[Music] Regular meeting of Mount Clement Board of Education. Order. Call the role, please. Mr. Hall, here. Miss Hammond, here. Dr. McBTI. Mr. Shepard here. Mrs.
Walker. Mr. Walker here. Mr. Rickman here. A quorum has been established. Next on the agenda, pledge of allegiance to the flag of the stands nation.
Excuse me. Next on the agenda are citizens comments. If there citizens that make have questions and they want a written response to those questions, we ask that you fill out the forms in the back uh so
the question can be addressed adequately uh and we have a 72 hour time period uh by which to reply to the written questions uh from citizens. Next on the our citizens comments. This is a portion of the
meeting with the citizens can address the board within your questions, comments, and concerns. We' ask that you stand. I don't know where the microphone is. Huh? You want to come to the mic or can they stand? Can you pick them up? If they stand here,
ask that you stand come to the front of the room. State your name and address. Be mindful you have three minutes by which to make your inquiries. Also, you may not receive a particular response to your inquiry here this evening. Last but not least, I ask request that you address all questions, comments,
concerns to the chair. The agenda is now open for citizens comments. Right. Right up here. Yes, sir. Yes, sir. Okay. Very good. My name is John Balor. I lived at 475 North Aspen and uh 1980 graduated 29. I'm here
tonight to let you know that I will not be supporting the $9 million bond scheduled for a special election on May 6. There are several reasons that I will not be voting for this bond. I could speak on the previous bond with bond refinancing that was passed during
the early 2000s which we are still paying uh today. The bond built two new schools and already one is closed due to declining enrollment. that binded up new secure enrollment mark students scholastic performance guide to read all
students as a 2023 ranked in the bottom of 10% of Michigan students and no amount of spending on new school buildings, gyms, green spaces used to call grass and football fields to improve school performance. I could speak on that on
the it is the demolishing one half the high school that actually had shop classes labs and auditorium to replace with a gym when STEM and trade got in cold demand and could actually help the students to uh succeed after graduating.
These many other reasons which I'm sure have been already discussed. Don't need repeating. But what I really wanted to discuss was the deception of the school board for trying to get this bond passed. First, it was scheduled on a special election uh that really should
have been scheduled uh for the uh general election when everybody is aware of that election being held. And I feel that that's just trying to slip this vote through when many people aren't aware of this election. Second, uh you're I think or I feel that
you're trying to trick people by saying that our taxes are are saving money by voting for this bond when in fact the BL school systems could be saddled with the are the property owners going to be saddled with $139 million in new taxes until
2046. Your pamphlet for discussing the payment schedule for the bond containment was very small print with even smaller print stating the debt millage projections contingent on several variables which I'm sure were based on overly optimistic projected
property values and future bond refinancing. And third, nothing really states that students performance will improve with this incredible amount of spending that we ask voters to approve. So in closing, Mount Clement School Board has a history of being poor
stewards of the Mount Clemen school system students as well as money that has been given to them by Mount Cleman's property owner. Student map read or even performance ratings are selling or in the bottom 10% of Michigan schools and aroma is still too low justify $9,200
bond that uh actually the cost to M's property owners will be $139 million over the life of this bond. and act I uh this bond should not be approved by mcoming property owners. Thank you.
Thank you for your comments. Well said. Agenda is still open for citizens comments. Second call citizens comments. Last call. Citizens comments hearing or seeing none. Moving the agenda forward. Next on the agenda,
item five. Under item five are principal quarterly updates. 5A GSRP. Miss Stask 5B Sino Academy, Mrs. McNeely and 5C Secondary Complex. Mr. V Super. Yep.
Good evening board community. Thank you for being here tonight. Um, this is, you know, we do this three times a year where our we ask our building leadership to come and present and talk about things the great things that are happening u here in Mount Clemus Community Schools. And so, uh, we start
with our GSRP, Mr. will present followed by Miss McNilly at Simino and then Mr. Vil at for the secondary campus. Thanks. Good evening. I'm Lou Stass, the coordinator for the GSRP program. I'm losing my voice at the moment. I'm just
going to go quickly through the whole school year. Um we have 64 student 65 students right now currently enrolled in our program with 10 staff. These are reading the books and building. As you can see, the magnetiles are t tall taller than the students are. In
October, we took the children and their families to the apple orchard. Stan the fireman came to visit with his little uh fire truck that the children enjoyed riding in the parking lot, and we had Halloween parties. In November, the reparium came to the school for an
in-house field trip. And I can honestly say a year ago was the first time we had this in-house field trip. And the response that we got from the children's at first they were so hesitant and scared of these reptiles but within 10 minutes they were all I want to touch. I
want to see and the excitement that came from them that time a year ago convinced me I absolutely had to have them come back this school year because again it's a different group of children but they thoroughly enjoyed it. that's something that they don't get to see handson and
actually touch and enjoy that with it um with their classmates. Um in December we had plenty of learning and holiday cheer. The um backdrop that the staff um displayed and created for our children and our families was quite enjoyable for
all. um in J I'm sorry January learning again to read the letters of their names playing different letter recognition games in the classrooms going through in March we took the children to see the movie Luck on St. Patrick's Day and we had pajamas
on they were all green pajam there were green pajamas and St. Patrick themes and you know we we went we were able to go to the Imagine Theater which was a joyful time. They got their um drink and their popcorn and they sat through the
whole movie and totally enjoyed it. So um in April our school board member Miss Hammond came and read a story to our kids which they always love a guest reader. Um, we also have Miss Bonnie who has been an art teacher for over 30
years and she comes at least once a month to read to the children. They just melt when we have a guest speaker. So, if you ever have 10 to 15 minutes available one day during the week, just give me a call and I can work you into the schedule um without any problems.
Um, GSRP is busy. some of the upcoming events is we are going um Monday uh Tuesday of this week we went to the Mount Clemens public library to share that with the children and their families. The parents were invited invited to participate so they got to
see the new and improved Mount Clemens Library to again encourage family interaction interaction with the local community. Um, Tuesday of next week, we're going to the Metrop Park Nature Center and walking the trails over there and exposing them to animals. We're
doing our field day. We're going to the Detroit Zoo. Our graduate whoop our graduation is June 6 from 5:00 to 7:30. This will be the first time we're doing an evening event to encourage all families to come, not having it during the day where it impacts work schedules.
