##VIDEO ID:YWVg3vDJ3u0## e e e e are EV e e C e for some e e e e for e e e e e e e e for [Music] good afternoon I would like to call the Flint Board of Education regular board meeting to order at 5:31 PM p.m. board members as I call your name would you please say pres for the record trustee King present treasure Luna present trustee reliford absent vice president CL pres assistant secretary treer McIntyre present secretary Perkins present myself president magneir President we got six present one absent I will not call upon secretary Perkins to read the dis remission statement and first statement and the standards practice when you get to it District mission statement it is the mission of the Flint School District to develop a community of Learners who are prepared to live work and contribute in an Ever Changing Society the Flint board of education standards of practice in order to provide outstanding leadership and better serve the Flint Community Schools we the members of the Flint Board of Education commit to the following standards of practice number one we will be consistent in our dealings with each other as well as students staff and Community we will model trustworthiness and honesty in our relationships with each other with our superintendent and with our constituents we will focus on a common goal of providing the best education possible for the students and the Flint Community Schools we will respect the diverse views that each of us brings to the organization as well as the views of others that we interact with as we carry out the business of the Board of Education we'll be open and authentic with each other our staff and Community as we work to make decisions we will focus on issues not personality our decisions will be student centered and based on an objective facts we will practice good listening skills to better understand our fellow Board of Education members and constituents our next agenda item is the approval of minutes I seek a motion and second to approve the minutes from the November 12th 2024 special board meeting November 133 2024 board commit me of the whole meeting and the November 2024 regular board meeting Madam chair yes I move that we adopt the minutes from the previous three meetings support it has been promply moved in second are there any corrections are there any correction s n the motion to approved the minutes from the November the 12th November the 13 and November the 20 uh regular board meeting special board meeting will be conducted by a roll call vote as I call your name say yes or no secretary Perkins yes trustee McIntyre yes vice president Clank yes truste R fris abson trustee King yes treasure Luna yes myself president M N M Neil six yes one absent the board will not hear comments from the public we ask that you state the reason for addressing the board and that you your remarks to 3 minutes on the matter within authority of the board and not address individuals by name the presiding office of the board have the right to limit the number of person who may address the board on the same subject please state your name before beginning to speak is there anyone here from the public who wish to address the board thank you hi my name is Melissa Cronen I'm speaking to keep ala separate from Southwestern good evening members of the Flint Board of Education I had the privilege of serving as the high school science teacher at Flint Community Schools for 28 years I currently teach at accelerated Learning Academy and I am here today to speak on behalf of the students who rely on um our unique and vital program over the course of my career I have worked in three different buildings under 17 principles and 12 superintendents and that's not interm ones the one constant in my my experience has been the commitment to doing what is best for our students that is why I'm so deeply proud to work at ala where we are seeing real measurable successes our supportive staff tailored programs and focused attention have allowed us to double our graduation right each year our students are succeeding because they have a safe space a place where they are supported respected and able to thrive that's why I'm here today to tell you that ala moving ala to a wing of Southwestern is a mistake one that could undo the progress that we work so hard to achieve the students that we serve here at ala are often the most vulnerable many having struggled in traditional schools due to trauma um systemwide marginalization and failure they are often students who have been pushed to the margins of the education system now we are being asked to move them to a space that could ret traumatize them a hallway at Southwestern this could not be a safe space and it would be a barrier to their success imagine being a student who has already faced judgment failure and the trauma of being seen as different now you're asking that student walk down a hallway and face a new environment where they feel isolated and judged research and trauma-informed education shows that when students feel unsafe and exposed to judgment their brains go into survival mode like fight or flight and when that happens learning stops the PBIS mindfulness practices and capturing kids Hearts all strategies that we use at ala are rooted in creating a safe and supported space for our students to engage and learn and that can't happen in a hallway I've seen this before I was uh part of the team at schools of choice one of the Flint alternative schools before ala that program we had over 500 students and produced around 100 graduates a year we were nationally recognized for the work that we did but when the program was new moved to Northwestern High School enrollment dwindled and within a few years schools of choice was gone we cannot afford to let history repeat itself Dr r the superintendent of Michigan schools visited ala just two years ago and called it the best alternative school he had ever seen we are doing incredible work here and I am asking you to help us continue the work by keeping ala in a separate building we owe it to our students to give them the resources and space they need to exceed to succeed and cannot allow them to be pushed into environment where that will undermine their chances please keep ala a separate building where a students continue to thrive thank you is there anyone else from the public at this time we have the honor to hear our state superintendent Dr Michael rice as well as the GISD superintendent Dr stepen T Cliff I would like to have them both to join us on this stage hello good afternoon afternoon and good evening Madame President Flint board members superintendent Jones jese ISD superintendent ton Cliffe and members of the Flint Community I'm happy to be with you here here again tonight I'm joined by State Board of Education president Dr Pamela Pew Miss Gloria Chapman director of MD's office of partnership districts Mr Paul Schumer MD's partnership agreement liaison assigned to the Flint Community Schools and Mr Bob weaton director of MD's Office of Public and governmental Affairs I'd like to commend your work board superintendent since Dr tund Cliffe and I wrote you a year and a half ago and more specifically since I attended one of your meetings a year ago work that includes board superintendent training your recent Retreat the development of a leadership team to support your teachers support staff and building leaders in schools in efforts to rightsize the district's physical plant budget and Staffing I've also observed and participated in the partnership that you've continued to build with with your ISD these efforts will Aid in your work to support your 2732 slint Scholars this year and in the future your partnership agreement with the state and ISD remains a crucial framework for driving improvement and supporting the academic outcomes of Flint Community Schools Scholars I want to commend the district for progress on the partnership agreement Flint Community Schools has purchased new literacy resources and classroom libraries that reflect diverse authors and help to increase student engagement in literacy instruction Additionally the district has implemented evidence-based strategies such as small group targeted literacy interventions to address specific student needs furthermore your use of partnership District grants and Regional assistance grants to provide professional development for staff is an essential step toward improving instruction and by extension student achievement this alignment of resources with evidence-based strategies demonstrates your commitment to continuous Improvement while you are making meaningful strides in these areas it is critical to prioritize strategies that drive measurable student achievement and student Improvement at the same time it is essential to address some of the district's larger structural challenges resolving these foundational issues will provide the stability needed to focus more fully on academic progress and to improve outcomes for your Scholars when I was here last year and it it seems like a long time ago but it wasn't a long time ago and I believe Miss Perkins you even had a crown on at the time when I was here last year I spoke about the importance of having a structurally balanced budget one in which recurring revenue is equal to recurring expenditures recurring to recurring not just Revenue to expenditures recurring Revenue to recurring expenditures it's not enough to balance Revenue with expenditures without considering the recurring nature of both revenue and expenditures consider the single person household with a $50,000 annual salary in the use of a $5,000 $5,000 from a savings account to support $55,000 of year in annual recurring expenditures at first glance all seems fine financially revenue and expenditures are balanced however upon closer reflection the household is propped up by the use of $5,000 from that savings account household is out of structural balance because of the use of that $5,000 in savings and that becomes obvious when that's the only $5,000 in savings and the next year there is no ability to go back to that savings account it is