##VIDEO ID:4fYz5dCX1Cs## this meeting is called to order at 7:01 p.m. good evening this is a regular meeting of the Ferndale School Board of Education being held on Monday November 18th 2024 our meeting is being video recorded and will be posted on the Ferndale schools YouTube channel all meetings in the Ferndale schools are held in public in compliance with the open meetings act printed documents discussed in tonight's meeting are available to the public upon requests with the exception of any information protected by student or employee privacy rights board meeting information is posted on our website at www. Ferndale schools.org if you do not have if you do not have internet access and need information please contact the board offices at 248-5868 652 by Thursday of the week prior to the meeting and the District staff will do their best to work with you item 1.1 roll call Miss shepher cic here elart here har here lash here Turner here president here thank you thank you item 1.2 approval of the agenda after review of the agenda are there any items that anyone wants to update then without objection and with unanimous consent the agenda is approved item two presentation of building Ferndale Early Childhood Center um Mrs Schmidt the director good evening everybody thank you for having me nice to see everyone now that the board was moved I might have to move a little bit I printed out and the problem is I put two slides per page in case I couldn't see um but I'm worried I can't see this either um so if I move um that's why my eyes are not working for me um but thank you for having me I for those of you that don't know I am Schmidt I am the proud director of Ferndale Early Childhood Center and I am here tonight to share a little bit about um what is going on in the building and what we have planned this year that align with the five pillars um for the district um so first and foremost with self-reflection um what we have been doing at fecc is really looking to our vision um with self-reflecting looking at it this is what we say we're going to do this is what we say we're going to provide to families to students to staff are we living it are we truly doing it um and then looking at how can we approve improve as individuals and collectively um so how we're kind of doing that there are some things in place um with staff meetings we are building in Vision review um not something that we have done in the past but really making sure that if that's if that's what we're living by we need to make sure that we are constantly and continually reviewing it um so being able to build that in buil in opportunity for reflection um whether that is questions posed by me looking at data um but always looking for what do we have in front of us what is the data telling us what are our stakeholders telling us and how can we improve as well as our working agreements and staff Charter um so going back to what can we do better um not only for our students and our families but collectively as a staff um how can we put our best selves forward um as well as goal setting obviously self-reflection is a really big component of goal setting um we do that both individually and as a group um we place goals um that are practice-based instructional based but as well as do data focused and then these are supported not only by the district admin level and myself building admin level but also our early childhood specialist um so how do we want to improve our classrooms how do we want to improve our building um how do we want to improve program by program um but really looking at setting those goals reflecting on what we're doing and what we can do to move forward um new Andor upand cominging that we're kind of putting in place this year um along with the district we are looking at um all of our staff signing up and being involved in restorative practice cohorts um I place this under self-reflection because obviously Early Childhood looks different um than all other levels and um you know throughout the year you're going to have other building admins standing up here and their restorative practice um might be more focused on students right um getting the students involved in conflict resolution self-reflection and things like that um while that's important and we do that in a developmentally appropriate way um we're really looking at restorative practices at the staff level to be able to have those hard conversations um those conversations where there might be disagreement and we have to refocus to our vision um you know and be able to say this is why we're here this is what we're doing and be able to move forward um monthly team check-ins I myself have been um making it a priority to go to each teaching team um really trying on a monthly basis um but being able to sit down with them without the formality of a staff meeting or an evaluation meeting but to sit down and have the conversation with what's going well um you know what do you need from me what do you need personally to be able to be the best that we can be um and then also reflecting on our building level um program offerings um so this year we had a change that um some of you may know about and we kind of went the route of um prek for all and two of our tuition-based classrooms were transitioned into gsrp 5day classrooms um the need and the interest in those classrooms were Paramount we are running sorry we are running on weit lists so that just tells us that the community and our families have a need that possibly wasn't being met previously so just reflecting on what are we offering what's available what can we offer to better meet the needs of our students families and Community um as far as transparency goes um what does it look like at fecc we are looking at informing educating and communicating um inform that is done in multiple ways and a lot of this overlaps when I was working on this I was like oh but that could go in that slide but that could go here um so much of it is intertwined um but informing as far as myself and staff I do a weekly eemo that um just kind of gets everybody on the same page lets them know what's forthcoming um what we're working on uh what needs to be done uh monthly director meeting monthly director newsletters to the building and the families as a whole um posted lesson plans outside of classrooms uh one of the things that we um struggle with in early childhood is [Music] the the responsibility of communicating that early childhood is different from child care and there is intentionality and there is purpose um behind what we're doing and families are not just dropping off their children um for child care that day that our teachers have gotten to know the students have looked at data and have planned lessons to meet them where they're at and to get them where they're going or where they need them to be and one of the parts of that is posting um lesson PL so that families can see that the intentionality and the purpose behind those was um the day and then District eblast I have been strongly encouraging and we have been trying at the Early Childhood Center to be seen in the eblast as much as possible um so that families and the community know that there's a lot of great things going on at the Early Childhood Center and it is intentional and it is teaching and learning um as far as educating uh one of our uh focuses that we've been doing for the last few years have been um having walls that talk and teach uh so it's really nice to walk down the hallway of a school and see all the beautiful work um that's happening and in early childhood um going back to what I said earlier it's really easy to think that oh they did these cuty crafts and um you know they made this and they did this but we really want families to know the intention and the purpose behind everything that we're doing in the classroom um so when you walk down the hallways of fecc and you look at any of our classroom bulletin boards you're not only going to see evidence of student work and learning um which out of context could just look cute and fun um but you are going to see the kdis the key developmental indicators that the teachers were working towards right their OB objectives for that lesson you are going to see um student quotes you're going to see pictures of the students engaged in the work um and that is again to communicate and to educate um with any visitor in the building that early childhood is intentional teaching and learning um best practices and how twos in our weekly newsletters you may see sharing of Early Child Hood best practices you will see um support to families at home on how to best support your child in learning um we have teachers that will send home in their Weekly Newsletter um I'm a parent uh many of us here our parents you know the answer to the question of what did you learn in school today is a whole lot of nothing um you're even more AP to get that the younger they are um so having specific questions to ask your children um you know so if a classroom was working on focusing on Apple Orchards and fall and things like that the teacher will give specific questions directly related to The Learning in the classroom um so that um parents are more likely to get an answer that is not nothing um but that leads to more Rich conversation and then resource sharing um at this age level there are a lot of conversations that happen about meeting milestones and developmental appropriateness um so making sure that we are sharing with families um thing ways and things to deal with struggles that they're having or to support their child at home um but just if a child might need you know help with potty training or help following a schedule making sure that we have the resources that we can share with them that might mean sharing a social story they can use at home sharing a visual schedule that they can use at home or just sharing an article that notes that yes biting is developmentally appropriate um but here's how we can handle it and address it and hopefully move towards more appropriate ways of problem solving um and then communication uh we utilize our kamboo app for daily communic ation um one thing that is really different and I think a true benefit of Early Childhood is we have the um