So, we're opening it to the families in the evening and we expect an even bigger turnout this year. Um, with it any if any of the school boards or staff members would like to mark their calendars for June 6 at 5:00 to 7:15, we
are more than welcome. We will find a chair for you. And um just thank you for enjoying my little quick slide presentation. But I wanted to share one data information that we uh calculated from last year's enrollment. Last year
we had 65 students. Of the 65 students, 33 of them currently attend seinal. That is 50.77%. This is the first time we're actually have tracked the numbers and so
we now have a base and next this graduating class we're going to track their numbers. So, at the next presentation for next school year, you'll see my numbers on the data sheet indicating what the numbers are and my goal is to continue to get them
increased. Thank [Applause] you. One of the things really quickly, one of the things really quickly actually uh stalls and I met this morning. Uh one of the things that is
imperative, we all know what what the research and data says about how imperative that uh zero to four but that age group uh a great early childhood start is for our kids. Number of our students that come to us come with
deficits. So, we worked this morning to talk about how we're going to try to be intentional with uh that GSRP program uh meeting and aligning with our elementary and kindergarten uh staff to make sure we're targeting the gaps that deficits
that our kids come. We have kids that come to us in kindergarten already with deficits from in from outside of the district. I mean, from uh outside of our GSRP or just come to us in general. And so, it's it's really important that you know our GSRP is intentional with skills and and developing the skills that our
kindergarteners are showing deficits in. So, some of the data that we look at, I know Miss Shaw shared a lot of the the fun things, but they have a curriculum. They're implementing their curriculum that is uh academically focused and driven. And uh it it it's imperative again, one of the things that that we're
going to do is ensure that that grade crosscurricular grade level conversation is happening so those kids can come to kindergarten ready to ready to go. Right. So, um, it's imperative that we do that from GSRP to to the elementary and from elementary to
middle and middle to high. Um, so we're aligned and and targeting and being intentional with the the needs of our kids. So, thank you, Miss Thaws, and that whole staff. Few of them are here. Um, they do a great job in receiving our kids and and we're excited about that program continuing to grow. So, thank
you. Um, Milly Seinal Can you come up? Oh boy, I have to forward and talk. That's okay. Uh, is that on? Am I all right? Uh good evening and uh
thank you for coming. Um this is our quarterly quarterly report for uh seminal. Um this is our enrollment for our ECSE program. That's our early childhood special ed. Uh last year at this time um our enrollment was 42 and
currently it's at 46. So up a little bit. Um and this is our enrollment for um kindergarten through fifth grade. um comparing from spring of last year to uh spring of this
current year. Um so we are you know holding pretty strong um in most grades a little lower in fifth grade um but uh stronger in seventh grade or second grade and fourth grade right
now. Uh and then this is enrollment overall u with ECSC the elementary and then total. Um so our elementary enrollment uh was 407 in last year. Um and um it's 401 currently and I
apologize that should be spring at the top. So it's actually the spring data. Um so I didn't change those titles. Sorry about that. Uh and then our total enrollment is 449. Uh was last year and right now we're at
447 including ECSE. Um and this is our information about our current NWA. Um so this is from fall of this year until winter of this year. So, these test scores were in September, I'm
sorry, September and then um in January, December and January, and we'll be testing again next month. Um so, these are our math scores. Um and this is the percent of students that are uh proficient in math on the NWA. Um so, we
did get some catch-up growth in second grade, fourth grade, and fifth grade, and we're holding um in kindergarten. Um there were some losses in first and third grade. Uh and I attribute those to we do have some long-term um teachers,
substitute teachers in those grades. So um it was a little rocky there for a bit, but we have some really strong teachers in there now. Um so we're expecting that our final testing session should show um some growth there. Okay. Um and then this is our
reading scores um again from fall and September to um the winter testing cycle in December and January. So again um we have you know we have some holding steady there in fifth grade um and first and second grade. Uh
we do have some work to do. Um we are uh implementing some strong reading interventions. We have two reading interventionists and a reading coach uh that are going in to assist um and help in the classrooms with that. And so we're doing some pull out intervention and then some
push in into the classroom as well. Uh and so we move on to culture and climate um and our attendance. Um so this is data from fall. So that was fall a year ago fall and then the school year fall pretty much um about the same a
little bit uh less. Um and then moving into spring of last year and spring of this year. Um so uh last year we had um 218 students who had chronic um attendance issues. So that was more than 10% of the school day um this that we've
been in school that they had missed. Uh and this year we have 138. So I think we're we're doing some strong work on that. I think a lot of that is um we're really uh making sure that we're notifying parents and we're um making sure they have all the information they need about how important it is for their
students to be at school uh every day. Um and also making sure they're aware um when their students aren't there and how those quickly those numbers can add up because one day missing can add up really quickly to um to 10% of the
school year. Um moving on to our discipline. Um so these are uh suspensions. So again it's from fall comparing fall of last year to fall of this year. Um there was a slight decline. Um and then again fall or spring I'm sorry of last year to spring
of this year. Spring of last year we had 99 um suspensions and we're currently at 90. Um so we are down. uh we're continuing to work on that and uh working on the mindset that um we're focusing on changing behavior, not just
punishing behavior. So, getting our students to understand what they could do differently, working through their problems, lots of peer talk, peer interventions, um and those kinds of things, helping our students understand how to go about conflict um in a uh the
way that we would like that to see them do that. Uh and then um the fun nice and and fuzzy stuff, our celebrations. Um so working a lot on the culture and climate in our school. Um so this is our PBIS or
positive behavior interventions and supports. Um so we do work with our roar cart. Uh and what this is is our students get punch cards. Um, and whenever they're caught doing something that we want to, um, focus on as being positive or they're doing something that
is, uh, really great uh, or good, um, we want to recognize them for that. Then every staff member has a punch and so they can get a punch and they can spend those punches on things on our roar card a couple times a month. So they come to our library uh, and they get to spend
um, their uh, their punches in the library. Uh we also do our student of the month. Um so uh we recognize our students uh every month in every class um who's been um recognized by their teachers. And
then at the end of the month we have a pizza lunch um with myself and the students and some of our our um GSRP staff come along as well because we like to recognize them also. So this is a couple of our our lunches that we've
had. Um we are working right now uh to uh ramp up our library space. Uh in the past it was kind of a a media center. Uh and now we want it to be more of a
library space where students can come and get comfortable read a book um to just realize what that great feeling is to to read a good book uh in a nice comfy welcoming space and just kind of relax. So, so that's what we're working
on right now. We are also um in the works um is uh we'd like to build a tree kind of in the center there and have the kids work on that to make kind of like a inside a natury feel inside. Um we're also working with Anton Art Center um to
create a m a mural on the back wall that the students will all be involved in um creating that as well. Uh, and this is our black history family night that the equity team uh put on for us. Uh, we had a chance to eat a meal
together. Uh, students made um did some artwork and we made buttons out of those. Um, they did a gallery walk of some artwork. Um, and I have a couple pages of that. Um, so some more uh we
had um some of our second grade students uh sang for us and uh it was just a really nice fun event. And there's some more of our gallery walk. Um this all artwork of our our students. So all students K through
five created something to display for our evening. Um so for our March is reading month um celebrations and we did have a book fair. Uh this was our second book fair this year sponsored by Scripps Howard. Um so all students received five books
that they got to take home for free and so there was 10 over the whole school year. So five for each event. Um and then uh we had some reading uh guests there as well. Um, and we had Commissioner Wallace there read. Um,
prosecutor Lucino came as well. Uh, and then we had a group of students that were all reading having fun reading the same the same book there. Um, we also had our kindergarten round up. Um, and our focus was on blasting off to
kindergarten. Um, so we had a lot of fun with that. Um, we had some some guests coming. um Rashidita there, our board member, um came um and had a table for the great start readiness. Um and wait,
head start. I apologize. Minute it came out of my mouth, I knew it was wrong. Um and then we had a raffle um that we gave away to the families who came. Um last weekend we had a tree planting celebration for uh Earth Day. Um, and so we planted um had a donation
from the uh AKA's came and uh planted a maple tree um on uh our lower elementary playground. Um and then we also had two other trees that were planted with flowers on our upper elementary playground as well. Uh and then we put
up some snow fence around that this week to make sure they didn't get ran over at playground or at recess. Uh this is some pictures of how welcoming our front office is uh when people come in. So for
every uh season, the front office ladies do a fantastic job of making it just a a great space that people want to come in um and see and feel comfortable. Uh also wanted to recognize our seminal teacher of the
year, Mrs. Aller. I just love that picture. So, thank you. Um, and then also, um, a couple of superheroes where, uh, everyday work there at school couldn't get done with the without the help of Mrs. Dickinson.
