Don't make me use the gavl. >> Thank you. >> Thanks for being here everyone. My name is Anupam Chikudu. I am the vice president of the board of education. I am filling in for President Christensen Christensen who is not here today. As you can see, we have quite a few people
missing today. Um, but we'll get through the work. We have Superintendent Merritt's team here and they will fill in for her. But we will go ahead and get started with introductions with my board colleagues. Starting with Miss Picard. >> Hello, I'm Miss I'm Cheryl Peard and it's nice to see everyone tonight.
>> I'm Judy Westerro. Thank you for coming out tonight. I'm Jennifer Voss. It's nice to see you. All right, Miss Curry, could you introduce yourself and your team? >> I sure can. Good evening. I'm Jen Curry, chief academic officer. And first I
would like to introduce Miss Diane Robertson, executive assistant to the superintendent and board and thank her for being here tonight and capturing our minutes. I'd also like to introduce Mr. John Kger in the back and thank him for taking care of our technology needs this evening. And at this time, I'd ask our
remaining team members to introduce themselves. >> Thank you, Miss Curry. I'm Curtisquitz, assistant superintendent for student services. Welcome. >> Good evening. Jill Minnik. I serve as chief as chief finance and operations officer. Okay. And I'm going to ask our SBA
co-chairs to introduce themselves. >> Good evening. Josh Patterson, Plymouth High School senior and student voice and action co-chair. Welcome. >> Good evening, Arjun Swami Natan, Canton High School sophomore and also student voice and action co-chair. >> And I think I forgot Dr. Liz. I'm sorry.
>> Cry, but it's okay. >> Good evening. Welcome everyone. I'm Liz Vartanian Gibbs, assistant superintendent of student and family engagement. Thank you, Miss Sadoo. >> Who also happens to be the leader of SBA. So, goes hand to hand. I did that on purpose.
>> All right, let's stand for the pledge. Uh Josh and Urgent, could you help us? I pledge algiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and
justice for all. >> Thank you. And if you have an agenda in front of you, we are following along. We are on part A, adoption of the agenda, approval of the consent agenda. I'm looking for a motion. Madame and Vice President, I move that
we consider action item 261016, approval of the adoption of the consent agenda. >> Do I have a second? >> I'll second it. Thank you. So, it was moved by member Westerraw, seconded by member Bard, and Miss Curry, would you
please walk us through this? >> I sure will. This evening, the consent agenda consists of the approval of minutes from our last regular meeting on October 14th, 2025. And that's all. >> That's it. That's it. >> I put five minutes. >> I gave you like 10 seconds.
>> Thank you. Going to call for a vote. All in favor say yes. >> Yes. >> Yes. Any oppose? Say no. >> Okay. Motion passes 40. All right. We are moving on along to part B, celebrating success. And it is me. This it just happens to be me. But
this is the great part. It is truly an honor and a privilege to be doing this today because uh they can tell you the robotics team can tell you I've been stalking them for about six years and Mr. O can vouch for that. I love going to their events. They
um invite me to all of their different events uh including the banquet where I get to meet the students and their families and all the work that they put in in all of that work. But today we are going to honor David Sandberg, a senior at Canton High School as part of our
celebrating success recognition program. David is being recognized for the students with tenacity achieving and reaching success also known as stars award who was nominated by his fellow student Jaden Cruz. This peer nomination speaks volumes about the positive impact
David has made on those around him. David has been an invaluable member of the Pep Lightning Robotics team providing consistent help and mentorship to others even before becoming the programming subgroup lead. His guidance and encouragement have helped team
members feel welcomed and confident, especially as they learn new programming skills. David's leadership style exemplifies patience, humility, and a sincere desire to help others succeed. His talent for inspiring his teammates and fostering an inclusive, supportive
environment embodies the true spirit of the Stars Award, showcasing tenacity, achievement, and collaboration. At this time, I would like to invite Jaden Cruz, who nominated David to share a few words about him.
Do we have Jaden Cruz? >> Oh, did anyone bring words? >> He was supposed to be here. >> Oh, I hope he's okay. All right. So, now I would like to invite Jay Absnik.
I hope you have a few words. The robotics team only works because of students like David. All right. They step up. They do things beyond imagination. As an adult there and Mr. Derry and Mr. Fencer and Laura can attest to, we are
there to just facilitate. These kids take the ball and they roll with it. The one thing we like to teach them is leadership. and they come out of here from a shy little freshman to a bold leadership personality as a senior and they do things that just amaze me every
day. David is always there whenever I need him. He's always there whenever the students need him. He will be at all of our outreach, community service events, which we do a ton of. And so, um, I don't know, I can't say enough good things about him. But it wasn't for
people like David, we wouldn't be here. and Lightning Robotics wouldn't be here. Thank you, David. I would like to invite David. Could David come up here, please? >> Congratulations. Would you like to say a few words?
>> I'd like to thank Do I have to >> You can move the mic. Yeah. Okay. >> I'd like to thank Mr. pro for uh letting me join robotics in freshman year. He is right. I was very nervous freshman going in and I feel like the mentors helped me
become who I am today. I feel very happy that I had their support going through high school. And uh yeah, that's about it. Mr. O, thank you for those thoughtful words. And David, your dedication, mentorship, and generosity exemplify
what it means to lead with purpose and kindness. You have left a lasting impact on your peers and helped shape a stronger, more connected robotics community. On behalf of the board of education, we are proud to recognize you for the STARS Award. Congratulations.
Give us one minute. We're going to do a quick picture. Mr. >> Take a recess. Quiet, right? If you haven't had the opportunity, I encourage all of you to go to a robotics event. The students are just fantastic
with their collaboration and the amount of information they know. When I see them in action, they actually act like people who are not just connected through their work, but they have fun and they respect each other. I think
adults could learn a lot from them as they work, right? And again, the the way they interact with each other and the community is just amazing. So, Mr. O, thank you for all that you do. And David, congratulations. All right, we will move on to the next
part of our agenda which is board committee reports and action and it starts uh with the president's report which I will give. Last week the Michigan Association of School Board's annual leadership conference was held in Traverse City.
member Voss and I were in attendance and she this was her first experience at the delegate assembly and every time I ran into her I said how is it how's it going and she's like I love it it's so much fun so isn't it it was just a great place to be we were with schoolboard
members throughout the state of Michigan we were also joined by some executive directors of school boards from other states but it was a time for us to connect with other school board members learn from people who are doing it right in doing it well. And um at the end of
today's meeting, I will ask Miss Voss if she wants to share a few highlights. I'll share a few highlights as well at the end. Uh but it was a fantastic event in terms of the work that we do and why we do it. And I also want to mention Superintendent Merritt and President Christensen were doing a panel session,
a clinic session, and that went over really well. So congratulations to them for representing PCCS. Also, um on October 16th, member Voss and I attended the Wayne County Schoolboard Association meeting in Wayne County and that was an opportunity for
us to learn about some updates with regard to mental health support within Plymouth Canton as well as a legislative budget that was recently passed. So, we got updates on all of that. So, I'll ask you about a quick update on that one, too. All right. Now, we will go on to the
committee reports. First one is student performance and achievement with member Wester. Uh >> madame vice president, we have not met since the last um schoolboard meeting. Our next meeting is Wednesday, November
5th at 5:00 pm in this room. We hope that uh you can join us. It's an open committee meeting and a lot of good information is shared there and we have a lot of fun. >> Thank you. Next up is the policy committee and that is me. We just met
like about an hour and a half ago and I want to thank the students that are part of our policy committee. We have three students that joined us from student voice and action and they were really engaged in the whole process. So, we reviewed policy 6320
and 6325 based on federal changes to um purchasing and there were some technical changes based on what new federal guidelines are and we took those changes um that were given to us from Nola which is the company we contract with who
basically gives us sample language but we did find some areas where we weren't going to consult with our legal council. So, these will go back up for review with the committee next month. So you will not see them as first read. Um next time the rest of the time in the policy committee we went through our timeline.