not recurring and it shouldn't be the source of Revenue to support recurring expenditures as well you know these are small numbers but the household examples help explain the institutional challenge as well the $5,000 hole is the gap between recurring revenue and recurring expenditures it is the structural deficit in that example I know that you've been working on some of the larger critical questions in your District including but not limited to how many schools you require to educate 2700 students these questions of facility right sizing and staff right sizing are difficult ones but they're closely linked to the question of budget right sizing last year your Finance director Miss Cleaves indicated that your annual recurring expenditures were in excess of your annual recurring Revenue by $14 million a fact that was obscured by the substantial Federal pandemic relief funding the Esser funding that the district had received and was using in part to pay for recurring expenditures I might add this is the case for some other districts as well she estimated at the time that continuing to spend in the same fashion would fully drain your fund balance in two and a half years your fiscal year 25 budget amendment that you approved last month indicated a need for $17 million of your fund balance your savings to help support your fiscal year 25 budget of this $17 million from fund balance $7 million was for greater than anticipated construction costs onetime cost one-time Revenue Source perfectly legitimate non-recurring non-recurring and $10 million was to help cover recurring expenditures less legitimate onetime source of revenue for recurring expenditures that's the structural deficit while an improvement for a district the size of Flint with an expenditure budget of approximately less you $101 million this is still a very substantial use of fund balance to help pay for recurring costs it's critical that you reduce and ultimately eliminate the structural deficit so that you are able to fully serve Flint students the continued focus on finance takes an enormous amount of time and it takes time away because there's only so much time in the day week month year it takes time away from the academic work for Flint young people so that structural balance right sizing facilities budget uh Staffing that structural balance is foundational to serving your kids without a doubt it is not fully serving your kids but it's foundational to serve your kids I know you've been making strides in these areas I can hear it in your board meeting I can hear it in your scheduling I can hear it in the fact that you just had a retreat and you were work on big issues not small issues you were working on the major issues in the district not personalities and I salute you I applaud you I think that's terrific keep on keeping on because there's a lot more work to be done in Flint Community Schools and support of Flint children so I want to thank you for your leadership your partnership your work and the opportunity to speak with you this evening thank you thank you so much thank you you can use the mic in front of you as well okay well president mcneel and Board of Education superintendent Jones and obviously the Flint Community thank you again for allowing me to to join you once again um and just share a few words but before doing so I want to especially thank um our state superintendent Dr Rice um it it should go without saying but it it is not normal for a St superintendent to invest as as much time effort and interest um in a local District as superintendent rice has and I can say um on behalf of superintendent Jones and I um that that investment is is ongoing um it's an investment in mentorship and support and you may not be aware of that behind the scenes but um I want to make sure that that you are aware of this ongoing support it's more than just a once a year visit to the to the board of education so publicly I just want to thank you Dr Rice for that um and on behalf of superintendent Jones and in our community uh I think it probably goes without saying that our collaborative efforts between the genesy Intermediate School District and Flint Community Schools um is truly unprecedented at least in our our past uh work together um and I'm proud of that and I I hope that that you continue to be supportive and appreciative of that beyond the collaborations in education and learning um which include literacy support social work other ancillary supports directly for Flint Scholars that have been taking place for many many years you're well aware that over the last year and a half we've engaged in um support on a shared services model um that that we're now a year and a half into Miss Cleaves and Miss Montgomery Mr Jagger are dedicated to Flint Community Schools I have the opportunity to meet with them every two weeks um they represent you and they are part of the work of your District they're employed directly through the genese Intermediate School District but make no mistake their work is focused on Flint Community Schools and the scholars that you serve each of these individuals are highly talented um you and we are fortunate to have them in these roles but they also benefit from colleagues and mentors behind the scenes and directly at times back at genese Intermediate School District our initial work has been around identifying immediate needs of improvement in each of their respective areas and then systems and structures that can be put in place in the areas of Finance human resources and special education and they have proven beneficial up to this point coordination and communication among these critical areas is Paramount and we are continuing to develop systems that will ensure improved coordination regardless of the individuals in these seats into the future they can't be person dependent like all of our roles sustained leadership and support from the board of education is critical to ensuring sustained leadership at all levels not just the super tendency as Dr Rice noted we commend and I want to commend you publicly for your work in this area and encourage your continued growth as a governance team not seven plus one but collectively as a team governing this Community School District it truly makes a difference when you compete for talent in a time of critical shortages at the leadership level and at the classroom level and Beyond being a team a governance team that is sustained in their work and focused on Scholars helps to ensure sustained leadership and and the ability to recruit and retain Educators it makes a big difference I'm proud of our collaborations and our work but I'm reminded that it's truly just the tip of the iceberg and I know you believe that and know that as well our Scholars and Community need us to do even better and even quicker the extent that we can to the extent that we're able to reach a structural fiscal balance that Dr Rice has correctly articulated will I believe determine our ability into the future it's absolutely necessary to be clear I expect our team to be working um with superintendent Jones and the Board of Education and provide you with factual um relevant information to make the decisions that you need to make but to be absolutely clear critical decisions in fact all decisions impacting Flint Community Schools must continue to be discussed deliberated and acted upon by Flint Community Schools and I know that's happening and will continue to happen as I mentioned to the board over a year and a half ago when we began this work in shared services the end goal is for Flint Community Schools to be able to grow Talent internally and to fill these critical roles directly when you are willing and able to do so in fact you articulated the very same shared goal the goal is not for shared services to continue into uh perpetuity but instead to put systems in place keep strong people in place and then to build from within the system so that we can return to direct employees from Flint Community Schools doing this critical work however I want to be clear we continue to stand in support of you with this work until that point where the board of education is comfortable in being able to fill these roles directly I remain convinced that the success of genese county is connected to the success of flint and I've said that in every role I've had um in jese county and more importantly now in my current role than ever the significant steps in the right direction over the last year and a half give me reason to remain optimistic in the future of Flint Community Schools the scholars we serve in our entire Community thank you for allowing us at the Jes Intermediate School District to work alongside of you in support of these efforts and I want to be the first to wish you a very safe healthy and productive 2025 and we're encouraged by the continued uh collaborations that we have with you we hope them to continue thank you thank you very much superintendent jnes first of all just thank you Dr Rice and Dr T Cliff uh for your bi-weekly uh Mentor uh meetings that we have uh we we discuss the needs of Flint Community Schools uh but they also uh support me as a I would say fairly new superintendent uh and in in making wise decisions for the Flint community and so I just like to first thank you both uh for all of your years helps me uh to continue to do what's best for the scholars that we serve and so Board of Education um as Dr ton Cliffe stated this is not just a once a year they show up to this meeting this is bi-weekly um as sometimes Dr Rice calls you know even we don't have a meeting and me and Mr toner Cliff is on the phone every other day uh because I will bug them to make wise decisions for this District as we all care about flint and so that's important for you to know um and it's sincere and it's genuine and if it wasn't um you would know by now yes um but uh it is sincere and genuine and I appreciate it and along with that um Dr Rice was able to to visit a couple of our schools today um talk to our Scholars about dreaming talk to our um student councel uh which was a very good conversation Dr Rice if you would want to