Um, so she's a superwoman there, uh, helping with, uh, discipline and culture. And Mr. Fringer, who's our counselor, he's a superman, just doing fantastic job. So, we couldn't we couldn't do it without the two of them. So, thank you. And one last thing is we are having
um a family event coming up soon, next week, a dodgeball event which will be adults versus students. So, um and you're welcome to come 5 to 7. Um have some food and throw a ball at a adult or
or child maybe. I don't know. But thank you [Applause] Thank you, Miley. Next up, we have Mr. Vil, our
secondary building leader. All right. Good evening. Thank you. All right. So, for the secondary complex, these are uh quarter three sharings uh of data. Um so, I'm proud to present some positive
data for enrollment. Uh this is comparing quarter three of last school year to quarter three of this year. We're up three students. Um and then also for high school we have increased enrollment as well. Uh last
year was 171 around this time. This year we're at 226 for high school students. All right. So on to some academic data. Um this slide shows the percentage of students who made the honor roll for quarter 3. Last year we
were at 24%. This year, quarter three, we're at 31% for high school. And then for middle school, quarter three is 17% and that was last year. And this year we're at 25%. Um, so as you can see, the bar
graphs are gradually going up and that's something that we are very proud of. Um, and I'm proud of my staff for assisting our students with that. So, how do we get there? Um, our last meeting I introduced this academic intervention program for students under
a 2.0. Um, and I have some quarter three updates to the left of that. Um, so we first we were going to try to pay our tutors uh with teachers going to use teachers as tutors to pay them here. Um, instead we have shifted and we're using
a partnership formed with the single family living organization. Uh they used to do the tutoring at the library across the street. And so we just had them migrate on across the street and service our students between 3 and 5:00 pm each day. I'm sorry, Tuesday and Wednesday.
And they actually serve food at every session as well. You know, that's huge for our babies being here that late. They get hungry. So I'm very proud about that. Um students below 2.0 GPA decreased by 23 students from quarter two to quarter three. meaning that um
those students went above a 2.0. All right, so that's proof that this program is effective. Um it is working and it is worth our time. Uh it's also free by the way. It's not costing us anything. This is a nonprofit organization. Uh we have also done this
by encouraging an academic culture through honoral ceremonies that you'll see pictures of later in this presentation. Uh we gave the students t-shirts that they proudly wear around here with their name on the back showing that they made the honor roll for that quarter. Um and then posters of
recognition that you may have seen or viewed walking through the hallway on the right hand side as you come in. All right, on to some NWA data. All right. So, this graph right here will show you um NWA winter reading
percentage of students who are proficient. All right. So, in short, I have a summary at the top because that's very small and if you're not an educator, you probably are eyes getting crossed trying to see. Um but the positive is that uh we've experienced
growth from the fall test to the winter test. There's another test in the spring which is like the culminating test. So we're looking to see even better results then. But we did experience 5% growth in reading proficiency for 9th graders and
then for 12th graders 11% growth in proficiency. For math uh we have even better numbers for math. Uh sixth grade 1.5% growth. Eighth grade 8.3% growth. Ninth grade 4.5% growth and 12th grade
again is leading with 18% growth. Um it's not a surprise that 12th grade is leading in both categories. Usually by the 12th grade students are taking life very very serious and each test they feel like is like the SAT. Um so they're buckling down and showing out for
us. All right so moving on to attendance. Uh these are numbers I'm very proud of as well. Uh this slide shows number of students who are considered to be chronically absent. And for those of you that don't know, chronically absent is students who miss
10% or more of the school days over the school year. Uh so for quarter three last year, this time we had 53% of our students who were chronically absent and we are down to 35%. Um, for high school, that was middle
school, that last slide. For high school, we were at 83 and this school year, we are down to 66. All right. So, how do we do that? Um, we have some intervention systems in place. I have some quarter 3 updates
over to the left. Our last meeting we talked about the e-wam's coordinator position um who works uh basically like an attendance agent to make sure that um our chronically absent percentages are intact. Um so updates the e-wims
coordinator uh received a promotion um uh to pupil accounting. So congratulations to him. Uh Dariana Goodson is serving as the interim at this time. We're looking to fill this position this month. Uh the position is posted and we have a couple applicants
so we're looking to close on that ASAP because it's a very important position. Um we did this by sending truency letters home. Uh we also do robocalls to inform parents each hour about student absences. We do hall sweeps very randomly
um but at least once or twice a week, you know, just to keep students on their toes and keeping them in class. Um and we have switched to a personal empathetic approach that has rendered positive results, you know. So instead of calling and and threatening that, you
know, if your child doesn't come to school, you'll be going to jail. We're calling and asking, "Hey, where's our baby? Where's so and so? We miss them, right? We need them at school." Uh because that gives them the best opportunity to be successful. And that's been helpful.
So on to culture and climate more positivity. Uh quarter 3 2023 uh I'm sorry 2024 we had eight suspensions in quarter three and this year we have five
suspensions. lower down which is good because around this time of the year when things heat up students begin to kind of get a little antsy right and you know they get into trouble right so we have been aware of
that and um taking proper precaution all right so how we do that um some quarter three updates over to the left um we introduced a a cares program for students who have been caught with like a a marijuana vape pen.