we have the perk the advantage that our families are walking into the building every single day to drop off their child and walking back in to pick them up um so we do get a lot of oneon-one time that you may not in older grades um but for those that can't or for children that have have you know more than one household um making sure that we're communicating daily with Kimo um not only with student progress but pictures videos of students um kdis what they have been able to do what they're now able to do um classroom weekly newsletters uh each classroom sends home a Weekly Newsletter communicating and informing and educating of all the happenings as well as our home visits in par teacher conferences that happen um new and or upcoming uh we are looking at reinstating our coffee and conversations this was something that we did preco um and it kind of fell off and we're looking at putting it back in and that is just providing an informal um opportunity for families to stop by um network with other families but ask questions of resources in the building um voice any concerns get any help for anything that they need um and then transparency schoolwide expectations this year our leadership team is working on really promoting the schoolwide expectations of be safe be kind and be responsible so that everybody is on the same page and knows what the expectations are at fecc attendance um attendance is a tricky one in early childhood um I'm going to be honest and quite frankly complete transparency it is because preschool is not required right um it's not required so in the grand scheme of things with families that have so much on their plate so many other things that they're prioritizing so many other things that are required um a lot of times dropping your three-year-old or four-year-old off at school can fall off um and that's something that we have to balance um we have to balance communicating that early childhood is important yes it's not required but the long-term impact and what your child is getting from being there it's Monumental um showing up in preschool matters re research shows that preschoolers who missed 10% or more of the school year so that is just two days per month arrive in kindergarten with lower levels of School Readiness um so what we have done kind of put in place um at fecc you will see drop off and pick up Windows um we understand that um families have to get multiple kids to school at multiple buildings and while we are a smaller District if we're all starting at the same time someone's going to be late right um and we want to acknowledge that and I want to say yes get your get your second grader to school on time get your seventh grader to school on time um but please get your preschooler here um better late than never right um it doesn't matter if we're living into the vision it doesn't matter what we are doing to help all of our students prepare for the next level if they're not here I would rather a student be late because of X Y and Z then not come at all um so we have acknowledged and realized that there's kind of a pyramid model tiers um system of attendance um tier one is first and foremost we have to make our students and our families want to be here okay how is that done it's creating a warm welcoming environment for everybody um we have to educate and communicate the importance of attendance so like I said yes get seventh grader to school on time but please do not think that because school started at 8:30 we're not we're we're late we're not going to come um every minute that your child is in that classroom is so impactful to their future School Journey um and then monitoring attendance right so um taking attendance every day monitoring who is having attendance issues who's struggling who is not for some reason or another being able to make it here when they should be um tier two providing personalized Outreach to families um so at the first level it is if we don't get a call it is Teachers reaching out you know we missed we missed Heidi today at school is everything okay is there anything we can do to support um and then identifying and addressing those attendance barriers is it because I have three other kids to get to school and school starts at 8:30 and at that point we're late um is it that there's Transportation issues is it that you know the child is sharing something that they are not feeling comfortable or safe at school um and then working with families to develop an action plan for attendance and then tier three this is for our students that that you know are not here more than they are but really tapping into our resources and finding wraparound services and supports for these families um you know putting everything out there what can we do to get these families to um and these children to be in school um new Andor upcoming uh previously we have partnered with MD hhs's Pathways to potentials program and we had a case worker in the building that was monitoring our student attendance was reaching out to the families was doing all of that behind the scenes work um as of recently this year Pathways to potentials no longer includes Early Childhood so while we still have our case worker in the building they're not doing that nitty-gritty you know data collection and reaching out um so this year we're really focusing on we're going to really be focusing on as a staff how do we pick up that um that Gap that Pathways used to do for us and making sure that we are um getting everybody here all right um collaboration early childhood education is a community effort um one of the main things in the building that we really trying to increase and grow upon is shared leadership um this is the first year that fecc has had a formal leadership team um that is coming together to work on um building initiatives um building concerns taking that data and really looking at what can we do that self-reflection piece that building reflection piece what can we do as an fecc School family to get better and better meet the needs of our families um we have our Student Success team and our mtss team um staff-led trainings and initiatives um you know if there's something that they feel passionate about or something that they are excelling in or something that they are interested in and they want to take the Reigns and go for it by all means um and then our Head Start policy committee which is um required by the headart grant but it is a group of people that come together to um discuss policy discuss um processes procedures um and really help us with a different perspective um Partnerships as I mentioned it is a community effort um and we cannot do this alone and the more people we have enhancing our children's education the better um so some of the things that we are doing um within the district themselves are monthly stem lessons um Miss Kelsey Perkins our technology um specialist with Ferndale schools she has been coming over monthly and leading stem lessons with the students um that have by far been their favorite times of the month absolutely um Ferndale area District Library we not only communicate with them for early learning fairs recruitment um but the youth librarian comes over once a month to do story time with us um life lab and Special Olympics we have been partnering for a young athletes program um where a group of our students um both those with disabilities and without have been going to life lab to work with um therapists and counselors and working on um teamwork Sports skills and all of things like that and then Oakland schools as well um partnering for um training support um Behavior Support uh just to enhance and build our capacity better um new Andor up and coming we are working on um really carving out time within our schedules to have peer observations so allowing teachers to get coverage to get out of their classrooms and into their colleagues classrooms um to see instructional practice in action um that really connects with the self-reflection piece um when you see that our monthly half days uh so for our gsrp and Head Start programs that were 4-day programs um Fridays are set aside for Teacher collaboration professional development lesson planning Etc um having the five-day program now as well as our tuition based program um we have half of the building that didn't have that time um and we really wanted to provide an opportunity for all staff to come together and to collaborate and to be able to work together um on how do we better improve um and then this year we are also um we've run out straight out of the gate with early on prek transitions um we have been working along with Oakland schools um really looking at our processes from our early on special ed program to transitioning to prek programs um whether that's a gen Ed classroom um without support a gened classroom with support um but really looking at what our process is um so we have just on Election Day had a training on um that and some different tools and then we have our team signed up for further training in January to really look at making sure that we're making um the best choice for student placement um for further success [Music] right um data is a flashlight looking at data to identify opportunity for growth sorry identify opportunity for growth and to illuminate our winds um at Early Childhood while we do not participate in State Testing um and all of that we do have various sources of data that we are continually collecting um child observation record or core that is uh I have mentioned a few times kdis and the key developmental indicators um teachers are continually collecting anecdotal notes and planning lessons and providing instruction that takes students from one level to the next um so looking at that data where did our students start where are they going where do we want them to be um the ages and stages questionnaire that is also known as the asq um that is something that we do when students first start uh the teachers will do it at the home visits with the students and that gives us a baseline for when our students are coming into us where are they now um it allows us the opportunity to buy time we can meet them where they're at right from the beginning um our Deca for social emotional um awareness looking at