One of the board goals for this year and moving the next three years is for the board of education through the policy committee to review all the policies that we have for updates for alignment to our dynamic plan and of course
updates to state and federal laws. And we have about 300 policies. So that's a lot of work. And if you can imagine, it took an hour to go through two policies today. Imagine the time it would take to go to 300. So, we're going to take this up uh little by little. So, the committee divided up some work and we're
going to work on that over the next month. Hopefully, I'll have a nice update for you the next time we're here. And our next meeting for the policy committee is Tuesday, November 25th at 5:30 p.m. And that's down the hall. Hope you can join us.
Next up is finance and operations. Since Treasure Kho and President Christensen are not here, I believe you have an update. >> Yes, I do. Um, we had our last meeting on last Thursday, October 23rd, and Plant Moran was there to go over our 20 our 2024 and 25 annual audit, which will
they will be presenting tonight, and that will be a first and last reading. Um we also discussed a recommendation for an agreement with benchmark transportation to provide additional support for some of our students under the Mckin Vento act. Um this also is on
the agenda and there have opportunity for questions and a first reading and our next meeting will be held on November 6th at 5:00 in this room and everyone is invited to come. So >> thank you. Next up is student voice and action with Josh and Urin. At our last
student voice and action meeting, we welcomed our new members, provided feedback on some amazing food brought to us by the PCCS food and nutrition services and worked to decide our initiatives for this year. >> Our next meeting is Monday, November 17th at 4:30 p.m. at the Pioneer Media Center, and we wish to see everyone
there. >> You didn't talk about the fun you had sampling food. >> Yeah, I did. >> Oh, you did? >> I said here, I'll I'll make sure I said it exactly. I said we provided feedback on some amazing food samples from the
PCCS food and nutrition services. Unless >> Thank you. >> So amazing. They're all really good. So I guess I can go into detail. Um we got these bars. So there was a blueberry bar, a cinnamon bar, and a um cherry chocolate bar. My favorite was the cherry chocolate bar. And I may like I've been grabbing them at breakfast
now. Um so those have been brought in to the high schools and I'm not sure about the middle schools, but I would assume same thing. Um, there was a selection of meat sticks brought to us and they were all really good. And then we also had the opportunity to try a like chicken and then biscuit combination and all the
food was amazing. >> Thank you for the details cuz we actually have a lot of fun testing food. So, I do want to thank our nutrition staff. They are always looking for student engagement and feedback. And one of the things with SBA is they provide
feedback from their schools. One of the things we heard earlier this month, maybe earlier this year, was there were some changes to the nutrition um areas and sections within some buildings. So, they came in, they're like, "Hey, we're always trying new things. Tell us what you think." And that was a great
opportunity for that engagement. They will come back and give us more updates with what they're doing in making sure that they are making having the needs of the students met. So, thanks. Next up is citizens comments. We are going to go through the first portion of citizens
comments for 30 minutes and we have um three minutes per person and if there's any comments after the first 30 minutes of this section we will put those toward the end of the agenda. As a reminder everyone has 30 minutes to share their comments there will be a
timer up here. Comments should address the board of education. We ask people respectfully adhere to this time. Also, please do not mention anyone's name when you're sharing a concern about a situation. If a comment requires followup, Dr. Merritt or her team will
follow up with you in addressing your concerns in the next few days. We appreciate your engagement in this opportunity. So, we'll get started. The first one is Chanel Telbert. All righty. Good evening. My children attend an elementary school in the
district and I co-lead the Say Yes to Recess movement in Michigan. For the past year, I've been told that PCCS prioritizes recess, that it is expected to be taken daily, and that withholding it for additional instruction is rare. Yet, my experience and the experience
shared with other parents tells a very different story. Fifth grade teachers at our school continue to use recess time for instruction. Despite repeated assurances from administration that recess would not be used as disciplinary tool or replaced with academic time, the
practices persist. Teachers are still withholding recess for behavioral reasons and replacing outdoor recess with indoor recess. In my daughter's recent 504 meeting, our student support coordinator stated that because afternoon recess is considered instruction time, teachers may use it as
such if needed. This stance is not aligned with what I've been told in prior meetings with district administratoristrators or several of you as board members. Head of elementary curriculum recent confirmed that families should be notified when recess is withheld and how
has this been communicated to families or teachers with no clear process existing? How do we ensure transpar transparency and accountability? Policy 8510 is the only current policy that references recess. However, there is no language within this policy that
supports these expectations. I believe this is the time for our district to adopt a clear policy that guarantees all elementary students receive both their lunch and afternoon recess unless weather permitted. Recess should not be treated as optional or interchangeable
with instruction time. I know how much this board cares about the students in our district. This is an opportunity for PCCS to lead with clarity, consistency, and care to take action to protect recess time for all students and ensure consistency or consistent communication
and accountability across every school. >> Thank you. Next up is Rachel Hayes. Hello, my name is Rachel Hayes. I'm a P flag board member and a member of Western Wayne Indivisible. Recently, the Michigan Department of Education proposed updates to our state's health
education framework. Updates that finally include gender identity, gender expression, and sexual orientation as natural parts of who we are as people. These changes are long overdue. They modernize Michigan's curriculum so it's grounded in science, guided by evidence,
and respectful of every student, taught in ways that are inclusive, age appropriate, and honest. And let's be clear, these are not mandates. Michigan law gives every district control over its sexed curriculum. Here in PCCS, we
have a transparent process. The sex education advisory committee, consisting of at least half parents and even clergy, reviews every proposal, and the board must approve anything before it's taught. Families are notified, materials are open for review, and parents may opt
out at any time. No penalty, no pressure. So, given all this transparency and parental choice, you'd think everyone would welcome evidence-based standards. Instead, on October 14th, far-right extremists, including Moms for Liberty, flooded the
state board meeting, attacking these updates simply because, among other things, they acknowledge that LGBTQ plus students exist. These groups preach parental rights, but it's not about rights. It's about control. They want to decide what every
child learns, what teachers say, and which families are acceptable. Where do the rights of parents who believe in inclusion, compassion, and truth fit into their vision? >> That's right. >> Nowhere. Because in their world, parental rights only count if you think
exactly like they do. Let's call it what it is, a manufactured moral panic. The truth is that these standards teach nothing inappropriate to children. They teach scientifically proven facts that respect every child's authentic self.
They affirm that every child deserves to feel safe, seen, and valued. When extremists attack inclusion, they're not just erasing queer kids. They're silencing the truth. That silence breeds ignorance, and ignorance breeds cruelty.