Um we do not have students smoking in the school which is which is great. Um but if a student is caught, they'll be referred to this program. They actually come here during the day. It's a part of our our ISS program. So they'll sit there all day and get some knowledge on why they should not be smoking marijuana
um and the damages that it may cause to the body and the brain. Um the win is that we don't have any repeat offenders, right? So that's working obviously. um it works a lot better than a suspension or in school suspension with no information. We want to inform our kids so that they can make informed
decisions. Um also, uh we have a car life skills class that will begin next week working on soft skills. Um and we will run that in conjunction with our career explorations class. It'll be a push in once a week. Uh we have implemented Monday morning culture
meetings for middle school. our middle school students are responding to the warm weather. Um, and they are getting a bit antsy. Um, and so, uh, our dean, Mr. Hannah, he's implemented Monday morning meetings where we have a guest speaker and we're going to, uh, implement
conflict resolution. Uh, because I'm realizing, um, that our babies just don't know conflict resolution. They don't know the proper way to handle a conflict. Um, instead they may approach whoever they're into it with, right, with an aggressive tone, aka checking
them, right, and and expecting a positive response. So, we want to give them the skills that they need in order to be successful. And so, we're going to do that. Um, quarter three, the restorative practice process prevented 11 possible confrontations. Very, very
proud about that. Um, so I've been tracking that data and the restorative process for those who don't know is when you get the two parties that are into it. They sit down and we force them to talk it out in a safe environment. A lot of our babies really want to solve their
issues in a positive and productive way, but again, they don't have the skill set or the setting or maybe the proper environment or friends that would allow them to do that. So getting them to sit down, you know, with an adult to talk that out where everybody's heard, when students are heard, or kids are heard,
they feel heard, they feel confident, and they feel like they don't have to fight. Um, when they don't feel heard is when they act out. And so I'm proud to say that we prevented just this quarter 11 possible confrontations just by having those meetings. All right. So, um, we do have
ADI advisory enrichment programs where we have community partners that come in. I highlighted the new ones. Uh we partnered with the Anton Art Center and they're doing a mural project and I know we are up for a bond. So if we get the bond, the good thing is that we'll be
able to remove this mural. Um there is a a gel material that's being put down first on the wall and then the students will paint on top of that wall. And so we'll be able to peel that off and take it with us wherever you know we land. Uh we also have a entrepreneur but we
had an entrepreneur six week workshop that went very well. Students enjoyed that. Um and that was uh hosted by a business owner who actually has a hair salon on 15 and crash. All right. Um we also have in school one-on-one therapy. Last meeting
I I told you guys about uh we had a mental health healing rally and then we had group therapy. Um we have graduated to one- on-one therapy. We have a licensed therapist by the name of Dominique Walker of Healing Matters LLC. She does six hours on site every
Thursday uh for middle and high school students as long as we have uh the parent permission. She also offers free virtual sessions offsite uh for overflow because she is overflow right now. She has 37 students that she sees. Um, so as long
as we have the parent consent, she's able to sit with them, you know, for 15 to 30 minutes. And we also include this in student behavior contracts as a uh social emotional learning intervention and support. On to field experience and
college visits. Uh, recently we went to Oakland University. We've been to McCome Community College. Uh, we have a H.B.CU tour in planning. Um, every class has taken a trip. So, these are just a couple of them. Uh, ninth grade went to
Henry Ford Museum. 10th grade is actually going to the Detroit Historical Museum. And 11th grade went to the Charles H. Wright African-American History Museum. I try my best to go to each one. As a first year principal, it allows me the opportunity to get to know
my students outside of the classroom. They get to know me as a person and not um a disciplinarian, right? And we have a good time. So, I've been really enjoying that myself and they've been enjoying it, too. Honor roll ceremonies we do each
quarter. Um, again, we've given out t-shirts for the honor roll. We've given out certificates and for quarter three, I have to figure out what I'm going to give them. I want it to be a surprise. So, more to come. Um, again, we're introducing that conflict
resolution series. Uh, we want to start a peer mediation program. So when kids do have disagreements, they can depend on themselves. So we've been modeling uh the restorative process and I'm ready to turn it over to our student leaders so that they can do it themselves. I think
they have the power and the information to do it and so I'm going to test them with that. Um the student life organization is an organization of high school students who have formed to create uh fun events uh like the talent show, like field day, battle of the
classes tournament that's coming up, student and staff game, fashion show. Um and then of course my senior sponsors, my beautiful staff, they have put together prom, junior prom, high school graduation, and the middle school graduation. Um, high school graduation
will be on June 6, 6 pm. Middle school June 9th, 10:00 a.m. Both in the large auditorium. All right, that is all. Thank you for your time. [Applause]
So, I want to thank our our building leaders again for the hard work that they're doing. Um, some of the things for you, there's a few faces here that I've never seen before. Um, and so for those of you that have been here, you've heard this before. All right? But I want to make
some things clear. Um, a lot of the exposure and the things that you see that we bring for our kids and experiences that we try to provide them is uh we are focused as a district a year ago when I got here um we
developed we began the process of our our strategic planning process and it involved a lot of you community members. It took over a year to develop. We had over a hundred participants in that process and one of the the things that was that came out of that development of that process was this community
determined that we need to be an environment that develops the whole child right um who we service we service our student population is 90 90% economically disadvantaged repeat that we service a 90% economically
disadvantaged community. So what that what does that mean? Right? Our students come to us with a lot of trauma. So that the interventions and the things that we uh implement are intentional to not only educate, but we're trying to develop the whole child because that's what this community
determined that was needed. So we have counseling, we have refer we have different interventions, restorative practices to help our students learn how to deal with conflict, how to work through challenges. Um, in addition to that, unlike some of our surrounding
districts, right, the the names that we frequently hear who have Chipua Valley 33% economically disadvantaged students, Lance Cruz, 36% economically disadvantaged and so on. One thing that we're very proud of is something that we
have to be doing something right because for the first time in over 40 years, uh, as far back as the the the data can go, we've increased enrollment for the last two years. Um, and I'm very proud of our team and everybody who's been involved. And so I know there's a narrative about the number of students that attend here,
but we have over 900 kids that come through our doors and we service every day. So, so our staffs, our staff at all levels are here working tirelessly to meet the needs of our kids and meet them where they are, right? And and we don't
have the the the benefit uh like some other communities where they can just come here and we can teach them reading, math, science, and social studies. We have to be our teacher of the year who's been here for over 36 years has to be not only be the instructional leader of
her classroom but but also a mom, a mentor, a a a guardian, you know, somebody that loves them. So, we're very intentional with uh implementing things that develop the whole child social, emotionally, and academically. At the end of the at the end of the day, as a
school, our goal is to help them become, uh, competent in their skills, uh, but as well as prepare them for college and career or whatever they're going to go into. So, we still provide our CTE opportunities. We have several kids that have received scholarships. We have several kids that are going off to
college, going into career. Um, we we still have our culinary arts class, our construction class, our HVAC class, and in the future, no matter what happens, we plan on continuing to to grow those programs and increase them. They're not going anywhere. Everyone doesn't go to college, right? I have three kids. Two,
one, one went the traditional college route, the other one is a business owner at 20 years old. I don't want to go to college. So, we have to make sure our kids are prepared for whatever. Um, another point of data in addition to the the enrollment, how we're increasing
enrollment is again word of mouth increases enrollment. How you treat people and how you uh develop their children increases enrollment. Uh we also have our our student and staff recruiters. So increasing enrollment is one thing. We're also very intentional with trying to uh recruit highly
qualified staff. So we have a we've implemented this year a new role uh that is our student and staff recruiter who is going around to universities Grand Valley State next week uh been Oakland University Wayne State and some other universities to actively recruit uh pro
prospect teachers. Um we've had the benefit of partnering with uh some school districts who in our county who only have kindergarten through 8th grade. So their eighth graders need somewhere to go to high school. we've been able to partner and collaborate with them to be able to recruit their
students. Even the school down the street prevail their eighth graders have uh visited us uh I think last month about 40 or 50 of them. We had opportunity to engage them, recruit them um and a lot of their uh student a lot of those students and families are are very interested in coming here. So we're
very intentional with with not only just building enrollment um but we we want when we get the kids we want to do right by them, right? We know historically uh some of the the the narratives that are out there about who we are and how we
you know how we do things, but at the end of at the end of the day, as you've seen, we're having an impact with the kids that walk through our doors. So, our team are very proud of uh one other thing that's very unique to us compared to other districts in our surrounding area. Uh we last and this is a positive,
but it's also it's it's relevant. Last year we had a 33% uh special education referral rate. All right, that was that's double the state average of special needs students in our building. Double the state average of special needs students in our building.
