I'd like to call the Hazel Park Board of Education business meeting to order on this 10/20/2025 at 6PM. May I have roll call, please? Thank you. Here. Becker? Here. Courters? Present. Fox? Here. Bill Brown voice? Here. Routine? Here. Here. So, could we all please stand for the pledge of allegiance? I pledge allegiance to the flag So nice to see everybody here.
Welcome to our board meeting tonight. The, next thing we have is a motion to approve the agenda. I make a motion to approve the agenda as written. Support. A motion by Heidi, support by April to accept the agenda as written. Is there any discussion? I would just like to move, under our consent agenda, the, conference request to e business, to queue, please. Okay. Did you say conference request? Yes. Okay. Sorry. I just couldn't hear. If that is okay, ma'am? You guys Yep. Thank you. I'm looking where to put it.
Would it be o we have an and and one I put q. Q. Yep. What are we going into closed session for? We are? We are not. It's, action from the closed session. Okay. Okay. So, motion was made to move. This is confusing. I don't know how we're gonna get it. We should make papers. I mean Conference report. Yeah. Conference. I'm sorry. I'm like, Theresa, so much. Okay. Motion to move, conference, report to queue on the agenda.
Is there any discussion for that? Okay. I'll I'll roll call, please. Yes. Eaton? Yes. Becker? Yes. Scott? Yes. Will Conyers? Yes. Rathee? Yes. Vincent? Yes. Our next order of business is our special order of business to recognize our wonderful students here in Hazel Park. And so, we have certificates and we'll have, doctor Wilcox, She's gonna do the reading, and we're gonna come up and shake hands. Okay. Good evening. And with us tonight, if the audience is not aware, is Fernando from the Promise
Zone and Monica Bertie, who is also key with the Promise Zone as well, that'll be helping to give out shirts to our students in celebration and acknowledgment that, we have an amazing promise zone that gives college opportunities for our students as you graduate here from Hazel Park Schools. With that being said, we're gonna switch off and on this morning. And so when your name is called, if you can come up to the front, your principal is going to, if they're here, talk about their students. So first, we're gonna start with Webster. Good evening, everyone.
This is Dakota Wheeler, and Dakota is Webster's student of the month. Miss Dina nominated her. Dakota is a sweet girl that has really started coming out of her shell. She leads by example with her kindness to others and always following the classroom expectations. She takes on each new activity with eagerness and curiosity. She is always aware of where she ought to be during the classroom routine, and she shows the utmost positivity everywhere she goes. Dakota is imaginative, thoughtful, and loves to smile. Dakota continues to prove her strengths with each new activity, and she embraces learning new
things as well. We are so lucky to have Dakota at Western. The web student of the month is Alyanna Flake Thomas. Alyanna consistently demonstrates kindness and caring towards her classmates and teachers. Her helpful nature and hardworking attitude contribute positively to our classroom community. The joy she brings with her smiling demeanor creates an uplifting environment for everyone around her. It is obvious that Alyanna began fourth grade ready to try her best every day
and make the most of the school year. Great job, Alyanna. Hello, this is Hoover student of the month. It's Veda who's acting very shy, which is the way that I met her, which is first coming to Hoover on the playground, it would not even look at me or talk to me. Now, as a first grader, she's given me lots of sass in the lunch room and I'm super happy about that. She's doing great. And now I will tell you see, she's not shy. Here is what no. We're gonna start this. Here's what missus Hughes had to say.
Beta is such a pleasure to have in our class this year. She is very helpful and caring friend. She is also willing to help other students and keep them on track. She participates in group discussions and works well with everyone. Beta is kind, respectful, and eager to learn. She puts her best effort into everything she does. And as a leader in our classroom, keep putting your best paw forward and giving your principal a hassle at lunch. I am excited to watch you grow this year. I am here to I am here to introduce the Jardine student of the month,
Ethan Blaney, with his teacher, Janet Springsteen. Yeah. Ethan has made a brief transition to Jardine. He enjoys participating in bar therapy, game day, and classroom lessons. He follows the rules and is kind to his peers, noticing when they need help. Great job, Ethan. For Invest Roosevelt, Fatima Almasawi could not be here today, but Fatima is a sweetheart. She's doing really well in her classes and has made a huge change in her attendance from last year to this year.
She is thoughtful, kind, patient, and willing to help others more than the average student. Congratulations to Carson Yerkovich, our eighth grade student of the month. Carson, stands out for his, hard work ethic, positive attitude, and rest, respectful behavior both in and out of the classroom. He consistently puts in effort, takes responsibility for his learning, and is always willing to help his peers. Teacher just teachers describe him as dependable, kind, and a great example of what it
means to be a patriot. Whether he's participating in class, completing assignments on time, or showing leadership in group work, Carson leads by example. We're proud to recognize Carson for representing Hazel Park Junior High School with pride and integrity. Keep up the great work. First of all, thank you, mister Dimas, for giving me the honor to introduce the high school student of the month, Lee Lyle. I love you, here preferably. He is a senior at Hazel Park High School who has made tremendous growth both
socially and academically over the years. He's a pleasure to have in class. He's kind and a good friend to others, as well as in our peer to peer and united sports class. He always brings a smile to those around him. He's actively engaged in community organizations. Lee is eager to lend a hand both to staff and classmates. You can't be yet. Whenever help is needed, truly. It's such an honor to be up here. He showed he's enjoys spending time with friends in his favorite class, wood shop, consistently shuts out ready to work, hard, and give his best effort every day.
You truly deserve this awardly. Congratulations. For Advantage, Pura T Medina. Her teachers report that she is kind and helps other students. She works hard, participates, and is thoughtful about her work. In chemistry, when she doesn't understand the concept, she practice until she has the ability to help her peers. We commend Purity for putting in that type of effort and are proud to recognize her as student of the month. And we have United Oaks, Montana Spurlock. Montana is exceptionally kind and always eager to lend a hand.
She currently serves as one of our lunchtime helpers and approaches every task with positivity. Her calm presence and dedication to working hard and helping others makes her a wonderful addition to our school community. Congratulations. And last but not least, Edison, Julianne Cobb Cook. Julian is doing a wonderful job following the Edison SOAR expectations. He works hard in all subjects and enjoys playing with his peers outside. He has a kind heart, showing empathy when others are feeling sad or frustrated. He always wants to help his peers when they are struggling during our learning day.
Can we have one more round of applause for our students? Okay. So I'm I'm gonna go on to, special order of business, Advantage Print Representation. Is anybody here from Advantage? She is. Princess is here for us from Advantage this evening. Good evening everyone. My name is Princess House. Good evening everyone. My name is Princess House, and I am proud to be your student representative here at Hazel Park Advantage. I want to share a little about how I got here because it's been a quiet journey. Back at my old school, I struggled a lot. I was around the wrong crowd, had behavior, and got in trouble almost every other
day. But when I came to Hazel Park Advantage, everything started to change. This school year, especially my principal, Mr. Smith, he helped me a lot. His talks about staying focused and not letting anyone get me out of character really stuck with me. Since being here, my attitude has improved so much. I haven't been involved in any drama this school year. I'm on point with my work, and I'm even graduating early. That's why I want to be your student rep to show that change is possible and to help others who might be going through tough times. One thing I wanna talk about is the issue with the Yonder project.
I've noticed that since they started, many of my classmates seem more focused than they were last year. There haven't been many fights or he said, she said drama, which is a good thing for our school environment. Last year, most of the conflicts that teachers have with students were related to cell phones. Those issues doesn't exist anymore. I personally like the projects because I have less distraction during the day. However, I do look forward to to 02:10 when I'm able to get my phone back. Thanks for taking time listening to me this evening. I look forward to speaking with you all next month. Next we have the invest presentation.
Hello, everybody. My name is Christine Glasser. I'm the school counselor over at InVEST, and I'm counselor over at Invest, and I'm happy to be here. So let me tell you a little bit about Invest. We empower newcomers through partnership, purpose, and progress. This is a picture of our students on one of our spirit days. So identifying a critical need started in 02/2008. After the Iraqi war, thousands of refugee families resettled in Southeast Michigan. Many students required a flexible, supportive high school environment. In 02/2008, Invest Roosevelt High School was founded to meet that need, providing English language
support, trauma informed care, and alternative learning pathways. But in order to get to that, you have to learn a little bit more before that about how it came to be. So building on experience, the Kalasho legacy. Back in 1992, Assad and Hiran Kalasho, our founders, started getting into educational work in Detroit. They launched an adult ed program in '93. They founded INVEST, which stood for International Network of Vocational Educational Skills Training, in 02/2001,
and then they expanded that into youth education through Invest Roosevelt High School. Their oh, typo. Sorry. Their mission was to deliver and is to deliver high quality education and holistic support to newly arrived refugee students. In 02/2011, we relocated fully under Hazel Park and became a school built not only to educate, but to rebuild lives. Scaling to meet the need. Since 02/2011, we have tripled in size. Currently, we serve 320 students. On average, over the last sixteen years, every year we have graduated 50 or more
students. Last year, there was 64. All told, we had 800 graduates that we've helped earn a state endorsed diploma. So our current points of traffic. We currently have over 80 of our students are multilanguage learners, some of them holding four or five languages that they've obtained over the years. The offerings that are above and beyond the basic that we offer is SME, which is a pre engineering program, Mind Garden, which is, mental health support. We are adding this year, National Geographic e l curriculum.