And in the long run, that ignorance and cruelty doesn't just harm LGBTQ plus students. They shape a generation less capable of empathy, connection, and respect. The lessons we choose to teach or to silence today will define what
kind of people our children become tomorrow. Our district should be proud to model compassion and evidence-based education. Thank you to the board majority for standing strong and understanding that inclusion is not indoctrination. Empathy is not ideology.
A fact is not a belief. You are appreciated because when we teach the truth, all children win. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> Next up is Meta Mandel Ree. Did I say that right? >> Please correct me.
>> Oh, that's right. Ma, thank you. Uh, I'm a a Canton uh Plymouth Canton uh Community School District grandparent. I live with my granddaughter, Hope, who is six and attends an elementary school. Uh, I want
to just take a minute to thank the board for your support of queer kids and to speak a little bit positively about their situation. When we come up here before you, we often have to stress the negative. What happens to kids when they
are excluded, bullied, treated as less value? I don't think we always talk enough about what it means when these kids are supported and other children see that they're supported. I recently got back from an international trip. Uh
and I saw that for myself in a totally different context. Uh my granddaughter Hope was so excited when I returned because they're studying maps in the first grade and she wanted to draw. She drew what she thought was Europe that
looked a little bit more like an amoeba, but it gave me an opportunity to talk with her about the wonderful things I saw. One of the things I saw was an international conference focusing on LGBTQ issues. And of course, a lot of people at that conference knew that from their
own personal experience. What I wanted to share with you was that these people were happy. I don't mean they were happy all the time anymore than anybody in this room is. What I mean was they were comfortable with who they were. They were living uh fulfilling lives and that
was because of the support they'd gotten along the way in their communities from their parents, from their schools. One of the people who impressed me the most was Elizabeth. uh she had served two terms in Iraq as a
member of the armed forces as a man all the time defending this country uh while not being able to be her true self. Uh but she'd been able to transition and now she is her true self. Proud of her service but also proud that she can be
her self now here in the community. That made me think a lot about how important it is for all children to receive that support ideally at an early age uh from their schools, from their parents, and from the community. It works. I've seen
it. I appreciate the effort that the board has already put into supporting students. And I just wanted to let you know it's not only negative. This is what you can do to create a better world. And I've seen it. I've seen it right here in can Plymouth Canton and
I've seen it in Europe even if uh to my granddaughter Hoba looks more like an amoeba than an entire continent. Thank you for your time. >> Thank you. Next up is Sarah >> Kenski. Sarah,
>> uh good evening. My name is Sarah Krosanski. I have uh two children in the elementary um one in Gallamore, which I'm happy to say is an incredibly diverse school, which I love. Um I want to talk about the potential presence tonight of ICE agents in our PCCS
district. Now, I understand that there are individuals who believe that this threat is minimal or minimal and it doesn't warrant our attention, but I'm here to say that if even one student is harassed in our school grounds, that is one child too many.
>> So, I applaud the district for already having policies surrounding this issue in place. But, however, I do encourage you to make sure that those policies are clear and robust. It is imperative that we let any employee that might encounter ICE know exactly what their rights and
their responsibilities are. First of all, we must stress that no federal immigration official should ever be allowed in our bus lanes, our playgrounds, or near our entry points. Should an ICE agent ever approach the school grounds, they should be instructed to proceed to the main
entrance where they must present their identification. At this point, they should be directed to the district offices without any further discussion. Any employee that could be responsible for the main doors should be trained in this process, even if they're just uh
someone who might fill in brief uh briefly from time to time. Um secondly, the administrative officials at the district building should be trained to always request a judicial warrant. It is vital that they are taught that this warrant is not valid without a judge's
signature. Employees should also be taught that an administrative warrant like an ICE form I200 does not authorize entry to the school or access to the students. Thirdly, the district employee should advise the officer that they are
now required to contact the student's legal guardian, the superintendent, and the district's legal counsel before any additional discussion can occur with the ICE official. Fourth, I think all district employees should be taught that the Family Education Rights and Privacy Act or
Furpa protects the confidential confidentiality of our students. This means that stu the our schools can't release any student information without either written parental consent or a valid court order. Even confirming that
a student attends the school can be a furpa violation unless legally required by a judicial order. So along with this training that I'm talking about, I think a a really simple one-page printable like ICE response protocol sheet should be developed and it should be handed out
to any of these personnel who might encounter an official so that it's I mean bullet pointed. I am happy to put it together for you to send to your legal counsel and then this gives everybody that peace of mind that they don't have to guess. They know what the process is. They know what their rights
are. They know what their responsibilities are. Thank you so much. >> Thank you. >> Next up is Annie. I N I Is that >> Did I say that right? >> Is it Annie?
>> Innie. Okay. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> Hello PCCS board. My name is Eie and I'm a senior at Salem. I've been on the track team with the sprinters since freshman year and I was a captain last spring. I'm here to speak on the issues
us captains have in the team as a whole with the recent events that have occurred from this summer up until now. As you already as you may already know, our head coach, but not our actual coach, as he only coaches the cross country runners, was reinstated for his position this summer, moving the
sprinters coach back down to an assistant coach. After Goodage re Oh, sorry. After after our cross country coach was reinstated, he fired our sprint coach without providing a sufficient explanation for this
decision. We were confused. So, another sprinter and I messaged our head coach about it. And essentially, all he told us was his experience as a coach, that he made a decision for the team, that there's some things we can't be told, and that we should trust him. Unsatisfied with this answer, we asked
different athletic staff members for another one, and they too knew no explanation to why our coach was fired. Our former sprint coach has been amazing for all of us. And it's unfair that our head coach, who doesn't lead our team, can remove their actual coach whenever
he wants without giving any valid reason doing so. Us sprinters went to states because of our former sprint coach, not because of our head coach. And we deserve to know that these types of large decisions were done for good reason and validated by someone who
understands how much our team has benefited from our former spring coach direction. This firing hurts us sprinters directly and someone who doesn't lead our workouts, rarely ever watches our practices, trains in a whole different area of the
sport should not be allowed to remove our coach so quickly and without giving any good reason why. We ask that our former sprint coach is reinstated with his head coach position, but at the very least, if that can't be done, have him reinstated as a sprinter's coach for us.