elaborate on that you can but uh they did speak about What mattered to them oh good what concerns they have but also they felt that Flint Community Schools uh was a diverse uh School of belonging I heard those those words Dr Rice heard those words uh that that was the student council they felt that um we had some things going on but we also need more they talked about the cracks they talked about the infrastructure and so uh they had the right person persons in front of them to discuss so just want to say that this is a partnership and I I think that truste McIntyre said it best over the weekend is that uh it feels good to have some relief that um Flint is not being overseen but being partnered with and uh we are seeing that every day uh that this partnership is growing stronger and so I just want to assure you Board of Education that uh your wishes and what you have put out as uh what's important is coming true every day so I just like to thank you again uh for your time and your mentorship ship in supporting what is best for flank kids thank you so much I'm going give this opportunity for the board to make a brief comment to um Dr Rice and Dr tonic um trustee McIntyre thank you so much I really appreciate all of the work and the hard effort that particularly the both of you personally have done as well as the team that allows you to do all of the work I understand that there's a lot going on behind the scenes um and I think superintendent Jones did express it that it is it does feel more like a partnership than an overseer um so thank you thank you thank you um within that vein in that spirit I wouldn't be myself without a little push back that I would I I I can't believe I'm sitting up here and in the position that I'm sitting in um 10 years ago I never would have dreamed this was possible and I'm hopeful that we can continue to develop the partnership and stop being the district that is being dictated to and overseen so again this is in that spirit that I'm I'm talking to you and I hope that you can you can take what I have to say next with that that this is constructive criticism um and I'm going to try to be really brief I would if I would welcome a longer conversation with either one of you or both of you at a later date because I think that this is this is imperative um we talked about the structural balance and I I understand that I understand and I appreciate you explaining it breaking it down into simple terms um and I and I just hope it wasn't in a pejorative way like you know that we weren't we weren't able to understand except you know through this simplified analogy because I can assure you that that many of us here really understand and I and I think that the reason why you were repeating that and reiterating that was because of its importance not because of the fact that you know we weren't able to comprehend or grasp that but the structural balance or the structural inbalance has been decades in the making as you know and to put the onus of that on the current board on the current community and to I think it's a it's oversimplifying things to say that we need to restructure the district that that is what is uh academic growth in progress is contingent upon that and I don't think you're saying that I don't think it's that simple I don't think it's that simplified I mean I understand that your messaging has to be direct and you know it's written down and you've got this this speech that you're saying I get that but I want to say that we're in a structural deficit by Design which you know very well which has been designed to weaken public education and to take away autonomy from particularly vulnerable districts Like Flint and Flint is is very crucial to jenese County to the state of Michigan because we are using used sometimes without our permission and leveraged in order to get certain advantages for the state and for Gennesse County that never seemed to actually reach Flint Scholars and students so like I've said before with the rest of the county Flint is is a cash cow people love to come in from the outside and take our resources or dictate to us what should be done with those resources because they are plentiful because we have a lot because we need a lot and I so appreciate the fact that you're I don't want to say allowing us but you're you're encouraging us you're you're helping us self-actualize that we are becoming partners that we actually have a voice that we're getting empowered to be at that table where we haven't been you know and I'm talking about our local effect elected leaders and so I want to push back to the state help us Rectify those Decades of structural deficiency instead of making us responsible and it's like well you need to again I'm trying to be brief I really am um selling our buildings giving away our land privatizing public resources isn't going to balance the budget it's not if we sold all of the vacant propert that we had I don't even think we'd get a million dollars so that is not the solution the solution is structural and I would really like to work to rectify the years of abuse and Mis misuse so I am pushing back a little bit on that relieve our debt help us with the vacant property help us work with the blight and make the the the properties community properties that can be used again make the school district a true Community School let bring back the Community Schools the community spaces but don't privatize them don't do what they did in Benton Harbor and Highland Park and and in the other communities keep our Public Schools public and keep our public resources public thank you thank you trusty um anyone has having comments trusty yeah um first off thanks for coming here tonight I really appreciate it um means a lot to us and it means a lot to our community that the state's working in partnership with us to address our uh issues and also to seize our opportunities um I will say uh I think the last year and a half this body together with the administration Partners stakeholders and the community has worked really hard to really show and acting governance and some stuff is really cool like you're working towards a new high school but other things are more challenging when it comes to consolidation whether it be you know leasing properties selling properties repurposing schools and just really trying to reduce that I would say just to reiterate what my colleagues said you know we can't cut everything um we can cut and cut and cut I think we need to be Innovative when it comes to trying to identify new Revenue sources and ultimately uh stabilize our enrollment so we can be self-sufficient and be at that zero balance and again you know I want to reiterate this we have a lot of challenges and there are tough decisions to make which we've made in the last year and a half but also tough doesn't have to be bad uh we can address these through Innovative Partnerships and ideas whether it be how to retain and recruit teachers how to repurpose properties Etc so we're excited for that we had a great Retreat this past weekend and I'm just energized about the future in this body so thank you for coming again thank you else would like to make comments trusty Perkins first of all I'm just happy to see both of you here I am and u i I understand about the structural deficit I'm not happy about that but I think this team has come together in a way that the and I'm not you know throwing dispersions on anybody but the last two administrations you can see the difference with this team we have been boots on the ground and grinding real hard to make a difference in the community with the scholars with the staff uh I I walked through some of the these structures and teachers are just happy and smiling all over the place when we used to come in you know there was a little apprehension at first but not now we've been doing a lot of great work together and it's a good definition of team Dream Work Makes the Dream Work and the Administration has really been great and I just applaud them uh CFO the HR and all academics everybody uh PR we've had a great team behind us and we're all working together trying to make the difference and we hope we're showing you that we're in it to win it and I just appreciate you being here thank you thank you is there anyone else Madam president trusty rer good evening gentlemen how are you Dr Rice and Dr um turn Cliff how are you good um I didn't attend the uh Retreat this weekend so all this information may be new to me to my ears but um I appreciate you addressing the deficit the structural deficit that we're currently in because for me you move a district forward by increasing student population and retain and teach teachers I don't know if that was discussed but having you all in front of me I definitely want to Echo that that's how you reduce a deficit increase a district is you increase students by achieving very good test scores I think right now I'm speaking for myself personally we need to invest in our students in our teachers more so than buildings um I subscribe to the agenda of when you run out of money you pause you use what you have you keep it safe you keep it maintained and the main thing is student increase and teacher retention and that's the main thing to Melody I love a beautiful building like the next person but I more so appreciate a student that graduates from Flint community school that's able to function in society Flint school is known for three things excellent academics excellent teachers and excellent athletes that is what Flint schools is known for that is that's the core of Flint schools and right now we have none of that in place that is how Flint schools return to be amazing when you have an outstand I'm dating myself we had a magnet program everyone came to Flint to participate in the magnet program because the best of the best best came to Flint schools so for trustee riford I would like for us to be able to nurture the best of the best that are currently here now and also provide resources for the Educators that are here now and also retrain leadership to change the focus from um the in the out if cosmetically you