And, along with Hazel Park, we also offer the dual enrollment. Some of our specific accomplishments at Invest is that we offer free transportation door to door for 98% of our students. 17 of our 20 staff members speak more than one language, so I'm speaking two or three. Two students last year completed two two classes each through dual enrollment. This is our second year with SME prime in the school. We offer the seal of our literacy, and we really enjoy our partnership with the
Hazel Park Promise. This is a picture of one of our amazing teachers, mister Bashar, at the SME conference last year. This is last year graduation. One of the students is holding a big check with, a scholarship that they earned through our partnership with Huntington Bay. So from graduates to professionals, our alumni have become everything from engineers to nurse practitioners, doctors, physician assistants, business owners, and members of the US armed forces. They've come from war torn beginnings, and they go on to workforce leadership.
This is one of our graduates from last year, Nora. She's a future cardiothoracic surgeon. Sabrina will be a lawyer, come hell or high water, and your is a future politician and our first student to get accepted to and staying on campus at Michigan State University. Okay. So a proven model of success. I won't read every word on this page, but, there's been a lot of effort to create events through our founders' expertise in education and adult learning, through our bilingual
staff, our supports of families, both the kids in school, the families outside of school, and the students after they graduate. This year, we recently applied for an innovative grant program, to be able to offer and open up an alumni. So we also strengthen our community through, becoming a trusted hub for refugee families. So a lot of our families come from the Tri County area. Most of them actually are not from within Hazel Park, so they get buffed in and end up benefiting the local community and the district as a result of that.
And through all of that, we get to enrich our community. This is last year at DecisionPay, which was made incredible by our partnership with Hazel Park Promise. They were able to help us with funding so that we could get, swag bags for every one of our graduates. And we got to share their post secondary plans that day with the whole school. So our vision for the future, we want to expand our capacity to serve more newcomer students. We wanna deepen our partnership with health care and engineering programs. We wanna enhance college and career readiness pathways, and we wanna continue innovating with Hazel
Park Schools. Thank you for our continued partnership. Together, we're changing lives through education. That was very informative. Thank you. Thank you. Next we have the summer school presentation. That's me. Make sure this is here. So I had, good evening, board. I had the pleasure of overseeing the twenty twenty five school summer discovery this year and, it was a great success. Originally, we targeted, two twenty five, 225 students, but upped it to two fifty.
So, we ended up, getting $500,000. Originally, our first 70% was $350,000. And then if we met our goals, we got the additional 150. We've met our goals, I'm happy to say. So our enrollment, our target was 70%, and we actually had 79.6%. The attendance, again, was at 70%, and we had 72.9%.
Percent. This year, we were lucky enough to combine our our attendance for United Oaks and the junior high. Because at the end of the summer, the junior high attendance dipped the last two weeks, but we were still able to keep our our numbers up. The grant really helped us to keep, class sizes small, and it also helped for us to do incentives. I brought them. I won't spend a lot of time on them. We had a 148, elementary students who actually came to summer school.
A 100 participants in the afternoon sessions. We were able to do YMCA, coding with, Accelerate for Kids and drones. And we did JavaScript with with, with the accelerate for kids. We had Michigan Stage and Living Arts coming to do some arts and, some movement and storytelling. So we had a real plethora and and differences in what kids could do in the afternoon.
We had a 100 kids stay past their academic morning and participate in the afternoon. In the elementary, we had a 148. In the junior high school, we had 51 who attended. By the end, it was 35 that had 75% or more attendance. So 35, junior high school students actually are going to be getting a laptop, a case, and headphones. And a 148 are gonna get the odd spots if you wanna look at this
afterwards, but this is the odd spot that we've talked about. It's little. It's tiny, but it is pretty cool. So this is what it looks like. And it it runs on and it moves around. So you code it with the different markers. Letters will go out. I just got the Odd Spot bin. So So those are gonna go out this week for parents to come and pick up their items, in my office. And, we did today receive data from summer discovery. I haven't had a chance to look over it. All I saw was plus numbers that we made some growth.
So it will go in the board packet, our our new board update this week. I did I literally got it this afternoon. I wish I had had time, but you will be able to see the data that we had. And then I also told you that, I am gonna be giving these out this week. Do you have any questions about summer school? It was fun to to do too. I enjoyed going over there and seeing what was going on. Does their data measure start to finish this year's sessions or oh, I know you would. Or last year to this year? We so our we do two things.
One, we look at our end of the year I Ready and our beginning of the year I Ready for the I I've set up those groups. So anybody that went to Summer Discovery, I put in a group so I can monitor their growth. But we have to give It's free. Yeah. It is. Yes. We also have to do, with the summer discovery, we do a pre and a post test with Lavinia RISE. So it's part of what we do here. So we have to give a pretest the first couple of days. We give a post test the last few days.
So it is strictly what they get during summer school. That that one. Yep. Did we have any, high schoolers do credit recovery or anything like that? I did not run that program. I'm gonna pass it over to doctor Dolmage, and I'm gonna let her take that on. So we absolutely did. We had 38 students enrolled in summer in in credit recovery. And, they indicated they that all of those students took one class, and all the students that took those classes finished those classes.
So in addition to that, we also did run our preschool program for four weeks. So we had a full suite of opportunities for students all the way from preschool up to high school to participate. How many preschools did you have this summer? We had let's see. 28. That's the only number. That's a lot. I wanna I think. Let's see. Kindergarten readiness. We had 13 students and six students had an attendance rate of 75%. That's pretty typical. We usually get about 20 to 25 students who enroll and then about 13 to
15 usually attend. Thank you. Mhmm. And I would just like to add that happily, we're already getting our application in for next year. So they they're gonna allow us to put it in early. So we'll have more time to plan, more time to really think through and try to get more kids in our summer program. Thank you. Can I just add one thing to that? One of the reasons why we were allowed to get it in early is because they selected our district and another district because of the high quality programming and the
way in which we run our not only our programs but also collect the data and do all the important. So once again, Hazel Parker is recognized for the work that we do. Well, thank you. Aside from all your work doing here, both of you, giving working so hard through the summer and to have such a successful program is it's marvelous to hear. So thank you. That moves us up to public comment. Three people. Anybody wishing to speak needs to fill out a paper? I see most of you here have done that.
So, this is a this is the Board of Education business meeting, a public for the purpose of conducting the school district business and is not considered a community public meeting. The board has been provided has provided two opportunities during the meeting for the public to address the board respectfully. Personal attacks that are abusive or obscene that disrupt the meeting will be stopped. Rules are posted on the wall. If you have any questions, they're right over there. This meeting is our voting meeting.
Previous last week was all our discussions. So folks at home, if you wanna know more details about what we're voting on, that was last week, and this week's our voting meeting. So please state your name and address at the podium, and I have Ian Lloyd first. You have five minutes. If you stay or anybody comes in, the second public comment has three minutes. Hi, Ian Lloyd. And I'm doing it for a little. I just wanted to kinda report out from our meeting. What was it? The October 8, Doug, and with doctor Wilcox.
And I, I had more concerns after meeting with her than I did. I mean, she was only lying when I lived for a movement. And And there's no criticizing people, please. She didn't answer any questions. Ian Pardon me? There's no criticizing people, please. Well, on this report, you could always go to closed session. I reclaim my time. There's no I have a constitutionally protected activity. I would like to speak. I'm reclaiming my time. So long story short, I was there and the areas of concern were mainly the
organizational fraud. And I lodged, you know, conversation about all the topics, so this is nothing that doctor Wilcox is surprised about. Mister Lloyd, I don't think that you can make accusations that you you're not it's an accusation. Claim my time. Not the No. You don't know that for a fact. You can't make decisions. Reporting up here, I can report a concern. I may be able to have the only time to speak with anyone, and I
am reclaiming my time, so please stop that. And so when I speak, I am to be not interrupted. And that's Mister Lloyd, you will be interrupted if you're not appropriate in the talking. I am sorry, but you will be interrupted. I'm sorry. This is ridiculous that you have to speak this way. She is our board president. Don't talk to her like that. And she is our employee, and you can't talk to her about like that. You'd like to reclaim your time, but, no, we're not going to closed session because you won't have the votes to get into closed session.
So please make your statements correctly and don't accuse anybody and don't put our staff member at at at your tongue for freely. And don't mess around with missus Hinton because she is important to us, and she's running this meeting. Thank you. I like that backbone. I really do. Show it in the meetings. Okay. Oh, mister Lloyd, I do show it in the meetings all the time. Have you have you seen the meetings? I'm not gonna put up with this because I'm tired of putting up with this
with you. I am not you can go ahead and reclaim your time. But I'm telling you that this is ridiculous. This is ridiculous that we have to sit in constitutionally protected activities, and I'm offended that you were Just let me let him take a break. Do we not make accusations you know of? Mayor president, can we take a ten minute recess, please? I make a motion to take a ten minute recess. Support. It's still part of public comment. It's still public comment. Yes. We'll come back to public comment. No problem. But I'm asking for a ten minute recess. Actual fraud.