Thank you. >> Thank you. Next up is Samuel. Good. Good evening, members of the school board. My name is Samuel Ariu and I'm a captain at Salem High School track and field sprint team. I'm here today as along with several of my teammates to
speak on behalf of our former sprint coach and to respectfully request that he is reinstated as head coach or at the very least back as the sprint coach for Salem High School uh track and field. Our former sprint coach has done more to
eval to elevate our team each of us individually more than any other coach has done. some of his achievements since the la for the last two years that he has been with us as he has produced eight of the state qualifiers out of the 12 out of the 12 state qualifiers that
Salem has. That's a school record by the way. Um he has led our 4x1 and 4x2 team which all of us here was on that team. He has led us to uh be top five in regionals and to advance to the state track and field meets. He has coached the uh he has coached the high jump
record holder to uh to help him with his high jumping to become the Salem high jump record holder. Every athlete standing uh with here today was five are among the top 10 fastest runners in Salem history. And
none of us would be here without our former track and field coach. In addition, two former team members who were originally who were regional and state runners from the 2023 and 2024 season has personally emailed each uh has personally personally emailed the
school board with their strong support for our former coach to be re uh to be reinstated. Lastly, we have heard that several of the former cross country and track team and track runners who wear regional runners and state runners have decided
to quit cross country and quit Salem track and field because they have heard that our coach was fired. So, finally, we would ask and I hope that I have been able to give you reasons and you can understand our point of view of why we think our coach should be reinstated as
head coach of Salem track and field. Thank you. >> Thank you. Next up is Fei. Okay. I really wanted to say thank you for hearing this out. I'm a Salem track runner from Salem and I do hurdles. Our
former assistant coach helped me with my hurdles ever since he got here. He always showed time. Never and never said no to me. I really think his his him being fired was really unfair and unjust. There was
no reason for him to be fired and he should have really he should have had a say in what he had like what happened. our our head coach right now, I can't say his name. I forgot. I'm sorry. Um, our head coach had no reason
to fire him. He didn't give us a reason and he just expected us to go with it. We feel like he should be back in because like he said, eight of the 12 people who went to states was because of him. He has showed great impact and
great stability with the team. everyone loves him and I really feel like he should be back. And adding on to that, um I wasn't I was never good at hurdles. I mean I was always decent, but as soon as he came sophomore year and I'm now a
senior, um I'm on record-breaking pace and I really feel like he can help me get there throughout my season. Thank you. >> Thank you. Thank you. Next up is Owen. >> Um, hello members of the board. My name is Owen Pazwak and thank you for your
time. I am a first year track runner. This is my first time ever doing this sport. And with this this sorry I'm a little nervous but um the first time I ever had a coach I could come to and talk to and who would never tell me no. I had constant setbacks but through all
of it I had mental breakdowns and Damn, I am so sorry. >> It's okay. Take your time. Take your time. >> He helped me overcome my mental breakdowns and there were times I felt I couldn't go anywhere and I couldn't get any better and he helped me overcome that. He helped me break the Salem High
School record for the freshman and I would love for him to be a coach again and I hope that he somehow comes back and I hope I get an explanation. >> Yeah, that's >> next up there's another Owen. Okay,
>> you call him David. I'm the first. Okay. >> Um, hello. Uh, my name is Owen Manorelli and I'm also a senior at Salem High School. This year will be my fourth member or fourth year as a member of Salem track and field and my fifth year doing track. I was a captain last year and plan to be a captain this year as well. Um,
the my my teammates have kind of shown what our coach has done, you know, statistically shown improvements in times, uh, taken people to states. But what I want to do today is I want to talk about who co coach Homegrren is as a person
and uh the lasting effects that he has had on us as people. He coach Homegrren sorry can't say the name our former coach isn't just a coach. My teammates have already spoken about the significant improvements that we have made under his tenure and how we had a number of athletes make it to states this year for the first time. While it
is true that he had huge that he had a huge impact on these things, I want to focus on something else because he is more than a time replacement. I think back to when before our assistant coach was around when I would show up to practice and there would be less than five people present every single day. That was before our assistant coach was there and while our current head coach
was still there. Um people during that time would not show up to meets because the weather was bad. It was too cold or it was raining. Now nowadays that is completely different. In just two short years our former assistant coach has managed to completely shift the culture for our
sprint team. Practice has a completely different feel than two years ago. People show up with smiles on their faces, excited to be there. Nobody would even think about missing a meet. He made this sport fun for so many yet never sacrificed the athletes progress to do so. He was the one who set up workouts
with me and my teammates all off seasonason last year and continued to do so even after he was fired this summer. Um, he was the one who who was there for me when I broke down in tears at regionals because I so passionately wanted to succeed. He's the one that sparked a passion in me for track that I
didn't know I had. He's not only a great coach, but a great man. He respected us as peers and never acted like he was better than anyone else. Everyone that knew him admired and trusted him and felt like they could come to him with anything without facing judgment. And that was all stripped away from us without any explanation. All we want is
our coach back. And I just want to say there was a lot more people that could have been here today, but we limited it to a specific number. there's members of the cross country team like said that that also would have been here who weren't even coached by him but just his presence around the team was such a
great impact. So that's all I have to say. Thank you for your time. >> Really appreciate it. >> Next up is Michelle Mustakus. Good evening. My name is Michelle Mustakis. I'm an 11-year resident of Canton and a member of Western Individual and now of P Flag, too. I'd
like to begin tonight by thanking Dr. Lily for the wonderful presentation that she gave last week at the last meeting on how the district is implementing goal B of the Dynamic Plan. This goal states that all PCC PCCS students and staff
will report feeling physically, psychologically, and emotionally safe and represented at school. This is the essence of a complete education. You can teach the basics of reading, writing, and arithmetic,
which by the way, the district does very well. But if the student feels unwelcome or afraid at the at school, that student isn't going to learn. We commend the district for continuing to focus on the
whole student despite increasing attempts by this administration to ban any efforts at diversity, inclusiveness, and equity. Programs like this help not only the individual student but benefit their fellow students as well. When kids learn
to be strong in who they are, they can help others who may be struggling with forces beyond their control. Never has this been more important than when these forces are coming directly from the
bullies in our government and their enablers such as a compliant GOP and groups like Moms for Liberty. Transgender kids are being told they essentially have no right to exist. The
Supreme Court has said that black and brown kids can be subject to arrest through racial profiling. Immigrant children are being told they have no right to be here and are being sent back to lives of
poverty and violence which they had escaped. The district has a zero tolerance policy for bullying in our schools. We should also have a zero tolerance policy for bullying that comes from outside. Let's
teach our students how to stand against cruelty and injustice in our society. Let's get them involved in standing for those who are the targets of these unjust and cruel policies.
and we the board, the community, the district can set an example for them. Show them you don't bow to pressure. Keep your DEI programs. Teach about gender issues in sex ed. Review and revise existing policies to protect
students from ICE. Involve the students in identifying ways to help our vulnerable community know their rights. Our public schools are the heartbeat of our communities. Our children are our futures. That's helped them live up to the promise of America as summed up in
the motto of Bird Elementary. Thank you. >> You're welcome. I counted 10. So I believe we've gone to through 30 minutes. >> So >> Oh, great. Thank you.