All right, so favorably that that number is down this year to 26% because of interventions and because our staff is doing a lot to identify uh students with disabilities correctly. But that number is still very high. So when you talk
about our teachers that are in the classroom, they don't have a classroom that's leveled in front of them, right? They don't have 25 kids that are all at grade level. They may have 25 kids that are at 20 different levels and we're expecting them to reach all of them and
help them grow from wherever they are. So when you look online and you look at data and I hear all these the rhetoric about our student proficiency rates, we're not comparing apples to apples. No excuses, right? And then I can always say it ain't my fault. I just got here, but I'm here, right? And so this is all
of our responsibility. I feel accountable and responsible for what has happened for the last 30 years when I wasn't here. But at the end of the at the end of the day, we are we are we're working with a very unique population and I am expecting our building leaders and our teachers to help our kids grow
from wherever they are. when they come to us with deficits to a kid that comes to us a grade level behind from wherever they come from. Um, we don't I don't expect our teacher to grow that kid who's two grade levels behind in a year
and catch them up, right? That's not even realistic. But we do expect them to work on having gap closing growth so eventually they they do catch up and get where they need. So when you look online and you look at the data, it's proficiency. And while that's the game that we play because it's associated
with standardized test and and finances, we are we are looking for gap closing growth, right? We are trying to grow our kids. We're looking for growth and by by the way of focusing on growth, we'll get to the proficiency. Um NWA both all both of the principles
talked about NWA. NWA the data that you saw up here NWA is a benchmark assessment that we use. it is aligned with the state uh assessment as well as ACT and PSAT. So how it's a good predictor of how kids are going to perform on those standardized test as
well. It's a standardized test but it's local. What how we use that though we we use that to inform instruction. It's not just a test, right? We use that it tells us it gives us reports out on the the skills and the areas that we need to focus on for our students. And then our teacher, we expect our teachers to take
that data, be intentional with how they plan their classes, their lessons, and their their their instruction. Um, and so eventually what the research shows is as kids become proficient on that assessment, it will lead to proficiency on other assessments, ACT, SAT. It's a
great predictor for uh if the research says that if students are proficient in fourth grade reading, if they are actually in the 80th percentile on that assessment, they are predicted to have at least a 21 on the ACT. So, it helps us inform our instruction more than anything, but it's not the end all. We
are trying to, you know, our goal and what this community said should be the goal of this organization and this district is to develop students uh that are uh contributing to society, believe in civic engagement, and are good people
that can learn because we focus on because we service and meet the needs of who we service. We do things that you haven't even mentioned. Our elementary sends home food weekly to our kids and our families. Blessings in a backpack. We
have we had an event this weekend to give all of our seniors free prom dresses. Uh we are working to service the whole child and family. So we're doing family workshops, events, turkey giveaways for the community. Um and so we we we are really trying to meet the
needs of of this community and to have our kids be a part of that so they can understand the importance of civic engagement, right? Um, in addition to that, I want to share a few other things. Uh, I I'll just leave it at that. Let me
say this. I I want to make this clear for the record. Robbie, can you hear me clearly? I know this is I can I'll say this at in my comments as well, but beyond or not, I want everybody to understand that we ain't going
nowhere. We will be here. We got 900 kids here. The the infrastructure may look a little different, but we will be here, right? We're doing a lot of great things. We're servicing a lot of families. We're needed. And so, uh, while there's a lot of emotion and
feelings regarding the bond, well, these kids deserve the best. I wonder what they would do, how they would work and perform if this community and we showed that we believe in them and that despite who they are when they come to us, they deserve to walk into a state-of-the-art
facility, right? What kind of confidence and belief in them could that build? What will we get out of them then? I don't know. It's not the answer. You don't just build it and they'll come. You got to do right in the building. And we're on the right track for that. All of our leadership is brand new um in their roles. Our Mrs. McNeilly is new at
the elementary. Mr. Villa is new here. and I'm in my second year as a superintendent. So, we are very excited about the things we have done financially. We have in a year and a half, our CFO back here, Mrs. uh thanks to her leadership, we have worked ourselves out of a deficit uh for
the first time in I don't know how long, but [Applause] we and early earlier on in my uh tenure here, you know, I got rocks thrown at me because we had to make some tough decisions and rightsize this district and and put the resources in the right
places and make sure that we are being efficient with with our resources. And so for those that don't know, we are trending in the right direction and we'll continue to do the work. We'll continue to show you. We I encourage everyone to continue to come out, not just because it's a bond. This room should be filled like this on a regular
meeting. If you're really invested in this school district, I I know there's a lot of history here and everybody loves Mount Clemens until we ask for an investment. Now it's close the school, send them to another district. Well, you think you're not going to pay taxes for the other district? you think you're
going to pay less taxes if our school closes and they go to a another district. You you don't think that you have to pay taxes. So, it's very interesting to me um the narratives that are out there, but at the end of the day um we're going to be here and we're going to service who walks through our
doors and we're going to do the best we can. So, I'm proud of my team, every teacher from facilities to the kitchen staff to security, pair of professionals, our board, you name it. everybody is bought in and is uh is is is really eager about doing what's best
for kids and our staff. So, thank you all for listening to the presentations. Thank our building leaders for standing in those gaps every day. Our staff that is here is tough. You're encouraged. We have volunteer forms. Anybody that ever wants to come and volunteer in a classroom, you're more than welcome. Uh
our doors are always open. We believe in engaging the community, but more importantly, we just I encourage people to come and see who our kids are. I've worked everywhere. We got some of the best kids in the world. We got some great students that are eager for somebody to love them, push them, and believe in them. And those are the
people that we're looking to hire. Um, we've a lot of there are some people that are not here any longer. They may not have necessarily fit the narrative and what we're trying to do. And that's okay. We wish them well. But we'll continue to build and continue to bring high quality staff and and services to
our kids so they can reach their fullest potential. So, I want to thank everybody that has never been here before. Well, I haven't seen you in two years. Um, for being here tonight, I I encourage you to bring somebody else to the next meeting. Um, and I leave you with this and and we talk about this as a district.