I'm asking for a ten minute recess, and it was seconded. Therefore, we should have a vote. Favor. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Support. Oh, it's motion by Niran, support by April to come back to session. All in favor? Aye. Aye. Okay. I'm gonna read a couple of things out of the overmending's book. Comments that constitutes a personal attack on an employee or board member totally unrelated to his or her duties may be prohibited. Disruptive conduct under the Michigan penal code states that a person is guilty of a
misdemeanor if he or she makes or excites any disturbance or contention in any public meeting where citizens are peacefully and lawfully assembled. I think that's what mister Patterson referred to. And then this is the president or presiding officer will prohibit public comments that are frivolous, repetitive, or harassing, interrupt, warn, or terminate a pair participant statement when the statement is too lengthy, personally directed, abusive, obscene, or irrelevant.
I think that applies right there, Ian. Request any individual to leave the meeting when a person behaves in a manner that is disrupt disruptive of the orderly conduct of the meeting. Request the assistance of law enforcement officers in the removal of a disorderly person. Call recess, which we just did, and, waive these rules with the approval of the board when necessary. So, you heard those rules. If you can continue, as well So, I wish you would like to go into
closed session on reporting now from our meeting. I think you can report on your meeting meeting, but I think using adjectives and, opinion untruthful things. Well, it's unclear. And I would all preface that. And I have a concern, and I'm bringing it to you. And I would like it to be, you know, handled correctly, please. So are we ready? Okay. So I had, you know, concerns with this organizational fraud related to the deficit elimination
plan. And I had to show, you know, the CNG article that there was, you know, a concern related to finances. And indeed, it also written that we were, you know, looking into it. And, I had you know, I don't know if everyone knows the particulars. I mean, there's fraternization occurring, and that's a that's a violation of the ethics of
your Hazel Park, any NEA code. And and and it's I'm concerned that that's occurring now in some of your departments. And I would like the ethics complaint lodged by my verbal communication between, what I suspect is the HR and the superintendent. I mean, she hired, the HR right off as a sitting board member. And at a minimum, that's a ethics violation.
And if they are to have, you know, all of that, you know, mixed up, I would like a report on it. And showing that you took my complaint against the ethics of your collective bargaining agreement, and you can investigate that. And it's even more concerning if we have, let's say, an SC director. And if they have a family member that's doing our auditing right now and not Clint Moran, that's fraternization too. So I would like an ethics complaint on that.
So with this, we're at a competitive disadvantage when these types of ethical situations are occurring. We can't trust the numbers. The public doesn't know about a deficit elimination plan, and I would like it articulated and put into somewhere that is on our website. What are you doing to solve the the financial restrictions that we are operating under? Will there be a committee that I put in writing about? And how can we start having these discussions with the public?
And I'm very you know, you can't allow this type of stuff to occur because look at the military. You have constitutional, when you look fraternization, you know, there's a lot of penalties for that. And at that minimum, it's ethically breached. So I would because we haven't and Planned Moran didn't do our audit. They kicked us out for non compliance with their request. And I brought that up to Amy as well. Okay. Thanks, Ian.
That was better. Linda Maligne, is next. Welcome, Linda. Thank you. We have Billing. Twenty two fifty, Margaret Bernal, Michigan. I come before you today to discuss the misuse of the expulsion policy being used at the Hazel Park High School. I come before you today to discuss the abuse of power. I have witnessed myself as I've tried to negotiate this policy. In my journey of checking into this, I've discovered that our school board is being blocked for emails. Your emails are being intercepted, responded to, and then blocked by our superintendent.
I do have sent email right here. I also found that I was, when I was trying to put in my FOIA with mister Patterson, that was proving to be rather difficult as his email link did not work. Also, his direct phone number for the in in this building does not work. But, however, when I went on to the school website, I did find a little working link, and that direct link identifying herself as our FOID quarter coordinator was doctor
Amy Wilcox. Well, I also have that right here. She also had pride herself as the FOIA coordinator. We all know the FOIA coordinators, mister Patterson. And all of the thing these things are important, and I ask that we put our power back into the school board. The misuse of policies, the use of an unapproved panel to hold unofficial trials on our high school students. I had the missed pleasure of sitting through one of these, and, it was a trial by every definition of the word.
This was a panel led and formed by doctor Wilcox herself. Sitting in attendance was a principal of the high school, a uniformed police officer, and the principal of the alternative school. This panel followed none of the state of Michigan guidelines for expulsion. They're very clear. They did now not allow for any type of due process or defense. There was no consideration taken into the incident at all. We were told that anything we said as adults present would not help our students'
situation. Her parent was denied showing over a year's worth of evidence of stalking and bullying. She was denied showing direct evidence leading up to the encounter of the day in question, explaining why a child who has had no problem within our school would act suddenly the way she did that day. When the student questioned herself asking, how does my teacher feel? She was banished to the hallway. In her very own nonofficial trial, we were forced to listen to doctor Wilcox's family
stories. And when I expressed my disinterest, I myself was directed to leave the room. When I looked at her in disbelief, the officer in the room made me leave the room. That is use of intimidation at its finest. None of the state of Michigan guidelines were followed in this non trial. They're very specific. They're put in place, for instance, exactly like we're dealing with right now. And trust me, my description to you is very vague of what happened. I'm not here today to argue the expulsion of the student.
That is gonna be done by her own parents. I'm here today to ask that the officials and the community of Hazel Park put the power back in the hands of the people we voted for. We have already entrusted this school board. We have already voted because we trust you with the well-being of our school and in the well-being of our students. We voted for you. I say we let you do your job without it being prohibited, without and and you did a fine job. This school was the best one of the best schools before doctor Wilcox's intervention in
our various programs. I think that we should let our teachers and principals act without fear of retribution and retaliation from a superintendent. She is a paid employee just like they are. We would need to remove her intervention from our sports programs, put them back into the hands of our school board that we trust. Time is up, Linda. Thank you. Thank you. President Hennepin. Done. If we could at least clarify for missus Milne that we did receive her emails and were able to read them in their entirety.
That was very much after the fact, ma'am. Very much after the fact. Doesn't show right there in that chain of emails. We saw them. There's no time around. Time? How many up? Don McGinnis, 1337 East Granite, His Park. Wow. And it sounds like same thing over and over from everyone. So again and again and again, I'm here one more time for you guys not following your policies and procedures and having someone dictate who's being hired, where they're being
hired, how they're being hired, quote unquote, from her mouth that she doesn't do the hiring. Many meetings. I can reference every one of them at one. I'm glad that you guys finally hired a coach that is qualified. I applaud on that. He is a little outdated, but I'm glad that the kids have someone they can actually wrestle with, you know, that the kid taught. But I do wanna bring up that you guys sent a mass letter of lies saying that that you guys were gonna follow your procedures, follow the policies, and it
was gonna be done fairly and with the full schedule. Again, I looked at MHSA web page. The schedule is not a full schedule. It is three items. To have your athletic director send that out to lies to your community. I can't believe you board allowed that. That you can shake your head all you want. It's it's the truth. I can show up in MHSA web safe right now. Are you talking to me? No. Perfect. Okay. So the lies need to stop. The the hiring process, you guys are saying that you guys did that fair?
Really? Really? Just to let you guys know, I had the same candidate applied two, three years ago when I got the job over with a trained athletic director. I've been hired by two different ADs. And then I had a different AD give me a great review as well with two great reviews. When is enough enough? She went out of her way to say that she didn't do the hiring to reach out for people to have more qualifications than for the next person to get that job. Because she said she doesn't like wrestling.
Because she said Don McGinnis will not coach her. I'm I'm okay with not coaching her. As long as you guys put qualified people in there. But is that the future for his park? Is that is that what you guys are gonna do every time? Is she gonna post online that the people got the job before you guys sign off on it again? I believe a couple of meetings ago, you guys just said not to do that for your employee for a certain principle, which I do like. But when are you guys gonna change? When when are you guys gonna hold someone accountable?
How does this happen? How does someone apply to the junior high job, get an email from AD, say they don't he wants the all all this mess with Gary Harrison and me, her doing the backdoor deal with Gary Harrison and all that, but yet she says she doesn't do the hiring? When are you guys gonna sit down and listen to these people? When are you gonna listen to the community? You guys are voted there because of the community. When are you gonna start helping the community? Or are you gonna protect your one employee? And if that's your goal, to protect your one employee, you guys are doing a
good job with it. Bravo. I also wanna bring up for the finances that you guys you guys definitely need an outside person to look at these finances. This money has already been trusted, and it has failed many times. That's why we're in this hole. The money has already been misused before, intertwined, tangled, whatever you wanna call it. We have to get this fixed so you guys in the future can do it right. I'm ashamed you guys don't wanna hear that you guys are doing something wrong or
we have to do something that sets us back to fix the future. Well, let's fix the future. Give a reason for the kids to be here. Start being the change. Don't worry. You guys will see a lot more of me because I am running for the school board to sit there and fix all this corruption, to do what I need to do for you guys' community. Alright. Moving on to the consent agenda. Can I get a motion to accept the consent agenda? I move the board accept the consent agenda as presented. Support. I just as presented with the change to Oh, yeah.