Now we have Hassina. >> Good evening. Um, I'm Hassina Abdu. I have a daughter at a junior do uh at Plymouth. The Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy has launched its Michigan Green Schools
kickoff this month. The goal is to inspire sustainable school year. All Michigan schools are invited to participate. The Michigan Student Sustainability Summit is set for May 8th, 2026 at the Kellogg Hotel and
Conference Center on the MSU campus. This will be a great opportunity for our students to meet environmental leaders to discuss youthled sustainability initiatives. Are Plymouth Canton school Plymouth Canton students being encouraged to
participate in this and other initiatives? Are our students being prepared to deal with the current environmental issues? How are Plymouth Canton schools leading in the area of sustainability? Are we leading by example? How are we
reducing our own carbon footprint? Any attempts towards zerowaste schools? Are we recycling? Are our students encouraged to explore sustainable ways of living? And if we are not taking any such initiatives, what are the
obstacles? Why are these not priorities? Thank you. Thank you. That does conclude our citizens comments. Um, I particularly want to thank the students for sharing your experiences and your growth. I know it
takes a lot of courage to come up here and many adults struggle with this and I really appreciate you sharing um everything that you did. So, keep going, keep growing. Thank you. We are moving on to administrative reports and we're going
to start with finance and operations. This does get exciting. Talks about budgets, where the money comes from. >> Thank you. Go ahead, Jill. I will turn this over to our partners in Plant Moran. Uh with us this evening is Jeff
Higgins, a partner with Plant Moran and Renee Esper, audit manager who was with us dayto-day on the audit throughout the months of August, September, and October. >> Thank you. And for the board colleagues, we have a packet that they're going to go through, right? >> Yes. Uh so in your packets in front of
you is a bound edition of the presentation slides as well as three reports uh generated uh from plant man as part of the audit reports with the audited financial statements within. So they will walk us through that. Uh I will move over and join them along with
Jod Melbourne our executive director of finance and accounting who uh led this audit and played an integral role in it and in our accounting every day in the district. Thank you. So, thank you and good evening. As Jill mentioned, my name is Jeff Higgins. I'm a partner with Plantaran. And with me is Renee Esper, who's a manager with
Plantaran. We are the district's independent auditors. Here to talk about our results of the audit for the district's year ended June 30th, 2025. You'll see there's three documents actually received with your packet. There's the financial report with supplemental information, which represents the audit financial
statements for the district. There's a separate report to the board of education, which provides some insight into the audit process itself. And there's a separate letter that's required under government auditing standards just to talk about some more of the results of the audit. So we put uh tried to condense all that
information down to this presentation we're going to go through tonight. And so we'll start with uh again our audit opinion. It's our job as the district's independent auditors to render an opinion on the district's financial statements. So I'm happy to report here tonight that we have
rendered based on our procedures and processes that are required under generally accepted auditing standards what's referred to as an unmodified or a clean opinion on the district's financial statements. This would be the highest level of assurance that we can provide on a set of financial statements. And really our audit
comprises a couple other aspects also. So in addition to the basic financial statements of the district, we also audit the federal programs administered by the district. We do a separate audit of the federal programs. Our results uh of our procedures there are again rendered an unmodified or clean opinion on the federal programs administered by
the district. And finally, we also are required to do various compliance tests for the bond programs administered by the district to make sure that the bond proceeds are being spent in accordance with the bond requirements of the state and what was uh voted on by the the local voters. And again, our procedures there indicated the bond proceeds were
being were being spent in accordance with all applicable pro requirements. So with that, Renee will walk us through some of the financial highlights for the year. Sorry. All right. So starting with this slide that shows a condensed view of the
balance sheet of your various governmental funds. The balance sheet represents a snapshot in time as of June 30th, 2025. And a majority of our presentation will be focused on the district's general fund, which is the primary operating fund. That's presented in the first
column there, which as of June 30th had total assets up at the top of 74.1 million. And that's consisting primarily of cash investments and then state aid receivable. And then next, total liabilities of 29.2 million. That's
primarily acred payroll benefits and taxes. And then the different difference results in a remaining fund balance of approximately 45 million. And then the remaining columns there that presents the activity of the remaining funds through special revenue
debt service and capital projects funds. And these various funds are presented to demonstrate accountability for how the district allocates and spends these certain resources. And then this next slide here shows those same funds but now by revenue expenditures and then change in fund
balance for the full 2025 fiscal year. So first column again that's the general fund which shows 20 217 million of total revenue and expense of 221 million resulting in a net decrease in fund balance during the year of approximately
4.2 million. We'll cover these revenue and expenses in more detail on the following slides. But then again, you can see the remaining columns showing those various other funds and then a summary of those revenue and expenditures for those specific sources and uses.
All right. And then this next slide here. So this is that total revenue of 217 million broken down by source. So, as you can see in the teal there, the primary source of the revenue continues to be the district's foundation
allowance, which that's driven by pupil count. And then the next largest on the left there being the Mipser's cost support. And that's money received by the state and then directly turned around and paid back for Mipers's costs, which looking at those two groups
combined alone make up 83% of the total revenue. just supporting overall how the district is dependent on those state dollars. And then this slide here, so this takes a historical look at your pure per pupil foundation allowance starting with the
2016 school year on the left with the effects of inflation. So, the inflation line is at the top and that's based on average inflation over a 10-year period at 2.7%. And then compared to the bars which represents the district's foundation
allowance showing that the per pupil state funding has not kept up with that rate of inflation which to put into perspective as well if you if the per pupil funding increase by that rate of inflation. The district would be
receiving approximately 11,600 per pupil for the fiscal year, which equates to approximately 32.7 million more in revenue in 2025 alone. But as you can see, the per pupil rate for fiscal year
25 lands instead at a rate consistent with last year at $9,68 per pupil. And then this slide here shows the overall trends of student enrollment back to 2021 and then projected into the
next fiscal year. As you can see, and then this is compared to all districts at the orange bar, including their forecasted amounts for 2026. And as you can see there, there continues to be that trending decrease year-over-year all around with another budgeted
decrease for fiscal year 26. And then next continuing with the breakdown of revenue sources. So this graph shows a historical trends of the enhancement millillage that's passed through from from Wayne Resa which as you can see historically looking at 2020
to 2022 there totaled about 7 million each year. And then you can see in the middle there at 2023, the district received less funding and that's mainly due to charter schools being now included in the allocation. And the enhancement mill um has now since been
renewed for another six years and that'll continue through 2034. And then moving on to the breakdown of the district's general fund expenditures which total 221 million for fiscal year 25. This slide shows them by function or how they're
being allocated. As you can see in the teal, majority of the spend or almost 80% relates to instruction and instructional support for the classroom. And then the other main components there operations and maintenance and that
relates to utility fees for all the school buildings and then transportation costs as well. So looking at those three groups combined or 94% of costs are all related to teaching the kids, maintaining the buildings to teach the kids and getting
the kids to school. And then this graph here shows those same general fund expenditures but now by object code or where they're being spent. So you can see the largest component is salaries and benefits at
182 million or 82% of total expenditures which for service driven organization you would expect vast majority of the district spend to be on the people which also one item to note the purchase services or the Navy section that would
also include substitute teachers supporting even more dollars are being spent on the people of the district. And then this slide takes a further breakdown of that 182 million of salaries and benefits on the previous slide and showing what makes up those
that component those components. So you can see a majority relates to salaries at 58%. and then retirement which if you include the retirement UAL and then that retirement piece that's about 26% of the total spend
and that 10 million retirement UAL is broken out separately as that relates to um a specific amount determined by the state out of the district's control and that's money received by the state and sent right back to the Mipers's liability
which another way to look at these retirement costs for every dollar spent on salaries 45 cents goes right back to the myipster's retirement system to support the current and retired individuals. So showing overall salaries and
retirement expense continued to make up a large component of the spend here. And then that covers the revenue and expenses of the district and Jeff will cover a breakdown of budget actual and fund balance.
