Asset Fund, Bank of
America, JP Morgan Chase, Comerica Bank, Fifth Third Bank, and authorize the following Farmington Public Schools signatories for the listed funds for 2026-2027. The funds are general fund, debt fund, capital projects fund, nutrition services fund, student activities fund, and the benefit
stabilization fund. And the position of signatory is both the board president and board treasurer for all of those funds. >> Support. >> Motion made by uh Mrs. Weems, seconded by Mrs. Heinrich. Any discussion?
All in favor? >> Aye. >> Aye. >> Opposed? Motion passes. We move on to the consent agenda. May I have a motion, please? >> I move to approve the consent agenda. Number one, approval of minutes. A, June
2nd, 2026 regular meeting. Number two, personnel items. Number three, appointment of legal representation, 2026-2027. Number four, approval of the 2026-2027
MHSAA membership resolution. >> Support. >> Motion made to approve the consent agenda by Mrs. Heinrich, seconded by Mrs. Weems. Any discussion? All in favor? >> Aye. >> Aye.
>> Opposed? Motion carries. And we move on to reports from board representatives. Mrs. Weems. >> As the former board representative of this board, I have several pages that I'd like to
No, I'm just kidding. >> [laughter] >> I just want to say thank you to this team. I agree very much with Mrs. Heinrich that it is um a great team. Everyone here contributes in such a meaningful way, and I've said it before,
I truly appreciate the diversity on this board, and I believe that because we are so different, we bring so many different things to this board. We're able to draw across those differences and come up with some really great solutions, some really good conversations, some great
challenges, and I think we make each other stronger and as a result this district. So, thank you for your support over the past several years. Thank you. >> Anyone else? >> I heard there's no crying in school board, so >> It's true.
It's true. >> I can't guarantee that. [laughter] >> I tend to be a little bit of an emotional person along the way, but I would just like to echo what Ms. Williams has said that this is I I I had the pleasure of working with you guys for quite some time and look
forward to this role and serving you and serving this district in this role to the best of my ability, but I was I was giving this some reflective thought and it's been said before that Farmington is Farmington Public Schools is uniquely qualified to be a leading
district because of the diversity that it has uh in terms of its constituency and stakeholders, because of the team of teachers and support staff and so forth that we have, and because of the leadership that we have on administrative level right to our
superintendent and this board. Getting where we want to be is going to be tough. Being number one is not an easy thing. And it's going it's going to require some courageous conversations. Sometimes we're going to be uncomfortable, but um there is no comfort there's no comfort
in in in growth. There just truly isn't. Something that I'm personally embracing and something that I hope we as a district can do so and we as a board can continue to do so as well, all for the sake of our kids as you find in the signatory for Ms. Ms. Smith. And so, I just believe that
as we go into this next phase, we're going to build upon the successes that we've had thus far, and if we just give each other a little bit of grace from time to time when we make a mistake or two or as we continue to grow, we will get where we want to be and our kids will continue to shine like they do
regardless as to what some other people may say from time to time. Our kids shine, period, point blank, end of story. >> Yes, ma'am. >> Um and to piggyback off of that, these are our kids. They're not
the children of the parents of the 9,000 students. They are our kids. We cry when a student passes away. We cry when a student gets in trouble. We cry. We cry when a parent reaches out and they feel that they are not heard.
Many of us have been in those shoes, me being a parent that has three that went through this district. And my saying has always been, you have not made it until your kids have made it through this district. And what I mean by that, you can buy the $300,000 home that's
probably worth $100,000. You can have the Benz in the driveway and you can drink top shelf, smoke the best cigars, but if your kids ain't done well, and if you have failed your children, you have failed. This is what we are here for. I'm not
here for any name, name recognition, or anything cuz I like a life. Um but on that note, I'd like to say we have heard how things have been happening over the last year and this year. People in this community, we have been a
village, but it's time for parents to hold themselves accountable, too. Um where there people going out here saying, "Well, it's the board's job to look out for our kids this summer and the city councils." And no, it's not. And these teachers have took care of your babies all year long.
This community has taken care of your children. So, I stopped by the Hawk today. I don't have no kids at home. I don't have no grandchildren. There are activities. There is an art program. Sheryl sits on the arts commission.