The queue? With the change to I don't have to move. Moving the conferences to item q. Support. Alright. Motion by Heidi. Support by Monica to accept the to accept the agenda with the change. Roll call, please. Hold on. If we can discuss really quickly, or just point of clarification, in the consent agenda, a two b one is approval of the closed session minutes from 10:13 twenty five. And I maybe I'm missing them, but do we have those closed session minutes, or
can we remove those from the consent agenda? The closed sessions are a key. I right. But the approval of the minutes is in consent. And I don't have we seen the minutes? I don't think we have. Jamie was trying to tell you. I was at the meeting, so I don't have the minutes. Oh, and I was gone. So we'll have to bring them to you next time. We'll have to remove that. Okay. So can we just remove, Ten thirteen. The ten thirteen closed session minutes and approve those at the next meeting. Are you talking about the b? Yeah. Two b? Yep. Yep. Two b. Two b one. Oh, that sounds okay. I'll have you.
Correct the motion then. I, amend my motion to remove item 2B1, the minutes from the closed session on October 13 and to remove the conferences and mark it as an action item queue on the new business. I also support. Did everybody get that? Yes. Yeah. Thank you. Okay. Thanks for, catching that, April. Roll call, please. Fortress? Yes. Britney? Yes. Bean? Yes. Becker?
Yes. Fox? Yes. No problem. Yes. So it brings us to new business, metal detectors. Can I have a motion to purchase the metal detectors? And move the Board of Education approve the purchase of the metal detectors at a cost not to exceed $23,725 as presented. Support. Motion by Heidi. Support by Monica to purchase the metal detectors. Is there any discussion? I'm just gonna comment. I hope they're fine too high enough to detect, weapons, coming in.
Rope up. Woodruff? Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Becker? Yes. Fox? Yes. LeBron Lewis? Yes. Yes. Next is very positive. Happy news. National Principal's Appreciation Month resolution. I'm the Board of Education approve the resolution from the National Principal's Month as presented. Support. I'll move. Moved by Monica. Support by, Nathan. Should we read it first and then before we go Would you read it, April? Are you gonna read it? Whereas, National Principals Month is a month long event that occurs each October where school
leaders are in the spotlight for their endless commitment to being principals. National Principals Month devotes the month of October to thank principals for all they do. And we celebrate these heroes of education and honor our school principals for their significant impact on the success and well-being of our students. And principals are visionaries who lead us in providing the best possible education to future generations, and we thank these school leaders for all they do. And an important part of ensuring that the students of Hazel Park Schools can fulfill the potential of a bright future is providing students with a rigorous and well rounded
education, and principals set the academic tone for their schools. And it is their vision, dedication, and determination that provide the mobilizing force for student achievement and success. The effort of our school leaders is tireless in the pursuit of excellence in education, and principals are a vital part of our students' education as they set the academic tone for their schools by working collaboratively with teachers and staff to build high academic standards, set performance goals, utilize best practices for achieving those goals, and a secret to
student success is a well run school, and the key to that is a great principle. From leadership to teacher evaluation to student discipline and more, school leaders have an important role. And principals are leaders who work tirelessly to ensure the success and well-being of each student in our learning community, and great schools have great school leaders. Be it resolved that the Board of Education of Hazel Park Schools encourages parents, guardians, and our community to learn more about the contributions of our school principals and the roles they play in ensuring every child has access to a high quality education in
a safe, supportive environment, and let them know how appreciated they are. We can vote. Okay. Yeah. Thank you. They're they're great leaders. They need to carry a heavy load. I'm just looking that it says Rick Nagy president. I didn't catch that. That was corrected, at the table. Yeah. We have it at the on the paper version. It's correct. Okay. Screw me off. Room call, please. Christine? Yes. Becker? Yes. Deaton? Yes. Wardrops? Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Board training is up next. A motion for board training. I move the Board of Education approve board training as presented.
Support. Moved by Heidi. Support by Monica to approve for the board training. Any discussion? Roll call, please. I have a really quick name. Is this the board that we got this document sitting on our table today? Yes. Yes. Is Fab no longer attending? She's not. That's why April and Heidi are attending the the organizational meeting. Oh, just the organizational meeting. I thought it was the whole conference. Yes. Aren't you also attending? No. Oh, okay. Okay. Okay. Roll call, please. Yes. Rathee? Yes. Eden? Yes. Becker? Yes. Kraft? Yes. The parlance?
Yes. Anton? Yes. D is the AED purchase. Can I have a motion? I move that the Board of Education approve the purchase of the four AEDs at no cost at the at a cost not to exceed $6,000. Support. Moved by Darren. Support by Monica to purchase the AEDs. Any discussion? Roll call. Fox? Yes. Ortiz? Yes. Mhmm. Yes. Becker? Yes. Cortez? Yes. McCrombley? Yes. Yes. Next we have the, Alliance Coalition, the MOU for the coalition.
Need a motion? I move the Board of Education approve the collaboration with the AIDS Park Community Coalition and the Alliance of Coalition. Second. Motion by Monica, support by Heidi. Any discussion? Okay. Roll call, please. Pratine? Yes. Warder? Yes. Dean? Yes. Becker? Yes. Koch? Yes. Locronowitz? Yes. Engine? Yes. Next, Millennium Copiers. I move that the Board of Education approve the amended contract with Millennium Systems for our copier lease. Support. Moved by Darren. Support by Monica to purchase the copiers.
Is there any discussion? Hearing none, roll call, please. Fox? Yes. Pratine? Yes. Eaton? Yes. Becker? Yes. Wardrose? Yes. McFarland? Yes. Yes. Literacy grant. 35 m literacy grant. Do I have a motion? I move that the Board of Education approve the composed budget for the 30 35 m literacy grant in the amount of $288,842. Support. Moved by Monica. Support by April for the 35 m, grants. Is there any discussion? I just have a quick question.
I think you told us this week, this was phonics based. Is that correct? That's Orton Gillingham. Yes. Orton Gillingham is, exclusive direct instruction program based on the principles of the science of reading that will be supporting, really support this grant that supports training of teachers so that we implement it in the classroom as well as some resources and materials. I think that's the thirty five m. Oh, well it's they're going for the same details. Oh, okay.
So I won't ask it again later. No. That's okay. So so in the 35 m grant, it is true that we are using Orton Gillingham. Okay. There's something called Orton Gillingham Foundational Foundations and that's the one that's supported by the 35 m grant. And that's the one that would include phonics and other elements of reading it. Yes. Perfect. Thank you. They're both nice grants. Okay. Roll call, please. Eugene? Yes. Beagle? Yes. Becker? Yes. Portra? Yes. Bach? Yes. Legrand Williams? Yes. And then? Yes. Motion for Oakland Schools MyStar Internet.
I move the Board of Education approve that fees to be paid to Oakland Schools not to exceed $15,019.29 as presented. Second. Motion by Monica, second by Heidi to approve the Mindstar Internet with Oakland Schools. Any discussion? Roll call, please. 13? Yes. Board passed? Yes. Sorry. Dean? Yes. Becker? Yes. Fox? Yes. The Friendly Place? Yes. Yes, sir. Yes. 35 n grant approval motion, please. I move the Board of Education approve the proposed budget for the 35 n Reed
Innovation Grant in the amount of a $187,500. Motion by Monica. Support. Support by April. Any discussion? That was Debbie. Oh, it's Debbie? Yeah. I mean, I meant it, but it was Debbie that said it. Really different. Okay. Support by Debbie. Any discussion? Okay. Roll call, please. Yes. The Crown winners? Yes. Eden? Yes. Becker? Yes. Borges? Yes. Yes. Yes. PECART approval. I move board of education approve the proposed PECART program for the CTE teachers. Support. April. That was me this time for real.
Alright. Motion by might have had support by April. Wait. Do we Beth, before we vote, do we wanna make sure that that didn't That it recorded? Well, the screen just did something, so I don't know if we wanna make sure that we're still recording. Sounded like something when I'm back there too. It's like, you guys okay? I know Internet service has been, like, a real hot topic all day today, but we're still in. Okay. Sorry about that. I just wanted to make sure we didn't cut the meeting like that. Can you just tell it again? Go again. Okay. Starting to get creepy. Yes. Yes. Real quick. Yes.
Dean? Yes. Yes. Fortress? Yes. Fox? Yes. I wanted a a budget on this, so I'm a no until I get a budget. It's a I'm a no. Motion carries five to two. How do I call this done, Sophie? Business services site. Business services site assessment report to, section step b. I move the Board of Education approve the amendment of the engagement letter and move forward with business services site assessment as discussed.
Support. Moved by Heidi. Second by Debbie. Discussion. I still have doubts on this right now. You just didn't vote on one thing because of budgets and our audit's not coming in, and we have negotiations coming. And this is a lot of money, a lot more money than the first round to continue doing this, and we were asked by, staff members to hold off and let them do their jobs as we've all have seen that they've been doing a great job at their finances. So I appreciate that.