So, we walked through some of the details for the year, some of the financial information. Now, we just wanted to spend a minute just taking a look at the budget to actual results just to see how did the district do compared to the financial plan is laid out by the board. So, you can see at the beginning of the year, you started with a general fund balance of about 49
million. That essentially represents the financial reserves the district had at the beginning of the year. You had an amended budget for revenue of about 217 million. You came in with actual budget about 216 million. So a variance about $783,000
or.3%. On the expenditure side again you had budgeted expenditures about 225 million. Actual expenditures about 221 million. So for variance there about 4 million. So again less than 2%. So kind of going down the chart you can see that overall the change in fund balance towards the
bottom there. You had budgeted for an $8 million utilization of fund balance or reduction in fund balance. you ended up about 4 million. So about a $4 million variance um of additional fund balance. So again within about 2% as a percentage of expenditures. So
based on the size of your budget again we try to see like how close are the budgeting processes procedures going or within less than 2%. So generally that would be a good indication that the budgeting process is working as intended and the the budget process is working and getting pretty close to those actual
actual numbers. The other thing to note on here is we do have fund balance as a percentage of expenditures because that's another key aspect. So we talked about how the fund balance represents the financial reserves of the district. It essentially helps the district deal with financial
uncertainties. It's um a good indicator of the financial strength of an organization. And so it's often assessed as a percentage of expenditures. So if you take your actual fund balance at the end of the year, about 44 million, divide that by your expenditures is about 21 million, you see you have a
fund balance percentage of just over 20%. As a point of reference, the state average as of June 30th, 2024, so last year, which is the most recent data that's all fully available, is about 24.7%. So, a little bit below last year's state average, but I think the expectation is
that state average is going to start coming down some now that the COVID funding and a lot of the ESSER funds and other financial resources that were um distributed to districts in response to the pandemic have all been exhausted now. And so, districts are going back into more of this kind of traditional
funding and financing uh regiment. The last graph then we do take a look at the fund balance history again because it is an important metric. Like I said it does represent those financial reserves of the district. You can see for the last several years as a percentage of expenditures on the bottom
there in 21 you're about 26.7. Again that's when a lot of districts really went up because that's when a lot of the co funding was starting to really get injected into the system. And then for the last several years like I said you've been around that 20 kind of low 20 or 20% range. So as another point of reference, there are various metrics out
there that groups would recommend. So the Michigan School Business Officials, for example, tends to recommend a 15% fund balance percentage. The Government Finance Officers Association recommends about the 16 to 17%age. Uh the board policy is actually 10%, so at at the end of June 30, 2024. Again,
you can see you're a little bit over those target percentages. Again, a lot of that is the result of a lot of the monies that have been ejected since the pandemic. A lot of districts are in a similar situation. If you go back 10 years, that state average is probably in the mid- teens. So again, I would expect that those percentages will start to
come down and get to more of those kind of traditional levels. So that's the highlights for again the year ended June 30th, 2025. We'd be happy to address any questions the board might have for us this evening. >> Thank you. Um I will start with
questions from my right. Member Voss, questions, comments? Um, thank you for doing this. And I have very limited knowledge about financials, so I'm just going to say this looks good. Yes, >> it's a clean unmodified audit opinions.
That is a good result. Yes. Um so on the page that is page 12 where the um the um general fund budget to actuals are. So correct me correct me if I'm
wrong. This is actually good. We actually spent less than we expected. Is that correct? >> Yes. So you ended up with more fund balance than you expected. So that is a positive for for many reasons. One of which being that you technically are not allowed to spend the other direction. If
you spent more than you had budgeted, that's technically considered a violation because the you would have spent more than the board authorized the district to expend. >> Okay. All right. Thank you. >> Mayor, may I add comments? question,
>> please. And I wanted to I wanted to say thank you. This is a lot of work and you've done a excellent job, Miss Minnik, and your staff. >> Well, thank you. I appreciate that. And I appreciate your your question around this slide. Um, if I may just take an
opportunity to share a few things. Um, we can see in this slide the column of our amended budget where we anticipated to end the year in all of our sources of revenues and expenditures and fund balance. And then in in the next column in the box is where we actually uh came
in at th for those same values uh for those values for the those same categories. And then we see the variance column. And I just wanted to offer some highlights as to why would we have those budget variances? What do those mean? Um so on the revenue side, our primary
variance was around a state grant uh that we ended up not being able to expend in the school year. We have to spend part of that next year, which we were not anticipating. And that accounts for about $600,000 of revenue that we will recognize now in this school year,
but we could not do that last year in FY25. So if we had been able to recognize that approximately $68,000, we would have been pretty much right on target with our revenue budget. On the expenditure side, the primary uh reasons
for the variances are twofold. uh in our financial statements. As you look through those uh the expenditures are categorized by instructional and then support type expenditures. And within those support expenditures, we have people support and we have staff
support. And a number of those expenditures around pupil support, we were able to offset in our grant funding by restructuring and coming in at the end of the year and and taking a look at those grants and understanding some strategic ways to use those monies. So we were able to protect the general fund
by strategic use of those grants. Uh that was to the tune of about $2.5 million that we were able to offset expenditures toward. Uh and then in another area uh in our operations, maintenance and safety departments uh they did not spend their entire
equipment budgets and part of that is due to grant funding as well shifting some of those grants. Um but really the communications around that we are on a track for budget reductions. We have talked at this table before around our fiscal cliff, if you will, which we will
talk about more of when we talk about our amended budget. Uh, but in that way, we were able to save uh those unspent budgets to the tune of about $1.1 million. So, those $3 million contribute largely to that $4 million of savings in
the budget. And then there's a another section of the budget and audit report there showing other financing sources and uses. what is that? So, those are additional sources of financial resources and uses of our financial
resources. And wound in there, uh, we were able to protect the general fund by taking a few steps around our federal national school lunch program, excuse me, whereby we were we were able to offset our administrative costs through
that grant funding and thereby bring in additional resources to the general fund to protect it. uh but is is appropriate and customary to take that indirect cost on the food service special revenue fund and at the same time we are eligible to
charge 50% of our lunch supervision work to the food service fund because they are supervising during that lunch period not the time that they're at recess uh but during the lunch program. So in that way we were able to generate more financial sources and have less
financial uses. So, in that way, we were able to generate that positive variance, if you will, um, having fewer uses of about $600,000. So, I just wanted to walk you through those highlights because those are very intentional steps
that we take at year end. We always pour over our books to understand how can we still do things to to strategically protect the general fund even though that might mean some budget variance. Um, and why why does that matter? Well, as we work through our budget and we work through these reductions that are
going to be forthcoming, we saw budget reductions this fiscal year. Um, that allows us to make better decisions when we have better data, data that we know is on point, it's matching with our projections and our forecasting methods are ever improving. So, as we look
forward to our dynam as we look around to our dynamic plan as well, we want to have really good data on which to base a number of decisions uh programming decisions and the like. So, I thought it might be important uh and maybe informative to share some just some of those highlights around those variances for you.