attendance data um perception surveys both families and and staff and then our class observations um and class observations are done by a um Observer that comes in and they use the class tool and they are really looking at adult and child interactions um they'll look at how the environment is um positive interactions they will look at instructional support um academic development um so we have a lot of sources of data that we gather and can look at um and then as far as data increas in capacity so we do building wide data digs three times a year um while upper grades may have quarters um we do our core data we have three periods so at the end of each data at the end of each period we will do a data dig um data will guide lesson planning and individuals ization so teachers are looking at what kind of data they're collecting from their students and what does that mean for next week's lesson right what does it mean for um you know my student Heidi that is still struggling with X um and they will use that data to plan um forward and then core reliability training um with core we take anecdotal notes and then you input them into a system and then the teachers have the responsibility of scoring them and when you score them that is kind of what gives you that data of where the child is at um obviously looking at data it's really important that the data is as accurate as possible um so going over to the new Andor upand cominging the last one middle one I'm sorry is core focused PLC focused on building alignment um we're really focusing on does every single staff member every single teacher have the same idea of what one what a high quality note is because that's the data we're collecting um but two how would you score that high quality note um so just like we don't want our um data to be biased we want it to be as straightforward as possible so we're really looking at alignment across every classroom um if you're in a three-year-old classroom and your child is scored such and such a way and then they move up to a four-year-old classroom and that teacher is scoring with a different lens or not the same expectation um then our data is you know questionable which which one is accurate um so we're really looking at that um monthly classroom data digs we're going to start implementing um so not only those periods where we're doing it three times a year but every month having the teaching team sit down and say okay where are we on our core um what does that mean where do we need to go from here and then something new we put in place this year which is something very simple but has helped um our core completion Target reminders um so obviously with a period and having a system um teachers could collect the data and put it in a notebook and not input it yet but if you're not inputting it and you're not scoring it in a timely fashion are we using it effectively right are we indeed planning from it um so this year there have been um almost bi-weekly core Target planning um so for example you should be at 20% completion by this Friday you should be at 27% completion by this Friday um and what we found is that the teachers have really it has helped them to be more on top of inputting and um scoring the data which allows real data in time to be used um so that has been wonderful perfect um so as an introduction to our student group presentation that we have tonight um I am sharing about our classroom lending libraries uh so to give a little bit of background last year Oakland schools in gsrp uh received a g Grant they were a recipient of a grant that provided all gsrp classrooms with 150 plus books and the intention of the program was to allow amilies to increase literacy in the home and to allow families to be able to take home books and return them and support that learning at home um that was for gsrp classrooms only and the gsrp classrooms ran with it um the feedback was wonderful the families loved it um so it was something that was wonderful for those classrooms um with the support of the 35j Grant and District support this year uh we were able to provide the same classroom lending libraries for every class in the building this year so where it was only four classrooms that had it now all 11 classrooms have a lending library of 150 um diverse high quality books um for families to borrow and take home um with that we have had Oak school's training uh for the staff to learn on how to effectively organize and implement the classroom lending library uh it's not enough to just send a book home in a bag and you know ask for it to come back a few days later we really want to support families in being able to support their children in those early literacy um skills and development so telling them you this is what you can do when you are reading a book with a child um or ask these questions um so that has been wonderful and I am honored to introduce to you tonight miss nah Thomas one of our gsrp lead teachers um she is one of the gsrp teachers that obviously implemented the lending library last year so this is year two um but she's going to share how that's been going [Music] okay hi everyone like Miss hii said I'm Nina Thomas um this is my second year doing the lending library program some of you are familiar out there looking um so the lending library program has been a really awesome addition to our curriculum and just our school in general um like Miss Heidi said we have there's 150 books that have been shared with our class class rooms ranging from like Multicultural books um emotions families um favorite characters such as elephant and piggy Pete the Cat Jabari um friendships they talk about and as well as like academic skills like pattern shapes um we have some yoga books so there's a really diverse group of books that are shared with our kids and a lot of the books that we have are books that like I probably wouldn't check out at the library with my child you know there are different types of books so that's really amazing for us um in our class and the other classes each week the kids are allowed to take home a book and we check it out and we use a program called book source and we check the books out and what's really nice about the program is we can see which books the kids read so we're able to um Implement those books in you know reading them for the class or you know bringing them back out because we don't put all 150 books out at one time we kind of pick some and then um in our class we rotate them every like two months um as you can see I've shared some pictures so the big bottom picture is um the teacher the teach my assistant teacher and our student teacher pick our favorites for the month so we kind of highlight those books as those are our favorites so we try to read those books with the kids and as well as every um every Monday we read a book from the lending library to kind of get the kids excited about the books and we're like this is part of our lending library you guys can choose to take this book home and then we also allow the kids to look at the books like after rest time or before they go home so just they're experiencing the books and we can read them to them then but also if they don't get a chance to take them home they're still getting the books so um I don't know if you can read but we do have some qu quotes um one of them is we love the lending library we look forward to picking our new book every week and looking forward to sitting down and reading them together my daughter attended last year at fecc and she remembers some of the books her sister brings home it has interested them in becoming Li becoming Library members and the care we have to give to books to to really share to share with others um another one we love the lending library program my son loves to pick out our new books each week and this has has been a really great experience for a family so as you can see it's really bringing Joy to the kids these books it's getting books in their homes it's a really great program and I have someone here to share Jack do you want to share anything no well Jack is pict on our screen as you can see he said he really likes the elephant piggy books so but thank you [Applause] all Jack name Jack Jack are you sure before we move on you're all set okay just make it sure you have a favorite book from [Music] said I'm all all talk later all right um thank you that brings us to item three uh the plant Moran audit presentation Jack probably doesn't want to help with I'm guessing I don't think so all right well um good evening everyone um thank you for having us my name is Kimber smil I'm with plant Moran and with me is Christy Godley um we are here to report on the results of the district's 2024 audit um but before we we have a presentation prepared before we do that though um we do want to give a huge shout out to Don Huntley and her entire business office so [Applause] so I don't know how many of you have encountered audits or getting ready for audits but we ask for lots of information we ask lots and lots of questions as Don can attest to um and so and we know that's in addition to their everyday job so we really appreciate all your assist and successfully completing this year's audit all right so to start with our first slide here um just to give a summary of the audit uh we did provide an unmodified or clean opinion um which is the highest form of assurance that we can provide on an audit um we didn't identify any material weaknesses um or um material instances of non- compliance and then in addition to the basic financial statement audit we also perform a audit over the federal Awards which we call the single audit um and so as part of that we have to select a major program um this year it was the Child Nutrition cluster and again we didn't have any federal um audit findings that we identifi throughout our audit either um and then lastly we also take a look at the bond and syncing fund compliance and again didn't identify any issues um so I want to pause there because that is a testament to the controls um that are in place at the district um this year we had a new standard that we had to adhere to which was called SAS 145 I and it really required us to take a deeper dive even than we have in the past over internal