So I'm still gonna be a no on this one. I I would like to wait and let our finance team do what they're doing. As board member, I still have not received any information. We get these clips of, oh, we have found a 100 or 1,800,000.0 here, but no budget amendment. We had another one discussed on Wednesday that we found another 1,100,000.0, but we've had no amended budget since, June. It is now October. Still no amendment to our budget, and we're waiting on our audit that we're not
going to get until the thirtieth, and we might not get till the day of the thirtieth and no time to review it. To me, that is not adequate work. We should be getting this stuff in a timely fashion and being able to have that information, making educated decisions on how to move the district forward, how to work for kids to move the district forward. I think we should, move forward and get the people in line with the zero
based budgeting and, everybody involved in the district and where our finances are, not just the business office. Monica Crystal, do we have an update on when we expect to receive the audit? I know that the firm was still finalizing it, that we hadn't We don't. They're still finalizing it. So, we're just as anxious to see it. Sure. We need those numbers to for a lot of things to move forward, but we don't know when we'll receive that. Put it in my mind, the Board of Education that Monica and Crystal did not get, Jason's computer because of the investigation that was going on until right before the
budget was due. They got it in May, and so allowing them to do what they need to do and then revisiting the zero based budgeting is the recommendation of our entire team as well as Terry Les. The board gets to make the decision, and, of course, we're gonna do what we need to do. But you even in the proposal, it speaks about having departmentalized budget, and you have to have that first, and they really need to be able to get to the end of that. I just think it's important for us as a board to listen to our staff members as well. It's a lot of funding, and we are saying no to a lot of things
lately that deserve a yes. So I also, Heidi, I understand I I this is a board meeting. Okay. Thank you. I appreciate it. Why why is our This is a board meeting and it's a voting decision. She she smoked last week. And I think we need to move forward with the vote. Oh, I'm sorry. I thought this was discussion time and everybody was discussing. That's why we're up here. Well, generally, the board president calls out people to speak is is how it works
because it is a business of these seven people. Sorry, Monica. No. I apologize. So, you know, I came across I looked up the UHY letter from, June, and there's, like, eight corrections. There were purchases made that the board did not prove expensive purchases according to this letter. There's eight steps that we need to do. It's recommending that we approve, payments before they go out, that we come in here and we approve checks before they go out.
So we have the UHY with eight recommendations. We have Larry, Terry Less with 50 recommendations. And then we have, the municipal services that has a plan of how to do that and how to resolve some of those, problems. I think we have a big financial issue, and it's not due to the financial people that we have. So that's all I wanna say. I think we have a lot of work here, and I think they're working very hard. We've never really gotten a complete report. Like, we have 1,900,000.0
supposedly in a fund balance when we need 5,000,000. 5% of our budget is 5 or $6,000,000. So where are we getting the other $3,000,000? We have to cut the top of the budget because we doubt we did deficit spending. So what are we cutting? I know we cut some. We didn't replace some staff, but we get a list of things very unofficial looking. What line item was cut in the top? Did we buy less supplies? Etcetera, etcetera. I just think that we need the person that knows how to solve it or
how to solve it. And he reassures that he's not going to be a burden. He's going to be helpful. He isn't gonna pressure anybody. And so I think we need that person. So anybody else? Yeah. I would. Just to echo, I have the same concerns that I have last week. We're talking a lot about a deficit, and the the principal staff member that mister Sobe has proposed to work directly with our business office hand in hand, was just forced to resign from a school district that over the past three years has had budget deficits of 2,500,000.0,
5,100,000.0, and 5,300,000.0, three years in a row. We would be paying $125 an hour to work directly with that person. It was said that mister Sobey comes, you know, very highly recommended. That district is not doing well, and he that that is who he brought, to provide us with direct consult and say what a turnaround they achieved. They did not achieve a turnaround. They are actually doing worse, deficit over revenue wise I'm sorry, income over revenue wise than they were the year that he worked with them on a zero based budget.
The report that he gave us, I was able to reach out to a district that he had previously worked with, is not a $20,000 report. It is very candid. It was word for word almost exactly what was in theirs. And I would just add on the statement that one of the recommendations was that we approve payments before they go out. Last week at the committee of the whole meeting, mister Sobe worked over nearly $3,000 more than his original budget. We approved him to get paid after the fact. So right off the bat, that is a negative to one of our own recommendations.
We did not pay him. A check physically did not go out. We approved additional payment for him for the he had completed prior to yep. He went over his budget, and we voted last week to up his budget to pay him work that he had already completed over and above his allotted amount. Correct. And it was approved. And then the payment went out. Payment didn't got did not go out without prior approval from the board. But what she's saying is he already did that work. So this is why I said too that was a hard yes for me.
But I know it had to be paid. He did the work. It just wasn't ideal as we had a budget for him, and he went over that. He knew his budget. I think what's important, at least at my end, is that I agree that this is something that is necessary. I agree it's something that we should look into in order to get ourselves up to speed. A consultant would be really beneficial. That's what our our business staff is really reaching out to if that's what they're desiring. I don't think this is the guy. I, again, you know, anything else that was this amount, we are looking at a strategic plan RFP. If this was a capital purchase, anything like that, that was this amount of money,
we would request proposals. And for this one, for some reason, we are just moving forward, based on the recommendation of Truman Law Firm, with this particular consultant that they recommended. And I I think that we need options. I I I am okay with the action. I do not think this is the company to provide it. I I, tend to agree. I don't dispute that we need some some help, some someone to come in and look. I'm not exactly certain this is the person, you know, based on a couple of
things. One, the recommendation coming from Thrun, who I think maybe has led us astray in certain circumstances. You know, also our staff, you know, has asked to help, you know, I don't want this to look to seem adversarial, but, you know, we did get a letter from the state. We have Terry Les' report. We have all of the stuff that tells us that, yes, we have work to do, and I think would be great.
I don't necessarily know that this is the person. It would be nice to get some bids and some you know, and then going forward, getting our budget and knowing exactly where we are with the audit. You know, those are my concerns. I feel it would be nice to get working on it right away, but I'm not exactly certain this is the person that we should use. But those are my concerns. Mister Cook. Okay. If I may, I I look at this as no reflection to the current staff
because I think that you both are very highly qualified and you have your heart in Hazel Park, and I know you care about Hazel Park. That's without a doubt. But I look at this as an enhancement to help get this through because I don't wanna go back to 2015 where I sat there and I was fired. You know? I was fired twice. And then I was rehired, and that was a nightmare. That was a that was just terrible. I don't know how many people in this room was back there in 02/2015, but it was bad.
And I don't wanna do that to our, staff members. I don't want them ever feel that way. And so I look at it as an enhancement. And if we can get us, you know, to a more positive way, it's nothing against you guys. That's all I have. Missus Hinton, I'm requesting the ability to speak. I think we should vote. Everybody had a chance to speak. Yeah. I think we need to vote. I just wanna say one more thing. You've already spoke twice. It's discussion board. Why can't I talk? Because normally, if you watch any other school board meeting, that people have a chance
to speak and then they move on to the next person and that person has a chance to speak. I think I think we had a good discussion last week. We had another discussion today. So I think that we can vote. Roll call. Mhmm. Workers? Yes. The ground words? Yes. Thank you. Because I would like to see the audit in ten days, because I would like to have this put out for an RFP. No. Edgar? Yeah. Speaking the same way, it would be nice to have this go out for bids and have a clear, concise options.
You know, this is a lot of money. You know, I did talk with, board members of Oakland Schools, and he said sometimes you gotta go backwards to go forward. Right? You gotta pay money. Sometimes it's painful to do. So but knowing that the audit's coming, we can have that. We could possibly get bids. That's why I would put no. Excuse me. Yes. I'm gonna go, with a no as well. Again, being able to have multiple companies give us a bid as opposed to just going with one person is fine.
Yes. Motion carries four to three. Portrait of graduate. Action item. Need a motion, please. I move the Board of Education to the portrait of graduate rendering as presented. Second. Oh, motion by Monica Sari, second by Heidi, to approve a portrait of graduate. I love it. I do too. Any discussion? No. That looks very good. Roll call, please. Fifteen? Yes. Boardress? Yes. Deaton? Yes. Roger? Yes. Fox? Yes. McCrawridge? Yes. Yes. Motion carries. Strategic plan RFP action item.
I I move the Board of Education approve the RFP for Strategic Planning to be presented in November 2025. Second. Motion by Monica, second by Heidi for the RFP for Strategic Plan. Any discussion? Okay. Okay. I'm trying to be clear. This is getting permission to send out RFPs. It is. When you spend, normally, when you're about over $20,000 and you're gonna have something done, you look for various people to come and present to you. And so that's what we're doing.
And we'll send out an RFP this week to these organizations and see what they bring back. Their role would be then to present in November. And I apologize. I didn't ask to speak. I I don't think this is that amount. I thought I saw something from WSTAR that it's not this amount. And to me, just pushing it back, we are in this district needs a reset in a lot of areas, and I think just pushing things back farther, I would
prefer just to go with Debbie Stern and get moving. Beth, may I speak, please? Yep. Just so that you guys are aware, they cannot do anything anyway for several months, nor will the other ones. And so even Debbie made the suggestions when I attended the school board training about how you work together as eight, suggested that you get multiple bids so that you can hear from people and find a group that works for you. So I know for a fact that MASB cannot do anything until January at the earliest, if not later than that because they only allow their people to do two
at a time. I I think with something like this as important as this is that this isn't gonna be something that we live by for several years to come. I think it is within our best interest to make sure that we do it right and we go through the process properly, and vet these different organizations to see who we wanna help guide us through this process. Because this is an an intricate process with a lot of stakeholders involved. I am equally of the mindset that it is very important, but I would like
to go through the RFP process. Can you explain a little bit what the RFP you're giving them the opportunity to come and speak to the board on, our next board meeting? I'm Ben, may I speak? Yes. Thank you. Yes. As stated last week, that we would send these out and ask them to present at the November board meetings for then at the final November board meeting for December, you would determine who would be doing that, and then we would work with them in the meantime to set up all the dates. I liken it to what we went through when we picked the policy firm.