>> So, thanks for your question. >> Thank you. >> Thanks. That was actually one of my questions in terms of where's that variance coming from? Thanks for explaining that. Um I do have a questions now that the state budget has passed for the 2526 school year. What is
the per pupil funding for this school year? >> Uh testing me. I think it's $10,50 for a few people if I recall correctly. >> That's what I heard. >> I was testing. >> Yes. >> I just couldn't recall either. >> So you said 10,000 what? >> 10,50
>> 10,50. It's a little bit better. Closer to that. >> There's some nuances on that we'll talk about at some point >> and I appreciate all your work and I do not have any questions. I was at the finance meetings. We went over this. So, but thank you
>> SBA members. I want to uh echo all the appreciation and my questions been answered. Thank you. >> Thank you for this. And I also have no questions. >> You know, you've done a good job when people aren't nitpicking every line item
and you've explained things well. So, thank you for putting this together and thanks Jill for being a part of this. >> Yep. We should certainly thank Jill and Jody Malvan. It's a rigorous process that we put them through and we certainly appreciate their preparedness and their cooperation and helping us get through it. It's a lot of work that we
uh we ask of them and they do a terrific job. So, we do appreciate it. >> Thanks. I do have a question for Jill that I actually just thought about. Um in terms of you had mentioned uh there were some some districts haven't spent all their co money. Have we spent all of our co esser funds? Do you know? If you
don't know, you can get back to me. >> As of September 30th, 2025, we have. So, there were three months in the 256 where we were still spending carryover and as of September 30th, we're done. >> Okay. Thank you. And I was just about to approach the microphone to express my
sincere thanks to Jodie Melbourne who uh very well led this audit. As you can see, she's a wealth of knowledge and um I very much appreciate being able to work alongside her in the finance department. She is a true asset to this district. That's a pun. >> Thank you. With that, we do have an
action item. So, I'm looking for a motion. >> Okay, I'll do this. Go ahead. Um, madame vice president, we um motion to consider approval of resolution annual financial audit reports for fiscal year 2024 to
2025. This is a first and final reading and it's action item number 26-10-17. >> I'm looking for a second. >> Second. >> Oh, thank you. It was moved by Trustee Bard and moved by Trustee Voss. All in
favor say yes. >> Yes. Yes. Any oppose? Say no. Okay. Motion passes 40 for action item number 26-10-17. >> Thank you. >> Thank you. >> All right. We now have a resolution and
this is a first read. So there's no voting on this. So consider approval of resolution for an agreement with benchmark transportation. Jill. >> Very good. Thank you. Uh it's my pleasure to bring forward for your consideration this evening uh recommend
recommending approval to engage into a transportation service agreement with a new vendor benchmark transportation. Um the um need for this is to ensure students identified under the Mckin Vento act have equitable access to both
regular and specialized transportation as well as extracurricular transportation after school. Uh this item was discussed at the October 23rd finance and operations committee meeting. Uh the Mckin Vento Act requires districts to immediately and enroll
homeless students and and remove barriers to their education, improving transportation to uh including providing transportation to their school of origin. And uh just for reference, during the 2425 school year, we did identify 130 students qualifying for
these services and provided transportation for 70 of those students. uh this school year. So far we have identified 95 students uh with 40 of those currently receiving transportation services. Um so this is this not only is
a federal rule uh that we enroll our students but also that we transport them uh wherever their temporary housing may be back to their uh current school district of Plymouth Canton. Uh the district funds these costs with title
one grant dollars as well as at risk section 31 state allocations. Uh so there is no impact to the general fund. Uh we currently utilize two transportation providers to support McKinventto students. Uh however, one of those providers has already reached
capacity and they can no longer accept additional students. Um this uh limits limits our ability to serve newly identified families as they come into our district. Uh and additionally, neither of the providers currently offer transportation after 8:00m. So that
precludes our students from participating in several after-school activities uh including uh sports and athletics or sports and athletics sports and activities uh as well as homecoming or other types of events as well. Uh
whereas uh Benchmark transportation does offer uh the after hours transportation. Um let's see. I wanted to mention uh that Benchmark also can provide flexible transportation services by offering
competitive rates as well as supporting students that may also have disabilities. Um we also want to be sure that we are operating on a zerobased contract model with these specialized types of transportation providers. What that means is that we utilize these
services as our population demands. So if we do not have the need for additional providers or we we have an uh enough capacity if you will with the current providers uh then we don't need to pay any minimum number of routes or pay any minimum number of days or timeline. Uh if we don't use the
services there is no cost. Uh and so with this contract it is a one-year agreement. It allows us to place students as necessary uh see how they perform for us be sure they are timely uh etc. and then we may shift other
students uh maybe away from other providers or as we identify new students place them there. Um I think um I don't want to speak for u Miss May uh Kimberly May is our director of uh federal and state programs and um she is working
intimately with these students and matching them up for their transportation services. Um so with that um maintaining relationships with multiple providers is important uh because it does allow for that immediate enrollment and rapid transportation solutions.
Um I also want to share that the district um receives a 50% reimbursement from the district in which the temporary housing is housed. So if a student is a a student rather if the student is a Plymouth Canton student but they are
taking temporary shelter let's say in a a city across the county uh we would share in that cost 50/50 with that um geographic uh location district um and the opposite is true as well when there are students in transient housing
situations where they are living within the Plymouth Canton boundaries but they are actually attending another school district we will enter into that 50/50 agreement as well. I also just want to call to your attention within the contract um section 9 is a fee schedule and those fees are
very different than what you will see in our yellow school bus transportation agreement. Here we're talking about weight times. We talk about load fees. We talk about mileage rates. Uh that's because it's very specialized and customized to every rider within this
arrangement. Whereas our yellow buses, we run regular routes every day at the same time. Uh so it's a very different type of arrangement. So as you read those terms and conditions, if you have any questions, please feel free to let me know. Uh but we did review this at our FNO committee meeting last Thursday as well. Uh so with that, um I
appreciate your consideration of this agreement. Um it is first reading this evening, but I'm happy to take any questions you may have. Thank you. >> Thank you. I'll start with Trustee Vicard. >> Um I do not have any questions. We did go over it pretty thoroughly. you spent a lot of time on it. So, thank you.
>> Thank you. >> So, two questions mainly just for my own education. >> Um, we have 95 students that are attending PCCS but are currently living in other districts. Correct. >> We have identified Yes, we have
identified. Yes, >> it's early in the school year. >> What about the opposite that we have students that are residing? Do we know that number? We know the number of of districts with which we have entered into those 50/50
agreements. And I'm sorry I don't have that number at my fingertips this evening, but we can certainly find that out. >> Okay. >> All right. Um and I think that's my only question. >> Okay. Thank you, >> Trusty Boss. Um I have a question about
the funding. if if the government stays shut down, will those Title One funds be in jeopardy? >> Thank you for that question. Uh the latest I have seen uh which may not be the latest out there. Um but as I uh
follow it the best I can, the Title One monies for this fiscal year are assured. There are other title grant dollars, title 2 a um three, four and five I believe that are in jeopardy for next fiscal year. Um but we use title one
monies which are assured for this year for this work as well as our at risk uh state funding too. But that's a great question. Thank you. >> One more question. Um certainly. >> So our homeless students, does this include or is this students
that live in our district or does this include school of choice students? >> These are I I I need to get back to you on that question. I don't want to speak erroneously inaccurately unless you're able. >> It would be >> Miss Curry
>> any student who is identified as homeless. So yes and yes. >> Okay. So it could be >> it could be students currently living in our district, right, who are homeless. It could be a student identified as um
school of ch school of choice accepted and then homeless as well. >> Okay. >> Because once they're school of choice, they are our students. >> Got it. >> Yeah. Okay. Thank you. >> Thank you for that clarification. >> Urgent.
>> I have no questions. I have just one follow-up question. You say that the the funds are guaranteed through the rest of these years. Is that school year or is that like year year? >> Is that school year or what? I'm sorry. >> Like the actual year like is it through 2025 or is it through the school year? >> Uh through the school year.