know what good is a beautiful car without an engine it's utterly no good so I speak to you all and I ask you all to help us to help this District um the re uh regionalization of this um look like a committee that came out of the the uh Retreat um I like I said I don't know the ins and outs but I would definitely want to make sure that the students is a portion of it um definitely test scores nwaa mstep and um teacher retention and the expansion of the committee to include hle we need our um we definitely need the local fire department the police department because I would love for our students to have every opportunity to see every occupation that's out there they don't have to be in the sports they can be whatever they want to be so I'm asking you all to allow our students to dream and be able to accomplish their dreams thank you truste yes I gota read okay great thank you Dr Rice thank you um Dr ton Cliff right yeah Dr yeah I forgot sorry thank you both for coming to our board meeting today um but also thank you tremendously for being a partner with Flint Community Schools uh you know the history of Flint Community Schools with partnership with GISD was Rocky at first right uh thank you for your leadership and manying that relationship also with the leadership of Dr Joyce um and also the Dr um Richard Mr Richard Hill um getting us together for the board retreat having good uh conversation together having um good relationship and good communication U with playing overboard games right uh thank you for your leadership with that Dr Rice thank you for touring our district today thank you for speaking with our students and hearing our students out as they are I love our students being candid they will always keep it 100% with you about how they feel and what they think is right right keep going red yeah thanks also U Dr ton Cliff thank you for uh partnering with us through share Services uh we have three wonderful share service directors right um Miss Cleaves Miss Montgomery and our LSS director tremend tremendous people doing the great work as we talk about institution systems and processes in our district thank you for your partnership there um and then finally right uh Mr Dr Rice I look forward to working with you and your team on the state teacher tenure commission um ready to get to work there thank you thank you well thank you thank you everybody everyone for your comments um I want to say that to the both of you um I was successful we at is basically from listening to your counseling and listening to your advice um we wouldn't have been and got to where we was at if we had not listen leadership it's about listening and carrying out uh from other leaders so I appreciate you and that you guys allow came in and you counsel you talk with us and you stuck with us and we was able to move forward with new buildings uh our students in flant the data show that they're getting there we do have career path program at GISD that is something that I probably work with more this year to get our student to participate you can be a fireman you can be anything that you want to be CNA all of those training and is GISD this year uh what my goal with uh I think I can call her Dr Tracy Davis I think you know of her she said hello um she's going to be working with with me and with the team and getting the rollment up doing a a different approach and study on uh how we can get that growth looking at it from a different perspective and I think that that's going to be a great I can't remember exactly what that title is that uh uh Tracy Davis doing uh we have uh Dr Wanda that's working with us with uh academic she was at the retreat so we're looking at outside resources to come in to help guide us and um going forward we have um really invested in our children U you rest assured these kids are very well taken care of rest assure that a new building and the facility makes a big difference and how student receive Us and how they look at us and how they respond to us they went to a event in the new building so I'm not going to take up a lot of your time because you was there and you saw the excitement uh we going to move forward we got our three goals from The Retreat uh for the 12d application we're going to put our committee together and we're going to be calling on you and these people that are coming in to help us I just want to just thank everyone uh that helped put this Retreat together uh Senator rivet uh slogan John Cherry Senator nilly um rge Wade Anette we all met at the administration building when I reached out to them and I said I need eight point some million dollars and it's kind of got things spare and um we talked about it 9 o' the next morning we had a room full of people at the administration building and um Mr richway was 100% behind us he made that commitment U Mr Parker was there and we would not been able to be where we at without partnership so partnership is going to be the goal of this board and hopefully we can get dead elimination somewhere down the road thank you very much and that's in for me un listen you guys have something else to say Mr John so if there's any comments that you all would like to make and then we can wrap up yes well I I I think as Dr Rice and I were just saying there there's a lot um in in all of that what I take from it and in in my experience with with this board with this with this um leadership team and you know my entire career has been in jenese County um and a lot has transpired and there's a lot of work work to be done but I I wouldn't say this publicly if I didn't believe it um we're going in the right direction and I think uh Dr mcneel your your last comment about partnership um none of us need to we don't need the um accolades you listed just partner after partner after partner and I I do believe at least I can speak from genesy Intermediate School District that's all we want to be as a partner yes it and to meet the needs uh for as long as you need us to but to help to grow um so that at the end of the day it won't be needed long term because as I remember this board saying and I believe it and I agree with you Flint wants to stand on its own two feet and Ken and will but Partnerships as we progress in that direction shouldn't be viewed as a bad thing no it's not it's a great thing thank you but Times Like These thank you thank you so um so so what was shared was was a lot but I think it Bears underscoring a little bit if I could um State policy um has undermined public school districts across the state particularly Urban public school districts for many years without a doubt uh um my board president Dr Pew who's in the audience Dr Pew would you stand up please thank you very much give her a round of applause please so she has she has been very strong about pointing this out I just want to point out two elements of this one we have 285 PSAs in the state you have 14 in genese ISD is that right that's right all right so so back in the day when I was young and most of you were younger there were 21 traditional public school districts in the ISD today there are 35 public school districts in the ISD 14 of them the last in are PSAs 285 in the state 14 attached to you in the ISD these PSAs are predominantly not excl exclusively but they are predominantly in urban areas as you know and they are a part of State policy largely um unfettered largely able to grow uh without challenge that does not serve us well that's one part of State policy to which I think you refer so that's one two adequate and Equitable School school funding which is our eighth goal of our top 10 strategic education plan and it's up Upstream resource goal you do better with resources you do better Downstream with your children and our funding system has been neither adequate nor Equitable in the state from 1995 to 2015 we were last in the nation in total revenue growth inflation adjusted I said it last in the nation somebody's got to be last but it doesn't have to be us and that's in the that's in the history books and you can say well Michael that's that was uh 1995 to 2015 that was dated but it still affects every school district in the state it still affects the funding base on which you get on which we get increases so we had terrific budgets from the state in 23 and 24 and a pretty good budget in 25 but you can't catch up in three years that's not possible not vaguely possible so those are two or three depending upon whether you count adequate and Equitable school funding as separate or not but one way or the other those are two or three structural issues that the state has imposed on local school districts over a period of years and from which we are trying to dig out and for which I am periodically blamed notwithstanding the fact that I was not in this position in 1995 or 2000 or 2005 but I understand I receive it I'm good with it okay I have no problems with people making the point but I just want to say it is awkward to be sitting in the chair having to deal with past bad decisions I receive that yes and right I'm just saying I understand I I get it I did not mention selling of properties um that's your business I didn't mention privatization that's your business you decide whether you're going to sell you decide whether any of that is going to be you that's your business those are local school district decisions they have nothing to do with the state whatsoever uh with respect to debt relief superintendent well knows that I tried to get debt relief for seven school districts in the state and we were successful in getting debt relief for six of them Flint was the exception your debt is exceptional you have bonded your debt it is an unusual structure it is not just unusual on the front end it's unusual to try to unwind on the back end I'm I'm you know I'm out there uh publicly on the record at state board meetings as is our our board president in advocating for this debt relief so I understand what you're saying I agree with you but it's not for lack of effort I just want to be clear with you it's not it's not it's not a a disagreement in that regard uh you you said some other things I think they be