Is it It's the same. And this is guaranteed to be done by May as I'm reading this? Well, when I spoke with Debbie at length, she was suggesting May. There is never a guarantee, because it will always it'll depend on who can start when. And, it would be our hope because the plan would be then May, completion, June, approval, July, then we work on the strategies up and underneath to complete them for a rollout in August. So that would be our hope, but it really depends on who you pick and
if they have the ability to complete it by then. So this will be sent directly to AASA, Metro Leadership Institute, and Metro Bureau, and we can M a lot. Accept MASB as it was already written. No. The purpose is to have them present. So Debbie would want us somebody to come and present itself. Okay. In person? Yes. Okay. So, MASB, Debbie Steer, has sent us the complete packet and the agreement, the contract for $9,880 And then, this weekend, I got a message.
It was to me and to Amy, which I don't understand. It says, hello, Amy. I'm sending this quick email to follow-up on the strategic planning proposal contract I sent you recently. I'd be happy to set up a phone call to discuss the proposal further. And then the answer confuses me. The board will be voting this is doctor Wilcox. The board will be voting on a RFP on Monday. I will reach out to you on Tuesday. We're not voting on a RFP. We are this is an RFP. This and this is an RFP.
Inside that letter that I wrote for this is the proposed RFP, to send out to them in the in the board packet that we gave last week. And so I gave you an example and gave us an opportunity to talk last week about any changes that you would want. Okay. And the you told me about a group that's 45,000. Is that AASA? I don't know what it'll be, but that goes along with your Portrait of a Learner. It's the same organization for Portrait of a Learner.
So I don't know what it'll do because as AASA, but it it's one that you should send it out to and make a determination, MLI, Metro Bureau, and then the individuals that did our strategic plan originally with us, when I first arrived. Okay. We can vote. I'm I'm in favor of just doing m a and speed. They work for us, but, we do vote and, we'll decide. Sending out the RFPs. Monica motion. Heidi second. Roll call. Routine? Yes.
Board dressed? Again, I'm not it seems like delay, delay, delay. Push back, push back, push back. I will, I I just feel like we're not moving forward. We're just delaying. I'll listen to what they have to say. So yes. Dean? Yes. Sorry? Yes. Yes. No. No. Motion carries five to two. Student discipline. This is said. I move the Board of Education approve the student discipline as presented. Second. I made a motion by Heidi. I made a motion by Monica. Second by Heidi. You guys are trying to confuse me after that.
Any discussion? We can't really discuss these. So roll call. 13? Yes. Fortress? Yes. Because the parent has the right to petition. Dean? Yes. Becker? Yes. Fox? Yes. The problem is? No. Yes. The motion carries six to one. Bookkeeper accountant. I move the Board of Education approve the addition of a bookkeeper slash accountant to the business office staff. Second. The motion by Monica. Second by, Heidi for the bookkeeper accountant. Any discussion? I just wish that we would, I I have a hard time with this.
And the fact that we had, Matt Miller come in and we paid him for a long time and a lot of money to come in and get our books in order and get them straightened and that an additional person in the business office is needed. I would really like to see if we can get a temp in there and to see if that works before we go ahead and hire somebody full time.
Anybody else? My opinion on this is the fact that we have said earlier that you guys are waiting on things and waiting on things, and they're behind. They're trying their best, but they are behind. So if we had someone helping them do this, I think we would get more of our at ease and the things that you are requesting and things that you guys want by having someone in there doing this. Any other discussion? May I speak again, madam president? Yes. Thank you. I asked, I just like to add that, you know, it is gonna take them time to train this person also and bring them up to speed.
Okay. We're gonna vote real quick. Ritique? Yes. Fortress? No. Eden? This was a recommendation of both Oakland Schools and our newly hired consultant, to take the legwork of some minor tasks off of the business office staff so that they could focus on much higher level work. So yes. Becker? I, yeah, Terry Les and Don Solvey and our business office involved been on board with this. To me, this is a yes. Fox? Yes.
Is this a one year oh, this I'm sorry. I'm discussing. Is this a one year contract? Yeah. You'd like me to state it? Know? Or is it No. It has to be a position that we would approve. It is what is needed inside, our department to take those items off so that we're doing higher level work on a regular basis. Correct. Is it a one year contract? Well Don't isn't this person going to have a contract? Oh, yes. Of course. They would have a contract. But if they weren't doing their job, then we would not renew them. So what I'm saying, the contract is for one year. And the contract that they will sign is for one year. This person will sign for one year contract.
They're not an administrator. So they're just like your accounts payable. They work in the office. They're an at will employee. So if it's each year, you guys approve staffing. Okay. Yes. And, Jen? Yes. Motion carries six to one. Now we have the closed session. I move the Board of Education support the letter applied by mister Patterson on 10/13/2025. Second. K. Motion by Monica, second by Heidi. This is we came out of that closed session and didn't vote on the action, was to deny. So do I have does she have to add that to her motion that we're
just good? No. The letter the letter sets forth. Our the position that was at appeal and come. So we're voting on The denial. On the denial. I don't think there's any discussion. Roll call. 13? Yes. Rodriguez? Yes. Eden? Yes. Go right ahead. Okay. It crossed my mind that we talked about that we had two separate closed sessions, so I apologize for that. Yes. I support the letter provided by mister Patterson. Bender?
Yes. Fox? Abstain due to the fact that I wasn't there. The front line? Oh, these are the minutes that we without. Yes. Stand down. Yes. Yes. Motion carries, with one abstention. Conferences. I move the Board of Education approve the con pre conference approval request as presented. Support. Motion by Support by Debbie for the conferences and discussion. No discussion? Okay. Roll call. Boardress? Yes. The Brown Boys? Yes. Eden? Yes. Frederick? Yes. Class? Yes. Yes. Motion carries. Six to one.
Doctor Wilcox's report, enrollment. Great. So I put several reports in there, out of PowerSchool so that you could see how many students, are in each of the buildings, but also that you could start looking at attendance and the improvement that is attendance that is happening. I'll let you know that our enrollment is up, as, there'll be some changes perhaps when the audit is done in November. But for at this moment, we're feeling really positive about the increase of enrollment. We always include it flat in the budget, and so we'll bring more to you
as the audit is complete. We also, have the fundraisers in there for you, but I'd also like to, announce the ADK grant winner. So the September grant, recipient was Kristen Houston, fourth grade teacher at Hoover Elementary. She received a $50 classroom grant to purchase supplies for a reading and calming corner in her classroom. And then on October, Laura Kronick, first grade teacher at Webb Elementary, received a $50 classroom grant to purchase STEM games and magnetic box, dots to support hands on learning.
Congratulations to both of them, and, ADK has been really wonderful to, get those for us and, to continue to support our teachers. Holiday baskets will begin on November 3. The applications can be picked up at your child's school or here at the board office. The deadline for applications will be December 1. Funds are running low, so be on the lookout for some great restaurant nights coming out very soon. And if you'd like to give a donation for holiday baskets, we will take that as well. You can bring those to Jamie's office, and she'll make sure that they get to, the account.
October 30 at 05:30 is our is a special meeting for our budget and audit. We appreciate, you guys being flexible in, having that meeting for us. On this Thursday, we're excited to have the John, James LeBron Family Foundation meeting, visiting Hazel Park Schools. They're working with two school districts in the state of Michigan, Hazel Park and Southfield. And then we will spend the afternoon, and we have two, board members and some administrative staff that'll be going to kind of brainstorm community schools, developing a pilot and
an outline for Oakland County. We're really super excited to highlight the work that we're doing and to, get them to do some more support. James LeBron's Family Foundation is coming through the Ballmer work that we're doing. When is that meeting again? Thursday. When the board members are participating? I'm sorry. I interrupted you. Oh, I'm sorry. No. I interrupted. Monica is coming for the Promise Zone. April's coming, and Beth's been invited. I don't have the exact time for Thursday afternoon yet. I was emailing him today as well. Thursday. Thursday. Thursday. Thursday. Yes. Okay. I thought it was next Thursday. Nope. It's this Thursday, twenty third.
That's okay. You're the pallets. Aren't you in, oh, I'm gonna be gone. I sent them out. I'm like, Thursday. Oh, maybe I didn't I didn't send you out there for that. Yeah. Okay. I'm fine. The Hazel Park, blood drive will be Thursday at the high school. So come on out and, donate blood. Our kids would love that. Mike McFaul came today to honor the Hazel Park Coalition and Hazel Park Schools and all the positive work that they're doing. If you remember the Hazel Park Coalition, we have two grants and you approved that tonight. One is through the county and the other is through the federal government.