Uh, you get more of what you focus on. You get more of what you focus on. And and and if you want to focus on uh negatives or failures, that's all you're going to see. But I guarantee you, if you focus on the positive, we got them. We have them for days here. So, thank
you for coming out and I guess that'll be my comments for later, too. So, I won't have any comments. I might go again on Yeah, I know. I know. Yeah. But thank uh all of our staff that are that are here. [Applause]
Next on the agenda, action items. Item six under the consent agenda this evening. Item 6A, approval of minutes. A1, the April 9th, 2025 committee of the whole
workshop. 6 A2, approval of the minutes of the March 19th, 2025 regular meeting. 6B, approval of bills for payment. 6B1, March bills for
payments. Agenda item 6 C, new hire. 6C1, a pupil accounting consent. Agenda item D 2526 elevation elevation renewal uh
current curriculum associates LLC consent agenda item 6E. The 2526 news lea renewal 6F resolution resolution authorizing Mont Clemens
Community School Systems to participate in the school of choice for school year 2526 resolution excuse me consent agenda item 6F1 the time period for the uh school of
choice April 1 through September 5th. 2025. This includes A I mean F1A, 105 and 105C. The chair would entertain a motion regarding the consent agenda.
Moved by member D. Walker to approve the consent agenda as presented. Second by member Cahoun. Are there any questions, comments, concerns regarding the motion on the floor? I'd just like to um to tell the
people that have never been here before that these items were discussed in our workshop last Wednesday. So um if there is no discussion today, um this was discussed last week in our workshop which is open to the public. So if any of you want to come, we'd love to have
you at the workshop. want to hear about any of the things that are going on. Thank you. Any additional questions, comments regarding the consent agenda? Hearing or seeing none, call the role,
please. Mr. Walker, yes. Mrs. Cahoun, yes. Miss Hammond, yes. Dr. McFaten, yes. Mr. Shepard, yes. Mr. Rickman, yes. Motion carries. Action item agenda seven,
business committee 7A, approval for the track team overnight for the state finals. Mr. Superintendent, you know, we have to it's a part of our your policy um is to our any overnight stays for our athletes have to get approval from you. And so um
that is why that's on here. It's that time of the year again. Our student athletes will be going to compete in the the state tournament and they need your approval to stay overnight in in I think it's Grand C Rapids. Mr. Pitman Hudsonville, I'm sorry, Hudsonville.
Heard the recommendation. The chair would entertain a motion relative to consent item 7 A, the approval of the track overnight trip for the state finals. So move. Moved by member McFaden.
Second. Second, member Hammond. Any questions, comments, concerns regarding the motion on the floor? I haven't. Yes, sir. Yes, sir. In the past, this is uh been on like the same
day as graduation thing that someone in fact, I'm going to say yes anyway. But I'm just wondering, have we resolved those conflicts? is it's not like interfering with prom or graduation or anything. Yeah, I walked into that last year and we made that adjustment. So in the past our student athletes, this
would be around the same time as prom and so if they went to that there's a chance that they would miss prom and so we made the adjustments with prom. Yeah, that's always a challenge. Any additional questions, comments, concerns regarding the motion on the
floor? Um, I just want to address policy number 2340. Uh, if anybody has questions about this particular item, um, please go to, uh, the website and you can go to see the policies from Mount Clemens Public Schools. It's
policy 2340. Thank you. Any additional questions, comments, concerns regarding the motion on the floor? hearing a seeing none call roll please. Dr. McFaten, yes. Miss Hammond, yes. Mrs. Cahoun, yes. Mr. Sheepard, yes. Mr.
Walker, yes. Mr. Rickman, yes. Motion carries. Next item on the agenda, item eight from the policy committee. We have item 8A reading for adoption of policy
5320 immunization policy 5330 use of medication policy 5330.01 01 epine. Yeah, epigan. Did that you know auto
ejector epi pin ejectors policy 5350 health well-being and suicide prevention policy 5460 graduation requirements policy
8320 personnel files policy 8310 [Music] 8510 wellness policy 2340 curriculum field trip and non-mandatory student trips. Policy
8,500, food service policy 0131.1, bylaws and policies and policies 8640, transportation for field trip and other district sponsored trips. Mr. Chair, you're
on the committee met last October. policies. We did the first reading last week at the workshop went over all the updates to set policies that are state and federal land. And I
move that the board of education um passes the second reading and adoption of said policies. has been moved by member Walker to approve policy
5320, policy 5330, policy 5330.01, 01 policy 5350 policy 5460 policy 8320 policy 8510 policy
2340 policy 8500 policy 0131.1 policy 8640. Is there a second? Uh I'll second. Thank you. second by member
Cahoun. Are any questions, comments, concerns regarding the policies? Yeah, Mr. Chair, I have one question. I know um during the workshop there were a couple policies that had um
where choices that the district could make. Are we are we voting on any of those currently? And what are if we are what are those recommendations coming from the committee? So they're they were included in the policy meeting. Um
they're just the choices that we uh have currently policies. Thank you. So they stay the same. Wasn't any uh new Gotchas. Any additional questions, concerns regarding the motion on the floor? Mr.