controls and so to to say to the fact that there's been no material instances of non-compliance even under that higher level of scrutiny is really truly a testament to the controls that are in place um and that are continually monitored by the district so nice job I am going to turn it over to chrisy to talk about some of the exciting fund slides um that we've got here on your general fund revenue and different expenditures yeah so this is first looking at your general fund revenue and other financing sources so this is a side-by-side comparison of last Year's numbers versus this year's numbers so this is showing you had an increase in revenue of about 3 million from 2023 this was mainly driven by state aid categoricals so to kind of break down what this pie chart is getting at the blue section which makes up the majority of your revenue is your largest revenue source is um coming from the state that's about 48% of your Revenue that's primarily your state aid membership which aort portion of that is your foundation allowance which is driven by pupil accounts then your other remaining sources so the orange yellows chunk is going to be your property tax revenue and then you'll also see you have orange which is representing kind of other uh State local inner District sources that's going to be made up of kind of some other state aid categorical that may be restricted to other sections and your special education millage and and any proceeds from sales of assets and then kind of the last piece I want to talk about is your federal revenue which is the small blue piece that is about 3.4 million this year in Revenue 1.4 of that is actually related to the Esser grants that are done after this year there's like a little bit of a spending window into the next fiscal year but after that that is done um and then whatever is past that is your other standard grants so your idea title um and then Child Nutrition cluster so next we're going to switch into general fund expenditures and other financing uses same thing we have 20123 as well as 2024 to show you so again we see about a 3.1 million increase in expenditures kind of mirroring your increase in Revenue um the biggest chunk is made up of your instruction and instructional support service Services really showing that your funds are being spent in your classrooms directly benefiting your students uh and on the next side we'll end up seeing a different type of breakdown but just kind of overall you're fairly consistent in your percentages and how you're spending your funds so if you want to go to the next slide looking at the same numbers we break this up by a different way to look at this is looking at the objects looking at how the money was actually spent in those functions that we just saw so the biggest components are going to be your salaries and wages your benefits making up a significant portion of your expenditures and then following that with purchase Services supplies and capital outlay um similar to the previous side you guys stay very consistent in the categories you're spending in um really getting that to the best use this slide is showing your non curring covid expenditures and awards um there's a few not pictured that were just fully expended in the previous years including CRF sr1 and ECF that were all expended prior to 2022 this was just to high level show you what covid funding you've received and how they've all been spent um really highlighting that you have received a lot and you have spent almost all of it um and like I just said on the earlier side the co grants are done um there won't be any more so they're non-recurring uh this year you spent about 1.2 million in mainly Sesser 3 and 11t and uh there was a few other current year Sr expenditures related to 98c learning loss ARP homeless 2 and then future for frontliners of a little under $200,000 [Applause] and now we're going to look at the balance sheet of the district look specifically the general fund still looking at the breakdown of just your snapshot of what the district had as of June 30th 2024 um so first if we look at the assets on the left-and side you'll see it's mainly made up of cash receivables and other the cash and Investments is mostly comprised of your comera Investments receivables is primarily your state aid receivable uh about 65 million is for what you receiving in July and August for fiscal year 2024 and then the other category is just covering your inventory and your prepaids the chart on the right will show your liabilities which total about $7.2 million 3.6 million um which is about 51% of the liabilities is actually your accured payroll liabilities for employees paid in July and August and then you'll also see you have accounts available and then the other category is really going to be your deferred revenue um and then the difference between these two charts is about 11.8 million and that's going to be your fund balance which we'll see on the next slide so this just breaks it down to show kind of how your balance sheet and income statement will lead you to where you're currently at at for a fund balance of June 30 2024 so we'll have the starting number of $10.2 million for fund balance from last year uh you'll then increase that with the current year increases so the 50 million and 49 million is the revenue and the expenditures that we already covered on the earlier slides will get you to that $1.5 million increase as your Revenue exceeded your expenditures to then show that you have an ending fund balance on June 30th of 11 .7 million the bottom part of this table then breaks out your fund balance into different components um which is required so first you have the nonspendable component that's related to your inventories and prepaids you've already spent the funds it is considered a nonspendable component as you wait to recognize it the next year you also have an assigned fund balance related to fiscal year 25's budget there was where expenditures exceeded revenues we assign a portion of your fund balance to cover that difference for the year under audit for fiscal year 24 and then the remaining balance at 9.2 million is your unassigned fund unassigned fund balance which is just your remaining fund balance um just to put it in perspective because I know that's just a lot of numbers without a lot of context um the fund balance as a percent of expenditures is about 24% the msbo guide recommends 15 to 20% and then the 2023 Statewide average is about 20 2% so you are just above the Statewide average and well above what msbo is recommending back Timber um so this next slide is just another um look at your general fund balance um for the past 10 years so um really shows from 2015 all the way up to 2024 where fund balance has um come to so as you can see um you know fund balance continues to increase um and I think that's super important because when you look at the fund balance it really provides the district um with that operational flexibility um you know if there's any um differences that than expected with State funding or whatnot you have that um fund balance um that's set aside um and then the next slide um takes a look at student enrollment over um from 2015 to 2024 um the blue bar um represents your spring count um and then the orange bar would represent your fall count so um you can see if looking at the past few years um you know enrollment really has um studied um you see it ranged you know when the fall Counts from about 3100 to 3131 um and going back to what Christy said earlier when you think about that pie chart and we saw the blue part of the pie chart which was state aid your pupil count is very important because it's driving that state aid number that you saw in that first um in that first or second slide um so that's all of the formal remarks that we had prepared um open it up for questions if there are [Applause] any I am curious if we um know because I I know this was part of the discussion last week is that discussion of assigned and nonspendable versus unassigned um when we're looking at the ending fund balance from 20 23 of roughly 10.2 million do we have an idea of how much out of that was um assigned or nonspendable I don't have PRI do you have prior year statements um within the prior year financial statements if you look at the general fund balance it'll show that breakout um for you I just don't have it handy right away but um that would that would show the breakout of how they compare year over-ear so I don't I don't have a copy of the 23 handy but yeah but we can get that for you if that's helpful too it's it's in Prior Year's report so that's okay more for a later discussion again thank you again we appr the opportunity to serve the district and thank you Don thank you thank [Applause] you um we're going to call a quick Audible and move part of the superintendent's update up sorry go um so um thank you for that audible um there are some very special guests in the audience and I would like to to acknowledge them um before we go through the rest of the um agenda so um we uh every week we have nominees that are nominated um for staff members that represent eal Excellence I we thought that it would be wonderful to publicly acknowledge them for the Excellence that they display in and out of the classrooms at our board meetings as well so we are going to call up a few of our Eagle Excellence representatives of our awardees um and give them a very public and special acknowledgement and we're going to begin with Mr [Applause] Dex so I'm going to read to you the um Eagle Excellence award that Mr Dex received of operations is proud to recognize Robert Dex our dedicated maintenance supervisor for his outstanding contributions to the district with a commitment to Excellence and a keen attention to detail Robert has played a key role in ensuring our school facilities are well-maintained for students and staff alike Robert has a proactive approach to maintenance combined with his problem solving skills has helped address routine maintenance and more complex facility needs with urgency Robert and his team Mr Walker and Mr Wilkins work tirelessly and we appreciate everything they do to keep us safe we are grateful for Robert's hard work and Leadership and we applaud