We're really excited to continue to promote prevention to our students in Hazel Park Schools and our community. Tomorrow, October 21, McDonald's, 20% off. The food will go to the high school. And then I also wanna remind you, our band got fourth place this last weekend, scoring a 71.75. And this Saturday at 02:56 at Grand Ledge, they will be performing. They'll be out there on the field, probably Saturday morning getting warmed up. I also wanna know let you know that I followed up by looking at the
cases at the high school. What happened was is that Tammy and Jimmy worked on separating cases so that all the sports had, items. I also was informed by a teacher today in the meeting that they actually research the steps that they do in other school districts. I wasn't aware of this. I wasn't here. And then at the beginning of the year, there was some moving around. So you can see, bowling, girls and boys have one. Football and, wrestling are in one together. Cheerleading and dance are in one together. Basketball boys and girls will futurly be in one together.
And what I was informed by one of the coaches, who's also a teacher today, that, they were supposed to bring their teams to go do that together. So, I did ask George and Chuck just to kinda walk through all the activities and make sure everybody has an equitable space, and then those teams will make some decisions about how they're they're dressing up and putting the items in there. I think that's it. Who's in charge of holiday baskets? Rick Navy. I have a quick question on this enrollment, because it's way different. It's beautiful, very colorful, but way different than we had before.
This number of currently enrolled students, is that from October's count date? October count date doesn't come in until November. So we'll be audited in November. So I said earlier so this is at the time that I ran it. That's how many students were enrolled in each of those buildings. So each month we did that. That way in the path, we would pick a date and we would pull it and show you Okay. So this so it's this year though? Not necessarily the official October count? No. We we will not get that till they finish the audit. Okay. And and is this all of our schools including Jardin and Invest and Yeah.
So if you look, it has for you, Edison, Jardin, Webster, if you go down in the page, Advantage, Hoover, Webb, and Roosevelt. It's very, very tiny. Keep on talking about this. It's very tiny. I printed it out. It's very tiny. Oh. I should not have it on the screen. It's not on here. Yeah. Yeah. It's it's separated. You can see it. Then you can see, how much they are by different grade levels and programs so that you kinda see some of the comparisons that are happening. This is kind of some of the powerful pieces that we can do in the PowerSchool. It also shows it by race for you.
It also shows you the number of what as I said, by grades. And then you can kind of look at the changes that have happened, enrollment and exit numbers. The you can see how many are enrolled, and you can see that the amount of people that withdrew or transferred is less this year than it has been the year before, which shows really good positive, changes that are continuing to happen in Hazel Park schools. Okay. Okay. Thank you. So we're up to, before you get this informational, item. And we have request for future agenda items.
Do you have none? I have two, if possible. Alright. One, way back when I asked for, to to have the board go on to a closed session regarding, the security in the district and tell us how that goes through. We have some new board members that really don't know if x happens. X goes to Mister Fox, may I interrupt you just for a second? That's the November, meeting. It's gonna be data, student system of support, and safety. Forget that one. Yes.
Yes. Thank you. By that time, the EOPs will be completed, and then you'll get a copy of one inside the closed session to look at. Okay. Awesome. Thank you. I I appreciate that. Sorry to interrupt. I just no. It's okay. I just wanted to make sure. And then the other thing, this is gonna be a hot topic, but I'm I wanna listen to the people out there. And the one person I was listening, and I remember way back when, the board used to do expulsion hearings. And I know why they stopped it because it was too many and they wanted
the superintendent to, you know, kinda take care of that. But maybe it could be time that we go back to that where we meet fifteen minutes before and have an ex a session, you know, for an expulsion hearing. So that way, it takes less pressure off of the administration. And, yes, it brings the the, back to the board of education where the board can make the decision as a whole. So we're not I mean, it's part of our job, you know, I I feel. That's just an idea. So that would be policy work that you guys would look at during that time,
but I do let you know then we would have to change a little bit about what we're doing. Because any student that gets into a fight comes to my office. Any student that uses drugs comes to my office. The other ones that would be expulsion are maybe those kids then that went back and and didn't follow the contract. We spend hours each week I I understand. Addressing this with kids. So it's a good conversation to have in the policy committee. That's all I'm asking for is a conversation so that the board is aware of that conversation and the public is aware of it so we can discuss it. Thank you, mister Cox.
So it doesn't have to be on the next agenda. Just whenever it fits in. I know it didn't. So yeah. Yeah. I think it's it'll probably be in the November or December policy. Yeah. It'll come. So in January, it'll come to you. That's yeah. It's just Alright. That's a way. Okay. Public comment. Donald McGinnis. Donald McGinnis with the 37 East Granite. I just wanna reiterate there is a problem with the email system that you guys have in place. When I have a, there's a chain of command that you guys all talk about, and we have a problem, you're supposed to go up to the next person out.
Okay? And when I do send emails to you guys for you guys about your one employee, sometimes I shouldn't just be able to message you guys without the school administration being attached to that. So you guys are aware about your one employee and that you don't have one employee, the backlash that we get as standing up to speak up about these issues. Okay? I just wanted to bring that up as a main concern because you get a
lot. You guys know it. You guys get the backlash as well. And the delegation and all that that we get for speaking, you know, what we see as the problems in the district. And it's hard to come up here to speak this. You know? I don't wanna come up here and yell and talk or tell you guys something and then get called a liar and names and all that over Facebook tomorrow, which I will be. It's I'm bringing these awarenesses to you guys so we can make the community better.
So we can move forward and do what we need to do. You know? Like, if it is to pick the best wrestling coach, the best candidate in time. Right? Or if it is to for an explosion, you know, for, you know, an expulsion. You know? These issues need to be brought up to you guys in a way. We need to have more discussion. Five minutes ain't long enough to talk. Eight minutes ain't enough to talk. I could talk three, four hours of this stuff and keep going. You know, and what I ask is, who's gonna be held accountable?
Who who when do I get my questions asked? You know? I mean, there's some questions in there that I have dated back all the way down back before June that I still haven't had any answers. And that's a problem. So my question is, when do I get answers back? How do I get answers back? And where do we move forward on this? Because without discussion, discussing all this, and talking about it, and fixing the issue, how are we supposed to fix it? You guys just keep sweeping it under the rug.
And all I asked all I ever asked was for a fair thing. That's all I cared about. You guys owning the procedures, policies, and being fair. I shouldn't get in trouble for coming up to speak in my problems for freedom of speech at a public committee. Thank you. K. Thank you. We are up to board member and administrative comments. First of all, I'd like to say thank you to Monica for, doing the, the t shirts and the and the recognition.
I do it's a lot of work. I've been there, done that. I know what that work is. And also, the the Promise Zone. It's nice that they have, supplied that and, you know, process you know, help with you with that. It's nice that that five words. Doing that. Also, I apologize if I offended anybody, mister Ian Lloyd. I do trust your opinion, but when you start attacking people, I just I just don't think that's fair. And especially when you're attacking my board president, who is like a mother to you, I know, and telling her that she doesn't have any rights, basically, that upset me.
So we just need to keep this conversation civil. We need to keep it appropriate. We can't keep putting people under the bus like we have been. It just it's it's just not productive. And, you know, to call out people, you know, do it in the hallway when there's not a mic on. Are you doing it you know, I I just it just upsets me, and I'm sorry. So I do apologize, but I offended you, mister Lloyd, but, and I do respect your service, but I do have, somebody in the service right now. My my, five uncles served.
They're passed now in World War one, two, and, Korean War. And also, I have two, cousins I mean, not nephews that served as marines. And so I do have family in the military that I respect a lot. And this is some of the military. So when you bring that up, I, again, I understand that, and I do respect you. So please, I I just want the board meetings to go in a civil way and, not being attacking everybody.
We have to love people. That's what that's what the world is all about, is love, you know, instead of being in the hospital. Thank you. I want to thank you for acknowledging the Promise Zone. I'm super proud to be a part of the Promise Zone and get this board. Having the t shirts, I know it's just a t shirt, but these kids love it. It's different than any other t t shirt we normally do for the Promise Zone. So it's like their own little keepsake of something different. It's also super nice to see the audience packed. I know they don't stay for the whole meeting, but having the whole audience packed for these kids, it's great to see the support system that they have.
I want to acknowledge Princess real quick, from Advantage. I love that she said that people can change. A lot of kids, especially high school kids, can get nervous to come up here. She was very honest about her past and how she's changing and the people who help her, And I love that she acknowledged her change as well. I was very brave of her to come here and do that, and I cannot wait to hear her come here the rest of the year. And then I also just wanna thank the best for presenting. It was nice to learn more about their history. I've known a lot about it, but it's nice to learn a little bit more than I knew before. So Yeah.
I've, it's great to see the students come on here. You know, the principals and all of their families and everybody, and they're excited and they're nervous. It's a great thing and I appreciate the work that the Promise and someone does with that. It's great to hear about the summer school success, you know, all the way down to the young kids, all the way up to the high school. It's, you know, it's promising to see even our high school students going and getting credit recovery because that's so important for their futures. Also the advantage of Princess. That's great. That takes a lot of courage to stand up there and speak in front of the board in a packed room like that.
Portrait of a Graduate, I think that turned out really well. I appreciate all the hard work that, you know, a lot of the community and, the staff and even students were played a big part in that. I think that turned out really well. Get your drama tickets for the play coming up. I bought mine inadvertently. I bought them for the thirtieth, which is when we have our audit. So I'm hoping that that doesn't go too long because I think the term of the play is at seven. But, and then policy committee next week, I'm looking forward to working on that. So thank you.