mentioning if I could Mr Luna you talked about growing your share of Flint students when I was superintendent in Kalamazoo that's how we grew by 1200 kids for the most part 1 1200 kids in 12 years for the most part we did not pick up children from Florida or Kentucky or Missouri they were our kids that had left and they came home and if you pick up an increased share each year you can improve your structural position that's a structural reform and it's well within your capability as a community as a school community and it is enormously about academics not exclusively but it's enormously about academics you mentioned miss reliford that it's not about buildings it isn't about buildings although I will say um people do like nice buildings but first and for foremost it's about what kids leave with what's transportable what they leave Flint schools with so the stronger the academics the stronger the extracurriculars the more likely it is that parents are going to entrust you to educate their children your Scholars I will say president mcneel you mentioned Dr Wanda cook Robinson couldn't work with the better person that's my big sister so so treat her well okay I told her she wasn't retiring she was rewiring and I'm glad that she's working in Flint uh Mr King we wish you good luck with the state tenure commission and then I'd just like to mention one last thing that Miss reliford said it is ultimately about children's dreams I talked with kids the high school kids about dreams and I talked with the elementary school kids about dreams it's ultimately about helping kids get where they want to get to in life it doesn't much matter matter where they want to get to as long as it's legal and moral and they can um they can support themselves it does matter that we help them get there and it does matter that they can dream bigger yes than they can see on their street or in their community in their neighborhood in their town it's really important I invited the high school kids to to um to uh visit me in Lancing I'm not sure I was supposed to do that I don't know if that was a good thing or a bad thing superintendent will let you know after I leave but but I think it's in the spirit of children seeing more and if you see more and you're exposed to more you dream bigger and I don't know where those dreams are going to go I don't know what's in any individual child's head I didn't expect the little pumpkin seed who who asked to read um my little two stanza um eight line 32w Langston Hughes poem this morning I didn't expect him to say that he wanted to direct films but maybe back in the day someone was surprised to hear that Spike Lee wanted to direct films or that Alfred Hitchcock wanted to direct films or or or so I want to nurture that dream in whatever way possible but you listen to kids' Dreams they're often constrained because their experiences are constrained so as you work on whatever you do to improve to continue this Renaissance that is Flint Community Schools I would really urge you to pour into uh dream seeding pour into um trying to help children uh see more so that they can imagine themselves being more so on on that note I want to wish you uh happy holidays Merry Christmas Happy New Year it is always a pleasure to be in in Flint Community Schools looking forward to continuing the partnership thank you thank you happy holidays thank Youk you thank you very much have a safe trip home board members going into the human resource part of the agenda I seek a motion and second from the board to approve resolution 1.7 no I'm sorry turning this over to Mr Jones okay thank you board president again thank you Dr Rice and those of you who have joined Dr Rice tonight and also Dr tonac Cliff thank you for your continued uh partnership and support um I seek a motion in a second from the board to approve resolution 1.17 person recommendations Madam chair yes i' move that we approve action item 1.17 support it has been probably moving second is there any discussions Madam chair yes um this is the information piece of this I I support the action item but I just wanted to call out something uh some of these names um when it comes to the resignations kind of you know it kind of hurts a bit but I'm encouraged from the board retreat in the meeting we had last night at the edmin building when it talks about using incentives to retain and attract teachers um outside of the classroom um Miss Montgomery kind of shared some of her plans with that so I'm hopeful uh that we we can reduce these moving forward once that becomes uh you know our reality so those are my comments thank you any more comments or discussions Jesse McIntyre um yeah and I would on that note like to reach out to the to the retirements um I I know that we've we've talked about this before but I would really like to especially with with the the strong tenure of the two individuals who are who are leaving I would like us to we used to have them come to board meetings and give them some type of a recognition and now that we're getting back to you know some more normaly and and being able to have more time in the meetings to do more positive proactive things i' I'd just like to recognize the the two individuals who are retiring and to thank them so much for 30 60 all 62 years of service thank you thank you very much Madam chair yes trusty thank you um hi Miss MCG how are you good um I think during one of our meetings had asked about exit interviews are we doing any of those yes HR send out information about exit interviews what are we doing with the data are we are you reviewing it or you have it receiv yes yep so we're taking that information um to build out a plan centered around Recruitment and Retention okay um you know for us to accomplish words that are being said this got to change you know this this negates every Everything probably spoken in the retreat Because unless you have teachers you have nothing so um since you're shaking your head sounds like you're in agreement that um we really need to address is to keep our teachers and recruit our teachers so I'm I guess I'm going to be looking forward to you to come up with something amazing in 2025 so that it would definitely substantiate a lot of the dreams that's going forth with my colleagues that they want to have happen because I'm just afraid that with every time we're you're in front of us there's always someone leaving or someone retiring or even someone getting terminated and I'm just not hearing my colleagues understand that this is serious you know no teachers no district and you know you set yourself up for someone to just take over so I just ask you just to find if you can you know find a way to help us retain teachers if there anything that I can do I'm here to help because we we have to address that thank you thank you I will reply to that uh you did a great job at The Retreat uh the plan that you have for re um getting teachers uh you spent a lot of time on that plan uh is in our document what that plan is how we going to re uh change keep good teachers keep those that we got the training that we had uh is in our package it we discuss at The Retreat for the public to know that there is a plan and you have done a fantastic job with that plan and so we appreciate you and we look forward to supporting you and are moving forward with how we going to retain our teachers and keep our our teachers we cannot control human Minds to move on and go on but we do have a fantastic plan that you put in place with your team and we're looking forward to to seeing how that work out as we move forward um to goal one two and three thank you are there any more say there's any more comment the motion to approve resolution 1.17 Personnel recommendation we be conducted by a roll call vote as I call your name say yes or no secretary Perkins yes truste McIntyre yes vice president clack yes truste riford yes truste King yes treaser Luna yes and myself president Mike m seven yes proceed Mr Jones I seek a motion in a second oh we're done with are we done with don't have that's just information oh got yeah so you're all set we're moving over to the business thank you sorry thank you to finance job well done thanks going to finance yes ma'am okay I seek a motion in a second from the board to approve resolution 11.17 authorization to purchase boiler maintenance treatment where you at we on page six I'm I'm just following my script hold on hold on oh I I skipped summer tax sorry we have to pay that or deal with that I seek a motion and a second from the board to approve action item 11.16 2025 annual summer tax collection we have to receive that there's some we seeking a motion yes I'm a motion I got you m thank you I was okay I make a motion to um um approve 11.16 support and this is income you made a motion to approve it is there a second M second oh I'm sorry is there any discussions do you need to explain it to only the only thing I would say in the future for actions like this as we improve upon our training to me 11.6 is an in sentage and item where we can just improve some of these kind of routine items in one kind of motion but obviously we're not right now but just as we think ahead to be a little more efficient but that's it I any more comments yes so again I I agree with the efficiency but I would like to maintain the transparency and the Democratic process and to just make sure that we have the the room for the public to engage with each action item and you know so I I I I know that shortcuts seem easier but I again I would just really like to encourage the Democratic process and best standard operating procedures thank you thank you are there any more discussion seeing no further discussion the motion to approve action I 11.16 the 2025 annual summer tag collection will be conducted by a roll call vote board members I call your names say yes or no for the records secretary Perkins yes truste McIntyre yes vice president CL yes trustee reliford yes trustee King yes treasure lone yes myself yes seven yes 0 no proceed Mr Jones I seek a motion and a second from the board to approve resolution 11.17 authorization to purchase