his ongoing commitment to Ferndale Public Schools thank you Robert thank [Applause] you we'll do them all together it's a few more we'll do it Mr Dex if you don't mind just standy and will'll present you with your pen and um take your take your pictures thank you so much um next we'll have Miss [Applause] brimon so I will read Miss bom's um Eagle Excellence presentation which is Brook brimacomb exemplifies Eagle Excellence through her unwavering dedication and Innovative approach as a ninth grade English teacher at University High School she consistently finds creative ways to engage her students making learning both enjoyable and impactful Beyond the classroom she works tirelessly throughout the school year to organize and facilitate the senior celebration events including senior Penning decision day prom and graduation you are tired um ensuring that these Milestones are memorable for students and their families additionally she Fosters a sense of community and belonging by playing planning in Rich in culture building field trips for the Junior and senior classes including their recent visits to a local site in them she is an incredible member of the UHS team who is always willing to lend a healthy hand Miss bone thank [Applause] you next we have L because we have so many excellent staff Miss Corum [Applause] Samantha km works hard to provide engaging and meaningful projects for her students from Hands-On activities to interactive projects Samantha makes science come alive encouraging students to explore and ask questions she connects with students and fosters a supportive environment that empowers students to think critically her creativity and particip ipation in spirit weeks is motivating for her teammates as well as her students Samantha received an outstanding teacher recognition from Project Lead the Way as well Samantha is a remarkable educator whose passion and dedication have a lasting impact on her students she is truly an asset to Ferndale Public Schools and I wholeheartedly believe she exemplifies evle Excellence thank you m [Applause] and last but certainly not least is Miss moand moand all right we have our three Eagle exellence right here thank you so much [Laughter] photo thank you thank you [Applause] okay item four second semester School of Choice University High School presentation good evening even good evening uh bringing back uh for approval uh request to open second semester School of choice for University High School school with a limited enrollment window uh of December 9th through December 20th um and I will just read into the record the requests and we and answer any questions request a approval to participate in schools of choice Section 105 and section 105c for the second semester 20242 school year according to the criteria noted below and pursuant to the parameters set by the 202 425 Michigan Department of Education pupil accounting manual that University High School accept a limited number of students for an enrollment window from December 9th 2024 through December 20th 2024 for the grade levels as follows ninth grade 10 seats 10th grade 10 seats and 11th grade 10 seats any questions Mr Tober you need us to vote on this just so that we can accept the students yes it's not an action items I move that we update the agenda oh okay thank you to add an item 8.3 for second semester School of Choice window and seats second um any discussion on the motion okay so we're going to add item 8.3 request to approve uh second semester the School of Choice at UHS okay roll call shepher thank yes yes yes Turner yes yes president yes thank you thank you um with six yes votes the motion passes and the agenda item is added just all right uh that takes us to item five fall Benchmark data presentation good evening everybody good evening sorry about the uh tardiness of the the slides and them to the we're actually done on time the format being in canva was uh a little bit difficult and I apologize so that will uh definitely be more on top of that next time do we have static slides or do we have a link to the canva I have a link for the canva awesome right so this fall we administered a couple of benchmark assessments as you may or may not remember you approved moving from nwaa to I ready so we administered I ready Diagnostics math grades kindergarten through 10th grade uh reading grades 2 through 10 um like nwe ready is an Adaptive test so more questions students get right the more complex and challenging the questions become um if students struggle then then the complexity decreases uh really trying to find the the performance level of the students as opposed to you know percent right or wrong in addition to I ready Diagnostics we administered the aadience which if you're familiar with Dibbles aadience is just the new name for Dibbles we administer that as a reading assessment grades kindergarten through fifth grade instead of going through all 38 slides I thought that I would just kind of do a summary why you laughing I'm excited that it's 38 you know it's down from 104 so come on um so I I did want to just kind of do a summary um but of course give you a chance to ask any questions that that you might have regarding um this slide so um summary of of our results we're treating the fall of 2024 as a new Baseline since we're starting a new assessment platform or program it makes sense to kind of reestablish a a new Baseline we did see pockets of success especially grades kindergarten through third grade but unfortunately historical gaps remain present both reading and math show dips when you get into grades five and up um one of the nice things was that there's a relatively close alignment between the I ready reading and the aadience so if you look at the percentages of students at or above grade level within 5 to 10% in I ready and in a cadient so um and the last thing you already knew this but we've got work to do our next steps to to make sure that we get maximum benefit out of I ready you've invested a fair amount of money in training for staff that includes administrators and teachers so that when they have the results they can actually do something productive and useful with them other than me just sharing them with you at the board meeting um we we've already had two rounds of training we'll have another round of training in January after the winter window closes so that the teachers will have some solid ideas and strategies for taking the fall to winter growth dat and acting upon that we are we were able to upload I ready scores into EXL so every student has a personalized prescription based on their I ready results so we'll have some you know very appropriate just Within Reach skills for students to be working on we are working with Oakland schools for math instructional support um last year the support came at grade six this year it's grade four so we're really hoping to see similar results to what we saw in in sixth grade last year this year in grade four we also have teachers from Ferndale Middle School University High School and Fern High School participating in a math instruction Grant if you're familiar state grants it's 238 it's the 238 math instructional Grant um we are also partnering with Oakland schools on Universal Design for Learning and disciplinary literacy training to increase access to and depth of content that students interact with um We are continuing our literacy Essentials work with Oakland schools and letters training for literacy instruction for staff and finally we are building capacity at the school level to own their own data and progress through the myit process um couple weeks ago we met with teams from each building and kind of presented the the idea that instead of central office saying hey here's what each building needs to work on the district is Now setting the goals the same goals that we've had Improvement in math achievement reading achievement and social emotional learning exposing building um staff to as much data as we can and letting the the buildings decide which data they they think they feel is most important and how they're going to interact with that data to that end on December 12th each building will be presenting uh short 10 to 15 minute data presentations with growth plans and actions um at our next districtwide mtss in myip which is Michigan continuous Improvement um so we'll we'll get to hear their plans and instead of us kind of dictating we're going to try and take on more of a supporting role you know and do everything we can to support the buildings and this is all based on some research that shows that the the real change happens at the building level when the district is supportive as opposed to when the district kind of says hey this is what we're doing across the district so um so that's kind of where we're in our our next steps we can go through as many of the slides as you want I know there was one question about the the layout of the data so if we want to address that question happy to do that now or if the the email response was enough Tom I'm sorry if you if we can just pause really quickly I think that that the the the principal presentation is really powerful and a new um a new piece um I also wanted to touch on that they will not only do the data presentations now based on Fall data but we will also do it as well in spring because we want to see where that growth was based on the areas that they selected as the areas of improvement in their buildings so again as Tom said that that that research uh around the piece of we see the most impact when the buildings on the data is something that we're really leaning into and we do expect that to be to lift that so much more this year so we're really hopeful about that uh fall to Spring growth um but we'll also be looking forward to fall to fall growth and fall to W you know so we'll be we'll have more iterations of what that growth will look like so I just wanted to hover over that I thought that was important thank you I think you should go over the question okay all right so on this slide there's a similar slide for second through e8th grade reading K through 8 grade math and then High School reading high school math one of the the beauties of switching di ready and and moving I ready at all