I bet you could talk somebody into switching your ticket dates. We did. Okay. So I'm guessing I'm gonna go next. I had to write it down because I get very nervous. But I I wanna say each week, for I don't know how many weeks, we've been sitting here listening to community members, express frustrations and concerns, often telling us we're not doing our jobs. And then recently, we received a re for a request, and I understand an email today that reminded me of stuff that we did take. However, in five months since we took those actions, we failed. We, as a board, have failed to follow through.
And that failure leads me to conclude that some of the concerns raised at the podium are valid because we're not doing our job either. So at the May 15 board meeting, it was a unanimous vote that to bring doctor Wilcox, sorry, back, under two conditions, a letter of reprimand would go in her, outline of the findings that the investigation would go in her personnel file, and that a plan of assistance would be implemented to get our district's finances in order. I do not believe that either one of these actions has been completed.
I haven't seen any evidence of the fact. So I would like to make some motions today to get that moving and get those two things that we said we were gonna do in place. So I'd like to motion that Doctor. Wilcox is hereby directed to confirm in writing that this letter of reprimand has been placed in her personnel file by the next board meeting. If there's failure to comply with the directive, the board directs the president, Hinton, to give a written reprimand letter to the HR director, instructing her to place a reprimand in doctor Wilcox's personnel file. That's one, so you can vote on that, and then I can do that one.
That's a second. Motion. Oh, motion. Yeah. Sorry. Second. Second. Okay. Motion by Debbie to place the letter in the file, second by ID. Discussion? I think we need some clarification from mister Patterson here because, one, there is the revised school code that we need to file out. Go to closed session. The motion was made public. That's why I thought we could do it in public. There's been no letter that's been approved by the board as I stated last time, and I have a right to a hearing, which is you can certainly have whatever letter you want, but I have a right to a hearing on that.
I prefer discussing this in Yes. I just I I'm okay if we wanna vote tonight, but I I think we need some guidance from our or any other advice. On on what we can do. Discipline for me because there's yet to be an approved letter for discipline. The letter was approved on May 15 by a seven zero vote. There was no letter approved that day. Then it was done in closed session, which is a violation of my rights. And this seems pretty orchestrated this evening, by the way, which again is a violation of my rights. I just wanna be clear because we have personal liability under the open meetings act
too that I I wanna state out in the open in order to protect my personal liability that I did not vote on an approved letter in a closed session on May 15. We didn't vote in closed session. We came out public session. It's in the minutes that we voted seven zero that there would be this would take place, that there would be a reprimand letter and a plan of action. And it was in the newspaper. I made a statement in the newspaper, and I read a statement here at an
open meeting. Everybody on this board is well aware that you all heard that and voted for that. Then I would like to take a ten minute recess so that we can review whatever letter is being referenced because I am unaware of an approved letter before you go. I would like to read that. If if there is one, which I'm not denying, I I'm unaware of it. I do not recall a vote where we approved a letter. So whether it be an open session or closed session, I would like to take the time prior to voting to be able to review that letter. Not approve that letter. That was the one that that read herself.
The what? You read it when we were at the high school. You did that. It doesn't wanna be that I have a right to due process. And the only two things that your report found is that I did not have a wellness committee and that we front loaded the funds to the junior Vikings, which you which you were all aware of it, and then the junior Vikings paid it back. Those were the two items in the report that that were there. There is no other financial items or anything else that was on there. So it really leads, being disrespectful to your superintendent, your one employee, to try to
make it look like the Don Sobe is a part of what the the report was. If it was, then I need you to release the full report to me, please. I'm not I didn't mention the report. I mentioned the letter. I again, I have a right to due process for the letter. I have a right to see it. The board has to approve it in open session. And making a decision what you're gonna put in a closed session or taking it house to house, which was mentioned at the last meeting, is not an open meetings act. Okay. We're going to move on. We're not gonna get in a situation here until we get more legal advice.
I I believe you had legal advice. What's that? You had legal advice from your attorney. I know. And you said stop, I believe. I have a table of This is a closed session and you won't go in there. So We've had an opportunity to discuss this, the specifics because I'm not aware of the contents. Or she's choosing she wants to hear it in open session, that's her choice, but there is also a due process requirement also. So there's three different things that I'd like to have an opportunity to discuss. And that an open session right now is, I believe, not the proper form.
Can I come in and speak to you? Mhmm. Okay. Okay. Well, my second motion is to, Dirk, can I make the second motion now? Yep. Are we aware what the second motion is? She's saying I'm not gonna say anything. No. Okay. Oh, it's the same thing? So we know what the second motion is. It's not really the same thing, but Okay. It is the same. One is the reprimand letter, and one is the plan that's supposed to be followed. So it's the same thing that we can't speak in public about. Okay. Perfect. Okay. I thought I withdraw my motion. Do you Heidi?
I just like to say, I saw on here that the Hayes Park dance team is a spooky fundraiser. I really wish we had something on that. It sounds like a lot of fun. I often wonder why, like, our district. I haven't seen a, fun run or, walkathon or anything. I've seen them. I contributed to one, and they raised. I donated. And when I went on the website, they already had $55,000. I was like, oh my gosh. So I I'm glad to see the Hays Park dance team doing that.
I do have concerns and if you can kindly look into it and why, mister Patterson's email and phone number are working. Though I I parent said that? I actually believe that grandparents spoke with mister Patterson directly. So She did. Yeah. Okay. Oh. Okay. She just made a mention that his email was not working and his phone number wasn't working. So I was just wondering And he he does get emails from me every day. I'm unaware of my email except some people spell it with two t's, but I
did receive an email from her. The phone, is actually an ongoing issue with regard to me trade taking that number over to the high school and then trying to port it back over here. So there are some calls that still go, I believe, to the high school and don't get automatically forwarded to Ford. So, but it's kinda hit or miss. Most of the time, I think I get them, but I'm not assured them a
100% of the time. But I did speak with her on the phone, and I did talk receive an email from her. So I don't know what she's referencing with regard to the email. I I also want to remind us that we need to be careful talking to individuals that don't represent and don't have parent permission, in in in a conversation. Yeah. But she was just making a point that his a lawyer request. Yeah. Yeah. So It was it's pretty short. Okay. I have a couple of things. I'm gonna met then, Peggy Burleson that just recently passed.
Peggy was a long time, PTA volunteer and community school representative at Beecher Junior High before it became Hazel Park Junior High. She gave her heart and soul to the kids here in Hazel Park and, gave millions of volunteer hours. Peggy was also a lion and, did a lot of work for them and built ramps on houses. And, you just you don't see the amount of volunteerism anymore as an individual that
Peggy did. She, was instrumental in Hazel Heroes here in recognizing students, making sure the Lions Club, was involved and, got the shirts and stuff with the kids. So, she also did Holiday Basket and was in charge of the high rise. I don't think we do that anymore. We used to deliver. And she trained me to take over for her, but she never really stepped out. So, she just couldn't, she was full of energy. Peggy was a great lady. So I wanted to mention her.
I wanna, again, give a shout out to the principals for the leadership and the dedication and the love of of their work that they do every single day. And all the great things help happening. We've had kids up at Camp Hazel Woods already. I have drama on my list. We had, couple build up the park series. A lot of things going on here. Trunk or treats. Concerts are gonna be coming up with holidays, but a lot of wonderful, wonderful things in Hazel Park. So in I wanna comment about my statement last week about showcase.
So I wrote something. I don't wanna miss anything, so I wrote it. I would like to address a comment I made at the previous board meeting regarding the showcase at the high school. Evidently, it was taken as a sign that I lacked a degree of support or respect for the dance program that couldn't be further from the truth. I've always supported the dance team volunteering during the dance competitions and concessions. Let me tell you, it's pretty busy, until, boosters isn't, involved in that anymore.
So I've been doing that for a couple years. As I used to clean all the showcases when I worked at the high school, I commented on the Whitehead showcase stating it was awful. The trophies were gone. I personally knew there were many trophies in that showcase and, like the wrestling showcase, felt there was a reduced presence or sense of the history loss due to the removal of some historical significant trophies across all sports, not just wrestling. Like wrestling, Vicatz has a rich history. Hazel Park is especially known for these two programs.
Vicatz is over 64 years old, making it the oldest dance team in Michigan. I believe that we need to bring more attention to both recent and historical accomplishments across all extracurricular activities, including dance. I feel that we need to work harder to maintain our sense of history, all of the past, while supporting our present students' involvement and successes. And the showcases have been presented as reducing our historical support. I regret that some people interpreted my comments as a lack of support for the
program itself, so I felt it was necessary to specifically address the issue. I've always been and will continue to be a supporter of our programming in Hazel Park. And with that, can I have a motion? Just a second. Only because I got skipped over. And I certainly don't wanna take away from your statement to the dance team because they're very supportive. So I just wanted to say thank you to the students of the month that were able to come today and thank you to their families for supporting them. Thank No. No. I don't wanna take away from what you said at all. So motion to adjourn, sir. Thank you. Support. Okay, Beth.
I'm handing this over to you.