boiler maintenance treatment support it has been Pro to move in second is there any discussions trusty McIntyre um yeah so I this isn't something that I necessarily need an explanation for a comment for but it's it's thank you for bringing this information to us especially at the time when we're going through a transition with the with the building maintenance and things like this I think it's especially important to to make sure that things like this don't fall through the cracks um we've got a lot of catching up to do with with information that's been denied to us you know over the the tenure of the last couple of years so thank you for your Indulgence um and also so that the public stays informed that we are doing due diligence are there any more discussions stand no further discussion the motion to approve resolution 11.17 authorization to purchase boil and maintenance treatment will be conducted by a roll call vote secretary Perkins yes trustee McIntyre yes vice president clack yes trustee reliford yes trustee King yes treaser Loney yes myself yes seven yes Z no proceed Mr Jones I seek a motion in a second from the board to approve resolution 11.18 authorization to purchase food service equipment cabinets support it has been properly moved and second is there any discussions truste mckinty so is this I'm maybe I'm not able to find it but what what fund is this coming from access fund balance in our food service fund so it's coming from there okay that's what I assumed I just wasn't quite sure with the specifics with the writing and then is this something that the district is M this becomes District property it's but it's used by chart Wells is how what what happens with this yep it's District own and is it utilized by chart Wells yes okay any more discussion seeing no further discussion we will conduct a roll call vote authorization to purchase Food servy Equipment resolution 11.8 secretary Perkins yes trustee McIntyre yes vice president CL yes trustee reler yes truste King yes treasure Luna yes and myself yes seven yes zero no proceed Mr Jones I seek a motion in a second from the board to approve resolution 11.19 authorization to purchase food service equipment ovens support it has been probably mov in second is there any discussion truste McIntyre would you know off hand if so this is again the same situation it's it's through the the the fund balance it's going to be ours it's going to be used by Chartwells was this I know a couple of years they came before us talking about how we needed to upgrade the ovens are these the ovens that are individual schools or is it the central kitchen and is this the thing that crisps the pizzas and all that kind these are for these are for homes remember homes was just renovated gotcha so this is a part of that work right and this is paid for out of the federal Food Service dollars right okay I'm glad to see Holmes getting that update because I know that uh I know it seems like a small thing but this is this is what crisps those french fries and the pizzas the kids absolutely love thank you is there any more discussions seeing no the further discussion a motion to approve resolution 11.19 authorization to purchase Food sery Equipment of will be conducted by roll call vote secretary Perkins yes truste mckinty yes vice president clack yes trusty rifer yes truste King yes treasury Luna yes my S is a yes seven yes Zer no proceed Mr Jones thank you business uh office Shanda appreciate you all right we are now at the committee of the whole I seek a motion in a second from the board to approve resolution 21.4 Flyn community schools superintendent R4 advisory committee Madam chair yes make a motion to approve 21.4 support it has been properly move and second is there any discussions Madam chair yes um I really appreciate the word document that got sent out yesterday that explains what the committee does the timeline who's on it it makes total sense to me I would just say maybe um in the future maybe um consider engaging um the Flint Cultural Center for two reasons number one they're directly adjacent to the campus but more importantly you have like the library there you have FIA fim The Whiting the Flint rep planetarium slum Museum I think they're all governed by their own boards especially with the library obviously because we have some juristic over but just to kind of engage those folks because our Scholars students could benefit from the programming and just once that campus is you know built in the next few years they could partner with those different organizations um so just my two sents but I think this all makes sense to me I'll be supporting it tonight M just to add to that when you look at appendix a committee members at the bottom in asteris it does say other members will be added based on discussion and we have had that discussion and we'll be talking as we move forward I knew it thank Madam chair yes thank you um again I wasn't at this Retreat um because of it it just looked to me to be a for me it was a conflict of interest but um it looks I'm good but I would just ask that as it relates to the entities that you all highlighted here that only one representative should be on this committee from a partner if you're a partnership you should only have one Representatives um and looking at this it looks like um from the list it looks like individuals have already been selected I think for transparency purposes only this should have happened in Flint so that the community could have been aware of it and potential individuals that could have truly truly been um beneficial to this would have had an opportunity um it's just not a good look when you have a partner paying for a retreat and it looks like this partner has at least three people on this committee being a board of integrity we don't ever want anyone to think that if you pay something for us you can get whatever you want so I just ask my colleagues to pay attention to this and make sure that on the committee a entity has only one representative and if you serve as a board member on several boards in this community then you you got to decide and one young lady she serves on several and I see her on here so I just ask you all be transparent be fair and don't just think of the public when you go away to Troy and make a massive decision like this you make people uncomfortable with you because the question is what do you have to hide we should allow every voter an opportunity to watch us work and when you have a partner paying for you to attend a retreat you need to think about that even if the intent was not misleading it can be construed as such it's called conflict of interest and also you have to watch how much you get from a potential partner because it look like it could sway your vote so when you have a partner that's going to benefit from this and you see that they pay for the retreat people going to say did they pay to have that many people on the board so when I look at this it could be great but it's of no good if we don't have any teachers or students so I'm just asking this board again keep the main thing the main thing and as it relates to all of this I have to share HBCU have some of the worst buildings but they produce some of the best human beings in the world and that represents is real life you may not have everything you want but you have what you need so I'm asking my colleague to provide our students and the teachers in this district with what they need not what you may want to get a position or to obtain something don't allow your good deeds to be evil spoken of thank you trusty King please hey uh Madam chair um I'm sorry I trusty M go first so thank you superintendent Jones um for your input during the The Retreat and the meetings I know that this is the one you we asked what can we do and how can we do it and we when we put in all of that work um I want to remind the the public um and the board in general especially the members who are unable to reattend to The Retreat that this was this was planned well in advance and this happens to be an unprecedented unprecedented political time called the lame duck session in which there is a lot of activity going on in Lancing outside of our control outside of our jurisdiction of which which as fiscal custodians of the district it would behoove us to make sure that we're at the table not under the table or included in the decision making process there's a lot of money right now that is being decided a lot of State um and federal money that is being decided that has to be allocated and and earmarked by January 1st so if it looks like we're rushing to put the cart before the horse or if we're trying to do something nefarious that is not the case because we're trying to be the best custodians of this District that we can be and the best stewards of any potential Financial uh Boons that may be coming down the bend if we don't do the work if we don't put in the work then we're going to be overlooked again we're going to Flint is going to be left behind the money is going to be allocated to other districts and so we have to be at that table it is our that's what we were elected for and I appreciate our partners and make no mistake I am not letting the mop Foundation off the hook everyone knows how I feel about the M foundation and I am glad that they are partnering it's like you said because they're acting like partners and I appreciate that but the moment there's any sort of indication that it's going back to business as usual that's not okay and everybody knows that I'm I I I do what I do and I say what I say and and it's pretty straight forward and and and clear and I don't I don't like when people make statements that aren't true or aren't factual and so that's that's what I'm here for that's one of the rules that I play you know is to make sure that people do what they say they're going to do and follow through and to act with integrity and to act with best interests of equity um and getting Flint back to what we need and where we've been that's right to get what we're entitled to to what we deserve to to write those wrongs that have been imposed