share policy 8640 um send it is that that's what we talked about. Yep. Any additional questions, comments, concerns regarding motion on the floor. And again like member Cahoun
stated everything that we deal with on the agenda we deal with it in a in a committee of the whole work session. We go into the detail about the items on the agenda hearing. Seeing none, call the
role, please. Mr. Walker, yes. Mrs. Cahoun, yes. Miss Hammond, yes. Dr. McFaten, yes. Mr. Shepard, yes. Mr. Rick, yes. Motion carries. Next on the agenda,formational items. Item nine out of the business
committee 9A financial reports. Any questions regarding the financial reports? Item 9B, contract listings. Are there any questions regarding the contract
listings? Jen, did you get any update on the Okay, perfect. Thank you. Any additional questions regarding contract listings? Hearing seeing none, moving the agenda forward. Item 10,
superintendent comments. Mr. Superintendent. Um you have school board calendar. I just just a reminder for you all to um see your weekly update for events and activities happening in the district. You're always invited. Um as well as on
our website. Another point of clarity um that I want to make and make sure that it's clear out there uh regarding our our uh proposed uh bond for the May 6 election that the May 6 election is not a special election. So I want to make
that very clear. was not a special election. Um there's uh full transparency and reports and things out there and that you can go and uh validate that information uh for yourself. Uh in addition to that, as you
know, we we are full steam ahead with with our the bond campaign. Uh there's been a lot of uh feedback. There's been a lot of town halls and opportunities to engage the community. Um, I've been on every try to be everywhere I can to have th have that dialogue uh with anybody
who who wants factual information and wants to discuss it. And I just, you know, I appreciate the continued support for those of the that are supporting. And for those of uh that don't support, uh, if it's if you're open to a discussion and a dialogue, I'm always
available. I've gotten a million emails and phone calls and and I try to respond and uh have those with with everyone who's open to um hearing another perspective. Uh and so thank you all for um just considering the opportunity to to be great in this district, in this
community, and restore the history. And um we'll never look like it was back in the day, right? We no district does. There's a lot of things that have happened over the last 30, 40 years. Um, but we can look uh we can still be
mighty and be a small, positive, powerful school district. Um, I hear the conversation about enrollment a lot. If there's an article in in the Detroit News the other day that talks about how many having 40 kids in the classroom,
right? So, it's like a no-win situation. We have an average, I think about 18 uh students to teacher ratio. You would think that that would be seen as a positive thing. Um but uh unfortunately it's not with all people. Um but I also have worked in other districts where
we've had 40 kids in the classroom and you know you have that other side of the coin. Right. So um we are again as I stated earlier I'm just proud of this district the hard work that our teachers do. I actually want to put it on the spot. Miss Allard as a uh 37 years that
36 years in this one district in this place. would you like to say a a word about your experience and and and what's going on and where we are and the direction we're going in just real quick. So I came here 1969 and I was embraced by
everybody and that's where I felt and the kids that have gone through my hands and I'm sure I'm speaking for everybody. It's not easy. It's not easy but you know that that you have that love for and you got to do the best you can and you know
our otherise went else you know It's just this is where I belong. This is where I most respect them, they respect you. You build that family structure. The parents
respect you and at this age many years I'm teaching the kids and you know you know I had Miss when I was you know in her class and you're gonna have my kid and they're not going to go anywhere else. Where else? [Applause]
We appreciate you. We appreciate you and your service and sticking with us. Yep. Keep up the good work. That's my comments. Thank you, Mr. Superintendent. Any questions on the superintendent? Next on the agenda, item 11, board
comments. Miss Cahoun. [Music] Funny. All right. Um, so thank you to everyone who came out today. It is much appreciated. Hope to see many of you again soon. Um, please come to the
workshops because that's where we talk about the finances and things like that. Basically, the nuts and the bolts of the district. Um there are a couple of um bond initiative meetings that are coming up. I encourage everyone to go and check
those out. Um the last one that we had, actually the last two, um they're very informal. You can ask questions, ask a 100 questions if you have them. Um and Mr. Roer is very uh it's just casual. It's just casual meaning you get your questions answered. Um, and if one
question leads to a hundred, then that's, you know, that's fine, too. So, I just encourage you on the um the 28th at Karn's Town Hall, keep Oh. Um, the
bond initiative meeting is at 6 PM and it's open to all. Um, and then on April 30th, there will be another town hall here at the media center at six o'clock. So, make sure that you come to one or you come to both. It doesn't matter.
Um, and then, um, the information that you heard today from the principles, make sure you share that with your neighbors, with your friends, with people around the district because positive information needs to be shared.
The negative seems to spread like wild wildfire, but the positive has a slow role. So, we need to change that because I think the positive things that are happening, especially with discipline and attendance, those are incredible things. Um, and it's only going to get
better. We have a great leader and we have great faculty here um at the district and we have teachers that have heart here and they really want to see the kids succeed. Um lastly, I'll just say um great job to
all the principles and the faculty continually month after month, week after week, just coming here. Even with all the bond stuff going on and you and you having to deal with that, Mr. Roer,
Miss even the faculty, they have so much to do with the bond. they're still doing what they have to do for the kids each and every day. That's hard. It's hard. It's very hard. So, kudos to you. I am so proud to say that
I am a Mount Clemens School Board member and that um we're just doing amazing things here. So, keep up the great work. Thank you. That's my comment. Thank you, Miss Hammond. Thank you. I want to thank the school leadership and staff
for all the wonderful things going on in the district. I also want to thank Miss Hunley with the single family living for her tutoring program she has with the district and also all of our community partners. Uh when I was over at Simino, I was able to see the wonderful
decorations that Miss Sumpter and Miss Murphy did on the vestibule of the school. They are creative and beautiful. Thank you so very much for taking your time and your resources and awesome. Congratulations,
Miss Alex. 36 years. That's amazing. Here with the school district. I remember when you were my daughter's um teacher over at Washington. I love you and I love you now. So, thank you. And that's all I have.
Thank you, Mr. Walker. Thank you. I want to say thank you to the district leadership at each building giving us that positive update. It's great seeing positivity
when it comes to um as secondary for our students below a 2.0 getting decreased by 20 23 students which is a big um data uh point I would say. Um, thank you to Miss Principal McNeely as well as our
GSRP coordinator for their uh hard work, their positions because we know that GSRP is a great program for us and finally getting into kindergarten. I just like to say thank you to our teaching staff for coming to this meeting today and being uh great
stewards in the the face of our district who are on the front line every day in front of our students. And we We we'll continue to do great things no matter how May 6 goes because we are in the fight for our children that we service.
Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Shepard. Thank you. Um I'm going to probably say a few things I've said before. Um one thing is I graduated here in 1992.
um everything that we had uh including the classes that I got a solid 2.3 grade point average in I was a extraordinarily mediocre student. Uh but I was able to take all those things for granted uh
because things like this um you know a a bond initiative and and things like that um it's just something that as a student you take for granted. uh you take for granted that the community is supporting you.
Um especially during tax time, if you're like making an investment in your house, like maybe buying a new couch or things like that, you don't do a deep dive into how your kids's grades are. It's basically is it a good investment or a
bad investment. Uh I can't decide that for you. Um, but I'm really hoping that people are taking a good look at the parameter that they're using. Uh, one thing that might have been lost in these uh, presentations was that the uh,
principles were saying about the NWA tests. They've already had two. There's going to be a third. And then there's also MSTEPs mixed in there. In one year, students are tested more than I was in my entire academic career.
And to put that kind of pressure on them is to me unfair. Basically, if I was saying if I was saying, "Hey, you should do a um a good job on this test because eventually maybe your little brother or
your little sister might look at these test scores and say, "Well, they're not worth it no more." So, um I just think that people really need to take a good step step back and really look at the barometers that they're
using and that uh so like I said is a good investment or a bad investment but um when it comes to using the test scores um I administer some of these tests or help administer some of these tests in another school district that I
work for. Um, a lot of times the tests will stop because kids are clicking too fast, because they're not taken seriously and it's kind of hard to get them to take that seriously because it it really doesn't have a real effect on them. Um so um you know you can look at
attendance, you can look at academic things, but when it comes to looking at these testing, especially when those dates are during COVID, which is just pure chaos for every school district. Again, it's you can make your
own choice and you can use whatever grammar you want, but I'm just hoping that everyone uh takes a step back and looks subjectively. Um, I'm very proud of uh the school district and how it's growing uh little by little. Um, I'm also hoping people
take a step back and look at that and appreciate uh the small steps that we're taking. Um, I think the uh administration's doing a fantastic job uh Mr. Ropers um also and uh hopefully we continue to uh put people in place
that uh can uh continue uh the growth that we're seeing. Uh I think that's all my Yep. Yeah, that should do it. Thank you. Thank you, sir. Dr. McFat.