three of the high schools is we're bringing PC e into our daily conversations more so than we've ever been able to in the past all right so what we're looking on these summary slides all of the grades First Column average percentile in general the the higher the percentile the better if you're above 50th percentile on average you're doing pretty well okay moving left to right um percent of students at each grade level on grade level above then one grade level below two grade levels below and three grade levels below one of the um interesting parts of I data reporting that I didn't know when I put this together I would have changed it students are actually expected to test one grade level Below in the fall because I already expect it starts them with grade level content so if I'm a fourth grader on September 4th I have not seen much fourth grade content right um but because I'm a fourth grader it still reflect ing me you know even if I'm proficient in all third grade content is showing me as not at grade level so really when you're looking at the fall data you want to look at one grade level below and up as being in a really good spot okay the next set of slides are great level breakdowns and I think this is where the the confusion came and I apologize I'm actually going to go to the mhm teacher yeah there's no way I was going to explain this on the back so the First Column overall percent of grade at each performance band so this column will add to 100% that's the only column that's adding to 100% after that we're looking left to right so for each of our performance bands we're looking at males and females looking for you know gaps other gender gaps or their socioeconomic gaps etc etc um so we can see there there are some gaps and most of our gender gaps tended to occur either above grade level or way below the middle performance bands tended to be relatively equal quick C on the the racial breakdown because we do have you know students who report other races those will not add up to 100% all the time okay our economically disadvantaged and then our our residency demographics there so I just wanted to a quick overview First Column down and if it's easier if it makes more sense I can quickly convert these percentages back to numbers so you can see okay this is 13 students and then the percentages and and related to that some of our discrepancies or gaps are more a manifestation of small numbers of students right when there's when there's four students here you know it can be a difference of two students when you're looking at the numbers but percentage wise it can be greatly skewed so I just wanted to highlight that as the question that came in what other questions might there be go back this number grows the longer they're here I don't know if it's really a question it's more of a highlight um yeah I don't I have more thoughts I so I didn't look at I did look at this when we got it but then you know I was going through and that's where the question came about the other stuff um seeing this on a bigger slide a bigger screen yeah I agree we have work to do if I can piggy back off of I feel like it's that same of like when you look at the two grades below to three grades below it's at the kids that start to get behind continue to like even more continue to fall by it's just we yeah that line can we ask to see or what do you thinking you see that that third the the three or more grade levels below and it's um I think with this in most data it's not those numbers that are going to give us any answers it's the what's two or three layers below that so when I look at that the first thought I have is is what are those layers okay well what questions do we need to ask at the classroom level that will help us answer the question of why do we see these numbers increasing in the the categories that we don't want to see them increasing okay so that is definitely part of our that's that's part of the the work that that we're we're supporting buildings with again you know when we look at this at at this level we we the educator speak is it's the 30,000 foot view right 30,000 foot view of data doesn't change student achievement we got to get down to the street level the classroom level um and that's part of our charge right now is is to to make take the time to have the conversations with the teachers with the principles to find out what's going on that's causing that can we go to the next slide so then after we did that and time you came up here and broke this down I also want to highlight this piece because we need to talk about this because this the bunks of my um so we often hear that the kids that are struggling the most are not our own children and this shows the exact opposite yeah so that's a really good point I think that column highlights two things for me one that you're absolutely right we we have students who who were not meeting where they are regardless of of whether their residents or schools of choice the other thing that I think that those two final columns kind of show is that there's really not a gap in our residents and in our schools of choice students because when you look at those percentages one they're relatively constant right I see a lot of 70s and 80s and the residents and the schools of choice so there would be a gap if those percentages were drastically different than our enrollment right now is you know I actually meant the conect what our of choice percentage roughly okay so uh you know the the fact that that the schools of choice number tends to be 20ish would actually say that we're doing pretty well with our schools of choice students if if those numbers were 703 you know we'd say hey we're we're you know the schools of choice doesn't matter the fact that the schools of choice column in many cases in the 20% you that says that we're doing a a good job with with our our schools of choice students can I just ask for a I mean I'm going to be any chance to flip the ONG grade and above grade level just when you do it thank yeah it's just yeah yeah I agree I got like three4 of the we down like what like I'm already totally get it just yeah I keep having to do it sorry no going be sorry though any other questions this is just restor yeah I mean the the main reason for not going Slide by slide well two really one is Baseline so there's not a lot of you know reflecting back to do on this um but like the second reason is similar story pretty much across the board I have a question is this the first time you've seen this data maybe those of you have been on the board for a while is this the first time you've seen the data broken up by a resident in School of Choice no okay does it look the same relatively yeah always support support when the buildings are going to say here's what we found and here's our goals are they presenting to us or to you guys to us but we will so if you recall last year we kind of had the principles do like like a reflection piece um we will I will I'm planning to share that information with you all because I really would like for the spring the growth presentation to be public in what you all see unless there is another format that you like you answer my question yeah the we we kind of had the brainstorming session too late in the game but definitely the plans are moving forward that instead of me presenting Benchmark data three times a year we'll have principles here or or representatives from each building kind of sharing their their take on the data okay I like it and I just want to say publicly for recording um that it is the intent is not to for it to be anxiety inducing um it is to be more aligned to our pillar around transparency flashlight data is a flashlight flashlight and I'm sorry just cuz I's new can you remind me again compared to NWA I ready is you answer so many questions you have so much time or like NWA you kept going until they like yeah figured out where you you could go some kids could go multiple days doing them how is I ready very similar okay um it it's I already is a a more updated test than NWA a lot of times when you're the first one to Market few years down the line you're you're kind of long in the tooth and you're ready for a refresh and that's where nwaa is right now in my opinion I has has more engaging questions more engaging Graphics but it's the same I'm not going to say same algorithm but same type of algorithm so it's trying to find the the level of the student um it is an untime test it's you know if you listen to IR they'll say 45 minutes to to an hour to take the test um you listen to to a lot of the teachers I'll say 3 to four days but but you know there again we've had this conversation before it's a it's a very different test than a classroom test for for a lot of students right when I sit down to take a math test or I do a spelling test or whatever like my expectation my hope is to get 100% right so when you're taking an Adaptive test where the the algorithm is to get 50% right and 50% wrong that can be really daunting for a student especially for a student who's used to getting everything right so we really have to do a better job of of overc communicating the difference between a classroom assessment and these benchmark assessments so that we can get the students past that point of being afraid to make a mistake and just hey you know I don't know this one here's my best answer and I'm moving on did I answer your question I just Ram that's no that's and also thinking like again having a couple middle schoolers and how it's different from when you're in elementary where you've got like your one teacher maybe your two and how you've got a class period to take it um and just how different it may be in that situation versus like Elementary and does that affect it all how we see kids taking it if it's kids rushing through to be able to get done to just hang out or if it's kids that you know just don't feel like they have enough time because they don't want to get into the next period or get behind yeah to that point too is um I've also been thinking a lot about like there's a window that you can take the the assessment right so if this is my first time in middle school week three is very different than week four you see what I'm saying so is there