on us for the for the last couple of decades and that is I and I've pledged that to my community I've pledged that to the board um and so I'm the one who's probably the most proactive about calling out conflicts of interests um whether they're actual or perceived and so I um absolutely would never do anything that is or is perceived as a conflict of interest I mean I even you know do things that I I'm perfectly capable of and and legally allowed to do because of how it would be perceived this is not perceived as being a conflict of interest we put in in the hard work and in fact if we were bribed to make decisions or to influence or sway our decisions where's my money I'm like I didn't get paid for that um that was I'm still I'm still taking naps to recover from all the work and the all the effort we we did a lot of work that wasn't some fun little in Troy of all places really Troy that's you're going to bribe us you're going to take us to Troy I mean shoot at least Travers City or something I don't know but appreciate your comments All right so that's that's just where we're at we had to do it we had to do it because January 1 is coming up like I said there's a there's a lot of stuff going on um with with the political scene and Flint needs us there to represent and to get that you know to get what we're we deserve thank you so thank you very much trusty King yes um I reflect back to um our board retreat exercise we did about pulling the cards and using the card ambitious um Pioneers this is a once in a I mean sh Flint's been talking about a high school 20 years much you know much as I've been alive they've been talking about building a high school right fnn has missed several opportunities to build to high school and this time in Divine ways right things start to align up uh in the state legislature for us to have an opportunity it's been already set aside there there's something for us set aside and it's important and it's incumbent upon us to do the work and this our four committee right here will do the work uh to make sure we submit our application in a timely manner effective Manner and make sure we get what we need for our Scholars to have and what they deserve has been a long promise as a new high school so thank you thank you trust superintendent so uh a few things uh bo members um I am on page 35 currently few things um if you would if you would indulge me uh how many of you board members know that the superintendent can have an advisory committee without a board vote true yes how many of you know that okay so I can have this committee to talk about the future of Flint yes as based on uh the policies of Flint Community Schools and what the superintendent can do right what I express to you all at the retreat is I do not want to move in this manner without the board being behind the work and and being transparent in what we're doing as it pertains to looking for the opportunity to get monies from the 12d application but the 12d application is not everything no it's it's it's consolidating it's think thinking about the future programming uh Dr Wanda cook Robinson and all these folks helping uh for solutions for flank kids uh and I and I believe that if we are partnering properly and hearing voices um that can support us as superintendent rice did this morning with being with students at Southwestern as I normally am um this will move us forward so this is just something that I believed as as a superintendent I want it to be public yes and for the board to be a part of as we're moving forward together and so I'm more than willing to sit down with any of you to discuss what this is all about what we're doing and to go further into conversation what I have before me board members is I had my team create um all the theed documents from Pam if you can pass these out all of the documents from the board retreat all the information that you wrote on um and the artifacts from that work um we will also publish that information uh on our website so that it is transparent uh there is absolutely nothing that we're doing that is not transparent to the work um we have representatives from we have Scholars we have parents we have uh administ ministrators principles and everyone that's going to be participating at some sort and the ask from the board was that we include the board in uh some of the work or all the work that we're doing and so first and foremost on here is the opportunity for the board president to bring along two other board members um at her discretion to these committee meetings and the last thing I want to say is this is not a board no it's not this is a committee thank you thank you I would make the final comment and I'm speaking to the public I have sit on this board for three years took us almost a year and a half to get the Strategic plan inited that strategic plan it's the same thing that we went on that Retreat it just took a stabilized board to get there the community has spoken they wanted a new school when those senator and people got with me and when I was just asking for a little tiny money we found out there's a big part of money in laning with Flint name on it we began to go to work we put together we just didn't do this overnight we had to rebuild what was torn down that was relationship with partnership there is nothing evil about what we have done was build relationship and we came to Emily place brought Beach and everybody together and play game so we can restore what was stolen generational wealth is about giving children an opportunity to have a brand new school we got top academics advisor here we got people supporting us the retreat was to bring everything that you voted for is from day one took three years you have to see from 2022 to this point we have all the data to get us to this point we will not stop there's nothing evil about this there partners are great Partners as we begin to move forward this Advisory Board been in place three or four years ago we just not getting to the table where we can sit down as an adultss and make decision collectively for the better outcome of the student that's what this was about they came to us they did not want us to take any money out of our account to do this it took a retreat non Interruption it was offered to everybody matter of fact it was even I believe recorded you want some information ask for it but to sit here and say that this board done something contrary and underhand and da da da there was not even a voting it was not an action it was a workshop like you go to masb S nsba all of that it was a retreat Workshop no action voting action was taken it was just get us to the point Central High School we are going to build a new high school for our students we are going to have academics for our students we are going to have better opportunity for our teachers we are going to have a sports center we are going to have great great school buses we are going to rebuild what was stolen we will have a a growth in our population of student we are not trifling we are not low lifely we are smart intelligent people at this board and for someone to come here and tear down 72 hours non sleep of work that we have put together I'm asking this board let's pass this right here and let's move forward thank you one more thing the the the 12 forums that took place over the last couple of years was the voice of the people that said we wanted better infrastructure the reason why we have renovated buildings and the reason why we're at this juncture to build a building is because the public asks for it and we have documentation on that not only the public but our administrators our teachers and those that work with us on a regular basis in education that's the reason why we're doing it it's a part of the Strategic plan we're moving based on the Strategic plan that over a 100 stakeholders including families including Scholars and partners played a part in and the board approved the superintendent follows the Strategic plan and that's what we have been working on for the last couple of of of years and so that's the reason why we're doing the work we're doing also the partnership agreement if you were able to hear Miss Fields uh you were you would know that we are growing academically we're not where we want to be by far but we are growing academically and we're meeting the academic uh and system and uh process goals in our partnership so we are growing we're not where we want to be but we are growing but we're following the Strategic plan if the Board of Education the administration wants to get together to change the Strategic plan then that is that is something we're open to but we are focused on doing the work in the Strategic plan thank you seeing no further discussion the motion yes thank you um I just want my colleagues to hear me when this board decided to have a Mee and greet with GISD a couple months ago there was a letter sent from GISD informing the board that all their staff and representative will be paying for their own food and beverages that set of presidence for me and if GISD going to make sure that it's on a record that they will take care of all of their expenses I think Flint board should follow the lead so I'm not implying that anything illegal was done I never said that and I never said it was it wasn't a good idea never said those words my asks is for the public to have access to the meeting which is their right with the opens meetings act and that's it we talk about transparency and I just want us as colleagues to be transparent whether it's right whether it makes us look good or not just be transparent so no one can even imply that you've been bought that's all thank you seeing no further discussion motion to approve resolution 21.4 Flyn Community School Superintendent rf4 advisor committee will be conducted by a roll call vote board members I call your name please yes or no for the record secretary Perkins yes trustee McIntyre yes vice president CL yes trustee King yes treasure Luna yes trustee reliford no and myself yes six yes one no thank you Mr Jones you're welcome thank you board at this time I would like to discuss the