Thank you, sir. I appreciate that. wrote some things down but I'm not going right anything I wrote because I never do so I'll close that out um you know I'm going to talk big thing on the thing we always talk about grades test scors
but my biggest thing is safety and u we have to spend the money to reconfigurate this district for the most safest environment for our students and I stand with all students and the biggest thing with standing with students is you notice people standing with somebody when there's a tragedy
when uh the Russian Ukraine war took place, you see flags everywhere, people still with Ukraine. Um the tragedy that happened in Oakland County with a mass shooting, people still with Oxford. We're trying to be ahead of
that. I think that um the resource and investment of this district putting the safety first, reconfiguring these buildings, making a separate interest for the middle school and high school. Yeah, it's a big investment. A lot of people think that
um it's just the students now, but I stand with all students. I stand with the students of the past that came to these doors before me, the students now, and the students in the future. I stand with students that go to parochial school, go to charter school, and go
home school because all those students still receive services from this district. They're entitled to it. And we and we just had a large debate a couple weeks, maybe a couple months ago, we had some parents from the local pork school upset about some services that wasn't
being rendered by this district. So when it's a large investment um when it's safety I can't put a dollar amount on safety I just can't do it. Um, it's like saying what's the value of a life? You know, I have seen enough tragedy to realize there is
no dollar amount when it comes to a life. $91 million. We got 900 students. That's about $100,000 a child. We're not counting the staff, support staff, pair professionals, teachers, administrators, anybody else
that walk on this campus. Couple weeks ago, um, In Dominican Republic, the roof fell in and killed 200 people. This bond is going to be in order to repair our roof structures if we need it. God forbid we sitting here and this roof fall on us,
we die. This bond is going to be used to fix the infrastructure around the buildings such as the parking lots in the walkways. God forbid you riding your bike in the evening time or in the weekend and you hit a pothole out here, fall over your
handlebars and get a concussion and die or anything else of that nature. And I have seen those events take place where people fall over the handlebars and need emergency medical assistance. So when it comes to safety and it comes to test scores, test scores are important. They
very much so are important. But we can look at the test scores that goes back to 100 years of the of the history of this district. Compare the test scores to today and look at the progress we're making to go forward. But we also want to look at the test scores we're going to have in the future because many
people going to come through this building. Many students that if you came to this district for one day, you're still a student of this district. And I'm not going to belabor or beg or plead and say, "Does it make sense? Does not make sense? Does my property value goes
up? Property value goes down. Um, what's the tax status? Like I said, there's no price when it comes to safety. I s this war for many years and my colleague here to my left will tell you I'm big on safety. When it comes to a threat of
another child in this district, I would take another child to safety over any other child that's causing a problem or any other adult that causes a problem. When it comes to safety, I'm going to stand up for it. Just like going to the military, people say freedom isn't free.
Well, when you protect your children, you there's no cost to them. And I like I say, I'm not going to preach. I'm not going to my stamp my horse or anything like that, but this is the biggest thing about this bond. To me, it is. We got to protect the people around us. And that means everybody in the city. This
district being reconfigured don't protect us, it protects everybody in the city. Because if these children have nowhere to go or the the structure of support, they can be the same kids that live in your neighborhood. Same kids that go to your local district, uh, local business, play in your local
parks, the same kids that you shun or put down here are the same kids you going to be seeing walking the street with you. I'm just saying. I mean, they say it takes a village. We're a family.
I love my Clemens for the good and the bad. I can talk a lot of bad things about my Clemens, but I'll never talk bad about my Clemens because this is my home. I got to talk good about my home. I'm not putting it down. And I know I have problems in my family. And I'm
talking about my my school district family. But when it comes to a family, we stand up, we rally, we support. That's all I got to say about that. So, like I said, I'm not going to preach. Those are my comments. I'll come off my you know when I say that I get another
five minutes like but those are my comments. Somebody want to pause the collection please. 91 million. I'd like to start off by thanking our
building administrators for coming out tonight and doing the presentation. I know it made for a long day for them. Uh so kudos and thank you uh for their willing to come out and share uh with the community, not just the board but
the community because this meeting is being televised on YouTube and you can go back and look at it. Uh so kudos for them. Um kudos to our teaching staff. Um, like Miss Aller just alluded to,
I've said it before, uh, for people to teach here in Mount Clemens over a long period of time, they do it because they fit here. Like she stated, it's not for the money. She stated if it was for the money, she would have went somewhere
else. And we have a lot of dedicated teachers uh in this district that have tenure and longevity in this district and they stay here because of that because they love Mount Clemens. They love what we're trying to do here in
Mount Clemens and most of all they're supportive of what we're trying to do here and what we're doing here in Mount Clemens Community School District. We have some uniquely great students that sit in our
classrooms and we have uniquely great professional educators that are in front of those students in the classroom. And I applaud you. Kudos to you because it's not a very easy job. Not at all by no
stretch of the imagination. So, thank you. Great schools are in great communities. Great communities have great schools. They go hand in hand. If you're a member of the community and you
support the community, um, great schools make great communities and it's hand in hand. One can't one doesn't really exist without the other. You've seen communities without schools. It's a different type of a community
than it is with a community that has a school within the community. Great schools, great communities. The bond is an investment in the future. Uh I don't believe that
this building, this roof is going to fall in and crush anybody because we've got that checked. So structurally, we we're in good shape right here. So, nobody be concerned about the roof falling in on the head. Um, but this
bond is an investment in the future. It's an investment in our students. It's an investment in student future students. It's an investment over our investment in the longevity and the viability of this community.
We are not we are not we are not closing doors or closing schools due to the outcome of the millillage the bond millillage whether
it passes or if it fails. We are not going anywhere. We've got over 900 students that we have to service. Decline enrollment is all across this state. You can look at the data. I'm not
making this up. You can Google it. This state is lo has been losing students for the last 20 years. This district has been losing students for the last 43 years. 40 of those years I've been here.
So I know state is losing students. The region is lo losing students. Our surrounding districts are losing students. Yet the Mount Clemens
Community School District is increasing in our enrollment. That tells me we're doing something right. We're you know it's you eat you eat a you eat you eat an elephant one bite at a time. We're eating that elephant one bite at a time.
And we're proving and we're showing that we're having positive results because of our dedicated staff, our dedicated support staff, our dedicated administrators, our dedicated central office team, our
dedicated board members. Those are my comments. Chair to entertain a motion to adjurnn. Moved by member Kahun. Second. Second. Member Hammond. Call the RO, please. Mr. Yes. Miss Ev. Yes. Dr. McFaten. Yes. Mr.
Shepard. Yes. Mr. Walker. Yes. Mr. W. Yes. Motion carries. Meetings adjourned at what time? 8 7:58 p.m. Thank you ladies and gentlemen for your attendance.
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