>> Thank you. >> Thank you. That's a great question. Thank you. Great questions. Um I have a quick question about the providers. You say you have multiple providers right now >> and you've reached the capacity and they can't take it one of them >> with one of them. How many providers do we have so far without this?
>> Two. >> Two. >> So, this would be our third. >> Uh we are exploring a fourth which I anticipate we'll be bringing forward in November or December. >> Okay. And the the rates are comparable. >> These rate thank you for that question. These rates are actually very
competitive with our current providers. uh which if this transportation provider should prove uh to be working timely and uh servicing our students properly and well, uh there's a we may very well move some students over to this provider.
>> Okay. Thank you. And um having worked with transient populations, they move around a lot, so it's hard to predict. They could be in our district one week and they're elsewhere for a little while. They may come back. And so it's important for them to have continuity and making sure that they can come back
to our district and have a stable education. So thanks for doing this work. Very good. Thank you. Okay. My pleasure. All right. Uh we have no citizens comments for overflow and we're moving into the discussion area. And um I just
wanted to take a couple minutes to just provide a few highlights which I will type up and send to everyone with regard to the Michigan Association of School Board's annual leadership conference. Um but I wanted to ask member Voss if she wanted to share some highlights first.
>> Sure. I will share um the main speaker on Friday morning, George >> Cororos. >> He was very inspiring.
And one thing that I took away from that was that we we focus on the positives and that's good. But we don't ignore the problems, we solve the problems. And I really I really like that and that's something
I'm going to work in my own life, but also in my work in the district. Um, and then I spent a lot of time in meetings or learning about AI and what it can do for our students
and our teachers and how important it is that we be on the forefront of this. Um, and actually the person who was teaching, I went up after and met him and he said we'd already signed a contract with his company. So, I was
very glad about that. Um, and I'm hoping that perhaps we can get together with the as a board with the company to learn more um, just so we as a board have more information on it because it was quite
eye opening and interesting and I think we would benefit from that. >> Could be maybe a a meeting for spa, a topic for spa. So something to consider. >> Okay. >> Or a workshop. >> Or a workshop. Yeah. >> Or maybe both.
>> Mhm. >> Yes. >> Thank you, Trusty Voss. Anything else? >> No. >> Okay. >> How did you find the delegate experience, delegate assembly? >> It was it was very interesting. Um, there were
three things we were voting on and we had one per one person who kept wanting to pull things back. And the thing that I noticed is the um kind of the eye rolling and the
disrespect that happened to her. And the next day and I I felt bad even though I didn't necessarily agree with what she was saying. I I felt like she should have been treated with respect. And the next day, the president of the um
the group got up um I don't want to say his name wrong, Juan Roa. >> Don, sorry, Don. He got up and talked about the importance of civility and um in a voting delegation and not dismissing others because their opinions
may not be the same. And I appreciated that he he said that because that was something that >> I noticed and was kind of like, "Oh, give her the time to speak." You know, we all came here for a reason. And >> so, but it was it was interesting. >> It's a lot of fun. It's a jam-packed
what, four days? >> It was >> morning to night. Um, and it is energizing, I have to say. I've been loving it. I hope you go again. >> I would love to. >> Okay. And I hope others join us. I think Dexter's in Lancing, so it'll be a little bit closer.
>> Be easier. >> Yeah. Um, quick highlights for me. I won't repeat what Trusty Vos said. I was in one of her sessions with AI, the second session she went to, I asked her to give me her notes because I went to a different session which was around um
civil and efficient board governance and that is with clarity and transparency. And one of the things I learned was how do you improve the work that's currently happening because we always look for continuous improvement. And one of the things that they shared was they have a citizens comment form that adds a lot
more detail and clarity and transparency and I thought hm I wonder if this is something that we could look at. So I'll share that with all of you in terms of if we want to consider enhancing this document. Um the other one was data dashboards as a board. This is our board goal. We talked about data dashboards
for two years and so this session was packed with information that was so valuable that I could bring back to our district in terms of how do we advance this work? What does a good data dashboard look like? What are other districts doing? So I have a whole page
of notes on that in terms of um policies and examples. And um there was another session around um feedback looking at feedback from the community and how do you engage with
that feedback and how do you respond to someone who comes up to you as a board member in the middle of nowhere like in terms of you're taking a walk and this has happened to me. You're taking a walk and someone approaches you like hey board member what's up with this or you're in the grocery store and these
are these have happened. Some are great encounters and some are like, "Whoa, I'm taking a walk." Um, but basically how to have a pitch ready that where you are listening to their conversation, respecting that conversation because they obviously are concerned about
something and then finding a way to follow up. So again, all of those are mechanisms for us in terms of having consistency in how we approach u people outside of the district um when we're doing our personal things. So it was a very eye- openening experience in terms of we had scenarios that we uh worked
with and we looked at data. So you know what are data informed decisions with the board. So that's always a hot topic that's also part of our goal and so have some examples of what kind of data should we look at in what format and one of them actually talked about the importance of AI in working with that
data. So maybe that's something we could um think about. Um that was those were the highlights but I'll share my other notes. So, it was um excellent three days. We are now I think follow-up board
questions and as far as I know we have no follow-up board questions from the last meeting. Correct Diane? I did not uh note down two for this meeting. I have uh Trusty Wester asking about one of the questions. Um
>> the 95 are students that live in this district. >> Yeah. I'm sorry that are attending school in this district but live in other districts and I wanted to know >> how many with that 5050 agreement >> with well how many how many are living in PCCs but attending another district.
>> Okay. >> Right. >> Diane, did you get that one? Okay. And I I heard one from Trusty Voss. US you asked a question. >> Uh >> we may have you may have answered that with >> that one. Okay. Thank you. So, no
further feedback needed on that one. Okay. >> All right. >> I do have a question, though. Um, and I'm sure that our district is well ahead of this. Um, but if you don't know, on November 1st, if there's a
student who qualifies for um SNAP >> SNAP funds, they could be they could possibly not get them because of the government shutdown. And I'm sure that the family department of family and student engagement is all over it. But I
just wanted to make sure that our most um possible possibly hurting students are being taken care of or will be taken care of. >> Thank you, Miss Voss. So, as you know, we have a referral process for um all of
our students in the district and we are connected with a handful of local food pantries. Plus, our local Salvation Army provides food, no questions asked, for um any students and families who need it. And we also have information for
every Salvation Army in Michigan in case our students live in another zip code and we need to connect them with that Salvation Army. >> Thank you. school. >> I have kind of a follow-up question to that. I've had a lot of people in the in the district, in the community ask about
donating to the district food bank or the backpack programs or whatever. Um, could we put together some kind of flyer or um something to post on Facebook or something so that it's easy to share that information? Mhm.
>> Sure. >> So, >> I mean, I can I can type it, but >> it sounds better coming from the district. >> All of our um backpack programs and our food bank, everything is supplied by our local Salvation Army, but we will share that information.
>> Oh, really? Okay. >> Yes. The one right on the corner of Ann Arbor Road and Maine. >> Okay. I didn't know that. Okay. Thank you. >> Thank you for those uh really important questions um thoughts. And you know, you think about school meals, they're more important than ever. So, I'm glad that
that is within our budget, at least in the state of Michigan. All right, we have come to the end of our meeting and we will adjourn at 8:27.