advocacy and Equity Institute Training that is offered for us or is there any discussion no board m in your package a Vex monthly update for November do any board member have any questions uh m chair yes I think we should revisit 22.7 uh I would like to attend the nsba and for us to attend the nsba um Washington DC trip to uh advocate for our Scholars and also uh be able to meet our new representative we had already voted on these we got one and we did yeah you no we don't have to vote every time we go we just need to know who are going got so um those events that we have schedule you just contact uh our executive administrator let her know that you're going so she can uh get everything I we go gotcha thank you do anyone have any question about the VTech if there's no questions or concerns about VTech board members do you have any comments B chair trusty Lon I have a couple comments um first off hands off to you U Mr Jones the folks of Michigan State and other partners and stakeholders who help us pull the retreat together um we got a lot of uh good conversation going for the future of the district I just want to caution the board and I've said this a lot of times so it's it will come as no surprise but it was fun and exciting talking about some of the cool things like the high school campus um some of the Partnerships to retain and attract teachers I would just say that I'm cly optimistic that will also address some of the more less fun challenges when it comes to consolidation and just you know deficit and other things that we may have to tackle and I'm confident we will but we have to be serious about this which we have been the last year and a half um second you know on that same note we think about innov and repurposing I hear loud and clear a lot of the parents uh students and staff when they talk about Ala having its own space I would just really encourage the board to look at what we have already we have a lot of buildings that are not dilapidated we have the admin building we have Northwestern but that's for another another uh meeting uh more in depth you can talk about that um next I'm going to miss our colleague Mr Michael clack yes yeah we spent two years together together on the board together yes but even before that we ran together in a campaign uh it came together real quick we learned a lot about each other um so I appreciate you as a colleague as a friend um we've done a lot together on and off the board so just know for me personally you can always give me a call as a friend and also if you need have any ideas for the board you want to you know yell at us complain um we're here and whatever we do next you know I hope it's good for you and don't be a stranger M chair in the same U concurrence with my colleague with recognizing our vice president Michael clar uh thank you for your service um being a public official elected official is not easy as we all know uh thank you for you know being here for our Scholars right like it is a challenging job we all know this job is challenging but recognizing the time and effort you put in thank you for your service um look forward to great things that you would do keep us keep being a partner of Flint Community Schools as I know you will be and let's hope we don't see you in public comment right okay I just want to make sure I'm just want to make sure all right mag I just wanted to thank my board the executive team superintendent Jones yeah I'm still recovering uh just you know from all the facework I had do um but I really appreciated the time and and it's like I said it did feel like a sense of relief that we we don't all like each other or get along or have the same opinions but that's not what this is about we were able to put aside our our differences and come together and do do the work that's needed to to move forward and and I really appreciate each and every one of you for that um and yeah this time has been it just seems Seems like it's been decades but it's only been a years so we've made some enormous strides and I'm really proud of the district for the the how it stopped the school to prison pipeline that was being created um around the 2016's um I noted this in the in the retreat we had 6,800 suspensions and and expulsions um and we were rated as one of the highest uh District um for one of the one of the factors for having a school to prison Pipeline and the ACLU actually had a lawsuit against the Flint Community Schools because of the disproportionate rate of expulsions and suspensions that we had and we effectively as a board this board sitting right here and the work that we've moved forward the Michigan State actually gave us the numbers and I don't have the numbers here but we have effectively eliminated those expulsions and suspensions um and and we will share the numbers with you at a later time so that you can actually see the hard data but I am very proud of that fact we did that without a lot of hoopla without a Fanfare we just got it done um there wasn't you know a lot of out of pocket this about you know a lot of things that other school districts are are are are struggling with unnecessarily about critic race Theory and all that we are doing the work we have an inclusive Library an inclusive curriculum and it's like the students said we are um what was the word that they said we were diverse and U felt a feeling of belong a feeling exactly and I want to continue that that's what I want to focus on um so so thank you for that and just a shout out to um vice president Michael clack I appreciate a I appreciate you and I'm glad to have gotten to know you a a lot better I'm I'm gonna miss you um but as I said at The Retreat I am conf and I'm that's another thing I'm proud of this Legacy this is this is our relationship is is indicative of Flint your mom and my dad were the original social studies teachers at the Flint schools of choice um you know to talk about an alternative education system uh way back in the day and here you and I are sitting on the board and and like I said I I'm watching you and and your daughter Haley because I know that good things wonderful things those dream seeds are coming from you and I'm I'm I'm calling on you to do the work you and you're uh the next generation of CLS to to come down the pipeline so and it's not the school to prison pipeline it's a totally different pipeline well done everybody we can't rest in our Laurels we still got a lot of work to do but I'm looking forward to 2025 in a good way I just want to say I'm proud of this past weekend that was a lot of work but it was cohesive it was uh well needed uh we learned from each other we networked we had a great time um learning and moving forward we out find a lot of information a lot of information it wasn't a a fun Retreat it was a working Retreat and we met some very interesting people that are going to help us push this District forward so I I'm very proud of everybody at the table that attended and let's just keep on doing what we did forward I forgot one thing and thank you brother clack for your service I just forgot to mention uh m Mrs boo so trust there as well um she came in kind of dived into the every session and kind of got on the ground running to be ready for this next year so thank you miss boo for being there yes okay let him do it that's a problem no problem we all gonna be one team I I want to give you an opportunity to say a remark then I would speak last so uh I kind of it's a very Bittersweet moment here yes it is that kind of hit me when I was sitting here listening to uh Dr R speak and I kind of stared off into the distance like this is really it it's really my last meeting you know um but no well no not really officially as a board member you know at this point but I debated with myself this morning if I was going to write something down and um I decided not to but what I'd like to do first is I'd like to thank uh the city of Flint residents for trusting me with your your sons and daughters for these past two years I'd like to thank the board superintendent Jones and the administration um and everybody who who who believed in me and us and you know what we what we're doing here and everything that that because you guys you know you put up with a lot of my hard times I'll just say that you know a lot of my thoughts sometimes I can go off into the blue about some things but you know it's it's all about the students and you know the city of Flint residents uh I will say that I'm going to miss each and every one of you um I said at The Retreat I'm going to miss pushing y'all around the airport when we travel I'm going like I'm going to miss we might have to I'm going to miss it you know I'm going to miss you know uh just the whole aspect of being a board member um I love the Flint Community Schools I always have I always will and um you guys need anything you know personal that advisory committee you know any whatever you all need uh but you know seriously um I'm here I love love each and every one of you all I love the FN schools and it's been an honor and a pleasure serving for these past two years I got you thank you uh Mr Clark um current new coming in trustee Linda boo could you just stand there for a second welcome aboard um again again January the 8 will be your swearing in uh that will be our next next board uh annual meeting we'll be doing our selecting offices and all of that but um the organization we felt like you should have came along uh I hope you shared a lot input because you're a previous board member and we appreciate you you're more than just a friend you just was an excellent board member and we are welcome to have you back thank you so the Flint Board of Education meeting will reconvene after the holiday break with our annual organization meeting on Wednesday January the 8th at 6:30 here at ala we like to wish all you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year seeing no further business in the board I declared the board meeting are joined at 7:15 everybody would you take your chairs in the back room please and bring and bring your your signs up front pamon have to do it all by herself