is there something to say about when in the window it's taken specifically at those like transition points um it's something that I've been thinking about to but I'll say like the window is developed like I already gives very strong recommendations about the length of the window so while we can and we do set the window they they they share very clearly what what they think it should be they talked to us about how many weeks in between the assessment so how many weeks in between fall and winter winter to Spring Etc and we are aligned to their recommendations but it's just something to me again just thinking about about those transition points specifically week to week is very different um so yeah the beginning of the year can be really awkward to be taking a test hi I'm Mr mace tomorrow we're taking I ready but but by the same token we we try and keep our schedules align and for our elementary students in particular mde mandates that that we're administering our benchmarks within the first 30 days of school so we we really don't have much flexibility at all especially on the younger students any other questions thank you Mr okay thanks everybody see you in a bit all right item six public comment this is a time for public participation in the meeting the board in of Ed intends for the public to have many opportunities to address the board and administration of the of their School District these include email phone calls face to-face meetings Community Gatherings public hearings and other public meetings we welcome individual and group input into the important issues that confront our schools as noted at the top of the agenda this is a meeting of the school board open to the public we want to provide fair and impartial guidelines for for participation as required by the open meetings act to encourage transparency and equal treatment for everyone in attendance we also recognize that an effective meeting facilitates better decision and promotes openness by allowing more people to stay for the full length of the meeting to meet these goals please note the following we ask that you identify yourself and list contact information on a comment sheet to help administrators follow up with you on your comment if you do not wish to do so in writing please identify yourself at the podium and if you need a response please provide contact information with an administrator uh I will call on people who have completed the comment sheet first each person will have one opportunity to address the board for up to three minutes comments or questions should be directed to the board president um Treasurer aeric will raise his hand when your time is within a few seconds of expiring this period of public comment is both for non-agenda items and issues that are on the agenda public comments will end the close of this part of the agenda in the event that the number of people wishing to comment requires longer than 30 minutes public comment will be temporarily postponed complaints about staff should be made outside of board meetings and should follow the applicable board policy please contact the superintendent's office if you have any questions requ regarding this item the board cannot respond to complaints about employees in public this is meant to promote fairness to the staff person and complaint it the Ferndale Public Schools Community act with great civility toward one another please help us to maintain that tradition during public comment anyone here for a public comment I really like you going through all of this well after I got about a third way through I'm like you know what I'm reading this for nothing I could just call it quit so I have the all right item seven oh public comment is now closed item seven consent agenda 7.1 request to approve minutes of the special meeting Monday October 7th uh 2024 7.2 request to approve minutes of the special meeting Committee of the whole Monday October 7th 2024 special meting oh yeah we voted on something okay 7.3 request to approve minutes of this special meeting uh Friday October 11th 2024 7.4 request to approve minutes of the regular meeting Monday October 21st 2024 7.5 request to approve new hires resignations and transfers uh 7.6 request to approve bills and accounts for October 2024 does anyone wish to remove an item from the consent agenda for questions or discussion later seeing none I'll entertain a motion to approve the consent agenda as approved so moved moved by Peter second seconded by Jonathan roll call Miss Shephard yes elter yes har yes Matos yes Turner yes president yes thank you thank you with six yes votes the motion passes and the consent agenda is approved item eight action items please note that all action items been being voted on tonight were discussed in depth at the committee of the whole meeting held Monday November 4th we invite and encourage community members to attend our committee of the whole meeting which are also open to the public item 8.1 request to approve the personal finance proposal hello again um before I ask for approval I did want to provide a quick update um if you remember there was a couple questions about AP Eon like what how would we do that um so I I talked to the social studies um departments at UHS and FHS and we are currently not offering AP econ so at this point it it's a moot point okay um so with that said um I'd like to ask for approval of the previously discussed personal finance standards being embedded in into our high school economics courses and increase the number of uh credits required for graduation by half that does not result in any additional courses needed to graduate for any of our students I'll entertain a motion to approve item 8.1 the request to approve personal finance proposal I'll move move by John a second seconded by Jen any discussion on the motion again just thank you for fitting it into an already existing class so the kids don't have to pick between band or art or something else thank you thank you roll call M sheer yes Nat yes Turner yes yes yes yes thank you thank you with six yes votes the motion passes and item 8.1 request to approve the personal finance proposal is approved thank you thank you item 8.2 request to approve the bond program contract recommendations for UHS summer Renovations and addition okay this item was previously presented the committee of the whole um in September the district published a bid for UHS Renovations in front office Edition um bids closed on October 2nd U bids were published to 193 companies re received 78 responses in the various categories that are outlined on the recommendation um the contract for uh bid package uh number eight is in the amount of 3 3,379 372 um it also includes an 8% contingency for construction we're asking for approval of the board to execute the contracts with the various trades that are listed in the letter recommendation I'll entertain a motion to approve item 8.2 request to approve the bond program contract recommendations for UHS summer Renovations and additions so by Jackie very quiet a very quiet second s any discussion on the motion excited for the work roll call Miss sheer latach yes Turner yes C yes elter yes yes president yes thank you thank you with six yes votes the motion passes in item 8.2 request to approve the bond program contract recommendations for UHS summer Renovations and and addition is approved item 8.3 request to approve second semester School of Choice University High School um we already had the presentation so I'll entertain a motion to approve item 8.3 the request to approve second semester School of choice for University High School I'll move mov by Jonathan second seconded by Peter any discussion on the motion roll call Miss shepher Turner yes yes El yes yes yes president yes thank you thank you with six yes votes the motion passes in item 8.3 the request to approve second semester School of choice for University High School is approved item nine superintendence update 9.1 Dynamic PL I'm going to just let you do your whole thing on your own okay even me um first um thank you again for allowing the audible earlier we were able to allow for families to get home for dinner and bath and homework and all of that so thank you for that um Dynamic planning update I'm very excited to say that all stakeholder input um is has now officially launched what I mean by that is today um Dr Peterson who is our Dynamic plan facilitator was actually on site um to begin our in-person um stakeholder input sessions today was board board as well as District administrators and then in the evening we had our two family stakeholder input sessions in person so we're very excited about that tomorrow Dr Peterson's Focus will be on students so she'll get a wonderful tour of all of our buildings where she'll be able to get inperson stakeholder input from students even our Littles so it will be very very interesting um Beyond tomorrow's in-person sessions we do have virtual stakeholders stakeholder input sessions for residents non-families businesses as well as additional family um stakeholder input sessions that will be coming up over the next week or so um so by the end of November we will have wrapped up um all of our stakeholder input sessions as well as our our survey which launched today the survey went out to students families um it is on our website for nonfamily residents um The Board District administrators all of our stakeholders receive a survey as well I would like to reiterate that if even if you did participate in an in-person or virtual stakeholder session please still do the survey that is very important we will continue to reiterate that but I would like to publicly say that please still do the survey all data is very very valuable so we would really appreciate it is a brief survey um I just took it I think I took it in maybe maybe four minutes um so unlike many of our previous surveys it is very brief um but your input matters um but we are we're we're moving we are we are definitely cooking very excited to dig into the data once we do get it um but I'm happy to answer any questions that we may have in this current phase one stakeholder input um period that we're in right now I just want to add that going forward the dynamic planning update will be