There's arts There's the things with the arts There are things I saw a group of little ducklings walking around going out the Hawk and having a great time doing things. You know, there are camps. If you need something for your teen to
do, vacation Bible school, McDonald's, not to eat, but to get a job. Tropical Smoothie, not to drink, but to get a job. They are hiring at the Hawk.
Get your children involved. Do not expect them to be taken care of by this board or by the city council or by the mayor. We have done our job.
You need to do yours. This is a partnership. So, yes, they are our children. I always end my letters with as always yours for children, even though many people don't believe that. We are all here for the right reason. It is for these kids.
Nothing else. There None of us gets an extra bonus. Nobody gets an extra check. Nobody is paying for any gas or anything. We do this and take time away from our families. So, on that note, have a happy summer. Congratulations
again to the parents of the seniors and those that are finishing college or going into their second or third year, have a great summer. >> Anyone else need final comments? >> Yeah, I'll just echo quickly what Trustee Smith said or Secretary Smith.
>> You can call me Angie. >> [laughter] >> Um beyond that, there are also many athletic summer programs. I know they're posted on the site. There are soccer programs up this summer. Again, softball, there's summer running clubs all provided by
coaches and captains of these teams. Again, encourage parents, myself included, to get your kids out and touch grass, I think someone said one time, and read the air and get off the screen for, you know, once in a while. And
there's also summer learning programs. I know there's >> still open to sign up for booster to boot booster for classes and and also to take summer classes that will help your children. So >> grass grass?
>> [laughter] >> And that's it for me. >> [laughter] >> I want to wish everyone a great summer. I know we worked hard. This summer we should play hard, but be responsible. Have your Make sure your kids, just like Trustee, well, excuse me, Secretary Smith
>> [laughter] >> and Trustee Resendez said that to give Make sure you get your kids involved. A What's it What they say? A idle >> devil's idle mind >> The idle mind is a devil's workshop. >> you. Thank you for for that good quote.
>> [laughter] >> That you've that we see on all this social media, the teen takeover craziness and that, and we need to make sure that we're very involved in our kids. Take them to Get them just involved in something. Don't have them have them be involved in something
that's not productive and that can get them in trouble. And just And from there we want to see everybody back in the fall and rejuvenated and ready to tackle the next school year. >> I'd like to say that it is both a
privilege and an honor to serve with each of you. Um these past 6 years and um um really the work that we do together is so important and so valuable. So, um we'll try to keep going together.
Um also, um it's okay to drink out of a garden hose. >> [laughter] >> We're we're not going to start that conversation off. We're not going to start that >> drinking out of a hose. >> We're not going to start that conversation off. >> [laughter] >> That was an inside joke with way back.
Sorry. It's a throwback. >> That ain't part of the job description. >> [laughter] >> You know you have Well, I don't. >> No, I don't. I don't. >> [laughter] >> You know you have a good situation when you can have a laugh in the midst of all of this. But to the staff who support
Dr. Coffin in this district as well, thank you sincerely for the work that you do. >> [applause] >> To our officers who keep us safe in the back and the >> [applause] >> Our air marshal's right here. >> Our air marshal's. >> [applause] >> I was going to say for the officers, I
know they appreciate this scintillating conversation they have to sit through every other Tuesday >> [laughter] >> on a regular basis. Um without fail, and they manage to smile at the end of it as well. But I just want to end with this one final thought and then we can all go home. Ms. Smith, what you said about partnership, it is so such a critical
thing. You you You need a village to raise a child. As a parent I've and my child my youngest now moved down to college, that village is even more necessary. And so I see what we do as being a part of a larger village and the partnership that
takes place within all of that. Let that be our focus as we continue to move forward. Let that be what we hang our hat on as best possible. When we have our disagreements, let's come back to that. Okay? For the sake of the children whom we serve and the teachers and staff and all the other persons that we serve
as well. And I believe it in my heart, and I don't say things that I don't believe, which is why you don't hear me speaking an awful lot at the board table. When I feel it's time for me to say something, then I speak on it. I believe in my heart if we do that as a community with grace,
we can do what we said we want to do for these children and for this district as a whole. So, with that being said, meeting adjourned. >> [applause] >> Great job. >> I didn't >> All in an hour.