its own agenda item it won't be baked into the superintendent update because there will be board members that will be sitting on that committee that will also be part of the update at the how did they um go today with the ones that were in person they went well okay yeah um and it looked as if the um parent um the family was well attended it was a pretty steady flow um there was a number I think in total RSVPs in total for two sessions we had about 47 I believe um but from what I understand more showed up without the RSVP which we welcome that please come okay um but so far so good that's um that is it um I will keep my the rest of my I don't have updates just more points of Pride so I'll save it got it thank you uh item 10 informational items 10.1 budget to actual report hello hello there going be so this is the budget to actual for October the month of October 2024 and things are still rolling along here um do you have any questions anything you want to highlight Don um no we we have some increased fees um most of it's due to the um the contracts that were renegotiated the cvas and so that will be uh reflected in budget amendment one and other than that there's not really federal revenue the difference in like 23 to 24 is that due to like the decrease in the federal revenue like not using the ERS or things like that or no that's just basically when we've um well it could be it probably is part of it and also when we um submit our reimbursements we have to like submit our budgets and whatnot to get the money and oh you just haven't done it thanks Don okay thank you thank you thank you number 11 item 11 consideration of any pulled consent agenda items we had none item 12 our next Committee of the whole is Monday December 2nd at 6: PM I will not be here so vice president Fulmer will run that meeting um item third yeah item 13 our next regular board meeting is Monday December 16th at 700 p.m. item 14 Eagles points of Pride we're going to change up the order a little bit today um so we're GNA hold Peter so everyone else go cool I'll go I have a quick one um I wanted to give another shout out to Don and her team for another fabulous audit it's not easy and then this year was even harder so thank you very much for keeping us in mind Al go um also want to give d a very big shout out on this audit I know that there's a lot of work that goes in that so just kudos to you and then m is also quick the second one is just I'm very excited to probably the same as Camille that we have started this Dynamic planning with the stakeholders and I'm just really excited to see what we get back from our community to see how they feel about our diff District strength and weaknesses and just really have a really set strong plan for the next five years um I'll go uh again Kudos da and your team and I just want to shout out all of the student athletes and extracurricular participants for an amazing fall Sports and extracurricular season and a special shout out to the girls volleyball team who did an awesome job this season and I look forward to seeing how amazing they'll be next season yes District champs yeah um ditto to Dawn and your whole team um I'm also going to say for I know from our elementary up through our Middle School like our robotics Lego League teams have done awesome other competitions whether it be winning or just being um pointed out for the excellent things that they're doing and being able to explain what their coding is or things like that I think is really amazing that we have kids that can do that uh and then also same thing kind of along with the sports and that just for the marching band who also did amazing with such a super young crew um at their event that they just had and then again to all the different um fall Sports just finishing up I think we had a yeah amazing season with everybody so can't wait I'll go I I also wanted to shout out uh Don and her team um because we all live through it right we all in through it so next year preparing like for the next audit because now we know how much information they ask of us is ridiculous you can't prepare now they're going to ask you for different things right exactly mentally prepared I also want to shout out the girls volleyball team I got a chance to attend their regionals when I tell you they were phenomenal um I I I told I told Camille immediately I was like volleyball is going to be our thing this year like we have to play volleyball as a staff and we have to play under those volleyball coaches because they are rockars I just I loved it I played volleyball as a middle schooler I want to play now I want to start rubbing up on the bingay and be ready and I also want to shout out the band another phenomenal phenomenal performance I don't think I saw any other band change as many times as we did we had two or three changes during the performance and when I just tell you they were they were just phenomenal and U I'm not going to say anything else besides they were phenomenal as always as always um so I have a a few um and I I I could Echo everything that everyone also said um I also want to shout out Don but for something a little different I got a letter in the mail that stated that dawn has just received her msbo certification can you share a little bit more about what that certification is we can stay there it's okay um I got my Chief Financial Officer certification so it's just always very exciting that at every level we're continuously improving and wanting to develop ourselves I'm really proud that dawn has taken the time to um go through that process it was long and and and very long um but I'm very proud da you should be very proud of that certification so kudos to you um I also had a chance to attend the National Honor Society induction at University City High School it was very very exciting to see the inductees the excitement um our our leaders just ready to go and just um it was just an exciting exciting time so I was very proud um to see those Scholars um and their parents being able to celebrate their successes so was a wonderful event um and then this is not finally but the last thing I will say is I would like to shout out the staff at fuel because fuel was awarded Michigan heart safe School award from mdhhs um so essentially the school has went through pretty significant training um as well as signage to ensure that we are focusing on um um car um sudden cardiac arrest for children and ensuring that we are aware and we're taking precautions we know where the AED is we have signage to for anyone who's coming in to know where AED is um so they had to f um it was very compliance driven um but fuel was awarded that award because of their compliance and commitment to ensuring that we were trained and aware of how to handle those situations so we're very very proud of fuel and the entire team there no um I want to first shout out um Miss Heidi and Miss Nina and all of fecc um for the presentation especially now as a fellow gsrp instructor just really hearing um that there's so much that goes into core and there's so much that it can do to help instruction um and the way that they are leaning into it intentionally as an instructional tool not just basically the preschool um report card is really cool to hear about and um I can imagine that helping out um the teachers a lot as well as with all the PLC around that for the reliability um and then what that does for the individualized instruction um for those students which anyone who's had or has student at FCC you know how strong they are with that um to kind of related to that point of being a new gsrp teacher um it is uh sad for me to announce that I am resigning as of this meeting from the school board um especially after U yet another meeting where I'm enjoying my time so much at this table with these colleagues um I very much personally want to stay um here just for how fun it is for me um but to our mission we're reminded of every meeting of keeping students first um knowing that this is such a critical time for the district as we are going into our Dynamic planning phase as we are doing more um as a governance team and um our Central Administration is doing more to live into our values um to support our district I know that this role is demanding more time than I um see myself giving right now and um in the future as I am going back to school for um everything I need to do for teaching um so I want to make sure that I'm putting our students first here in this District first and foremost by making room for someone who will have more time to give this seat uh the time that it deserves as that's very important to me and then to my students putting my students first also in my classroom to make sure that I take the time I need to be the best teacher I can be and my two little students at home as well um so my point of Pride off of that is I am so incredibly proud of this team um I proud of how much we have all grown together um I think anyone for you know everyone who attends these meetings every day because we have such a big following right um they they can see how much we've grown both as a team of individuals and how we work with each other but also I think in um really the accountability and the elevation of leadership we've brought to the district and I'm very proud of that work and I'm so grateful for how much um these relationships have grown me as a person um and yeah make me a a better Community member and um are making me a better teacher as well so cannot thank you all enough for your for the support and yeah the opportunity so that's why I say Peter for last yeah um so my point of pride is going to be on Peter um because I could say thank you Peter um you coming on the board challenged us in a different way than we were used to um and it it turned out to be a good thing because we not only keeping kids in mind um we also work differently as a governance team because of you um so I appreciate you making sure you put kids first not only our kids your kids but also the kids you teach if I I know for you that this was a very hard decision to make um and I appreciate you recognizing what is most important are the kids in all areas of your life so thank you thank you and with that we are adjourned at 8:51