Good evening. >> Good evening everyone. Welcome welcome to our regular board meeting. I am filling in for President Christensen. My name is Anupam Chukudu. We'll get the meeting started. It is 7 o'clock. I'll ask my board colleagues to introduce themselves starting on my right.
>> Jennifer Vos, thank you for being here. >> Cheryl Pequard, nice to see everyone tonight. >> I'm Emma, thank you for coming out. Dr. Barrett, would you introduce yourself and your team, please? Good evening and welcome. Superintendent Monica Merritt. Like to begin by thanking my and introducing my
assistant, uh, Miss Diane Robertson. We want to thank her for being here to take our minutes and, uh, capture all that goes on on these evenings. She's had a a busy day and she shows up every time. So, we're so appreciative and grateful for you, Diane. Want to thank John Kger who takes care of our technology needs
and keeps us on track. ask the remaining members of the court team to introduce themselves to you and then we're going to finish up with our student as representative. >> Thank you. Dr. Merrick Curtis, assistant superintendent for student services. Welcome. >> Good evening. Jill Minnik. I serve as chief finance and operations officer.
>> Good evening. I'm Jen Curry, chief academic officer. >> Good evening. Abdul Mayu, chief human resource officer. >> Welcome everyone. Liz Vartanian Gibbs, assistant superintendent, student family engagement. >> Good evening. Josh Patterson, Plymouth High School senior and student voice and
action co-chair. Thank you for being here. >> Thank you. Let's stand for the pledge. Josh, would you lead us, please? >> 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. >> Okay. Uh we are moving on to letter A. If you're following the agenda, I'm looking for a motion for the adoption of the agenda. Approval of the consent agenda. >> Anyone?
>> We're a little short on team members. Our board members. >> Okay, I'll attempt that. Where are we at? Okay, Madame Vice President, I um where is it at right here? Oh, I Okay, I
Yep, right there it is. Um I we ask for the adoption of the consent agenda and that's action item 26126. Okay, it was moved by member Peard. I'm looking for a second. >> I can second. >> Thank you, Member Ahmed. Uh it was moved by member Peard, seconded by member
Ahmed and uh Dr. Merritt, would you please walk us through sections 1, two, and three? >> Thank you, Vice President Sudu. This evening, our consent agenda consists of human resources transaction since our last time together. We have some champions for your consideration as new hires this evening. We also have the
recognition of retirements. We have the approval of minutes and we have the first reading of policy 6320, that's our purchasing policy, and policy 6325, procurement of federal grants. >> Okay. I'm going to ask for a vote. All in favor say yes.
>> Yes. Any oppose say no. >> Okay. Action items 26-12-26 passes. Mr. Red June, would you please walk us through the new hires and retirements? >> Yes. Um well well we have two new hires um today. Um Jill Martin who was hired
as elementary counselor at Ericson. Are you here today? >> Yes. >> Thank you. And um Trevor Simmons who is a digital multi he he's has several hats. He's a digital multia finance and financial management teacher at Plymouth. >> Is he here?
>> Y. So, thank you very much. Let's give a round of applause for our newest members of the family. >> And then I would like to acknowledge we have one retirement um Sher B um Ber um she um she has been with the district since 1994 and she retired effective um
this month. So, we wish her well in her future endeavors and thank her for her years of service to the district. >> Yes, definitely. Congratulations on the retirement and welcome champions. Think you're going to meet Mr. May June in the hallway or you just going to give it? >> Okay. You get a little treat from us.
>> All right. We're moving on to celebrating success and member Voss has this honor. Thank you. Good evening. Tonight, the board of education is proud to represent chef and culinary arts teacher at Salem High
School, Diana Diana Woodward, as tonight's Extra Mileer Award winner. Diana, will you please join me here at the podium? Chef Woodward is responsible for one of my sons graduating from high school. So,
I love Chef Woodward. Chef Woodward leads Salem's nationally recognized culinary arts team and serves as the guiding force behind the Rock Cafe, where students gain real world world culinary leadership and business experience. Through her high
expectations, hands-on instruction, and unwavering support, she prepares students not only for careers in the culinary industry, but for success in life. Chef Woodward was nominated by Abir Casm, a parent of one of her
culinary art students. Unfortunately, she could not make it to tonight's meeting, but shared this about the impact Chef Woodward has made on her son. I have known her through my older son, who has been in her culinary classes for the past two years. I cannot
express enough how deeply she has impacted his life and the lives of his classmates. She always goes the extra mile and encourages him to reach his full potential. Air also described Chef Woodward as strong, funny, and a wonderful reader of people. She went on
to share that whenever she speaks about her former students, the pride and joy she feels for their success is unmistakable. Chef Woods Woodward's classroom is more than a kitchen. It is a place where students are challenged, supported, and inspired. She builds confidence, teaches
resilience, and creates a sense of belonging that stays with students long after they leave her program. Salem High School Principal Kim Verosa was due to be with us tonight to share a few remarks about Chef Woodward. She is under the weather, however, and has
asked me to share her remarks about Chef Woodward with all of you. She wrote, "Diana Woodward is an amazing chef, teacher, and mentor to students year after year as she guides them. Diana has the unique ability to see talent in students that others don't always see.
She nurtures those talents and brings out the very best in all of her students. The time and effort she puts into mentoring her students is immeasurable. Her former students have won multiple competitions, earned hundreds of thousands of dollars in scholarships, and continued their
education beyond high school, and many have gone on to be chefs themselves. I will never forget watching Diana do live demonstrations via Zoom from the Kitchen of the Rock Cafe so that her students can continue to learn from her during the pandemic. Each week she would
gather all of the materials and ingredients needed and deliver them to her students homes when needed. She ensured that everyone had an equal opportunity to continue learning from home. There are not enough words to describe the respect I have for Chef
Woodward and the care she puts into each and every one of her students. She is truly gifted and the fact that she uses her talents to help high school students is beyond impressive. I cannot think of anyone more deserving of the extra mileer award. Chef Woodward, your
passion for teaching, your commitment to excellence, and your genuine care for students have made a lasting impact on countless lives. You are shaping future chefs, leaders, and problem solvers, and you are doing so with heart. On behalf
of the Plymouth Canton Community Schools Board of Education, it is our honor to recognize Diana Woodward for her outstanding service and extraordinary dedication to the students of Salem High School. Would you like to sing?
That was really nice. Um, I I want to just thank um this district because I've been here for a long time now and I graduated from here and I don't think that there are very many districts that would let me do the
things that I do in my kitchen and take the chances that I get to take with these students that let them do the things that they are able to do. So, I I want to thank you guys cuz I don't know if I'd be able to do this anywhere else.
So that's really cool. So thanks. >> This concludes tonight's celebrating success segment. Chef Woodward, will you please join Dr. Liz Vartanian Gibbs in the hallway for a photo to commemorate your well-deserved recognition? >> Congratulations. Be sure to come back because I have more
after you get your picture done. She is an amazing gift to Plymouth Canton. Um, and I am going to be doing the president's report next. And I have so Diana is going to be uh honored in my president's report um because I was
joined uh with uh member Picard and member Voss. We went to lunch at the Rock Cafe last week and I do this uh whenever I can and last year just my schedule wouldn't allow it. So this year we went and had an amazing time in the
Rock Cafe and the students as member Voss mentioned just thrive under Diana's leadership and we had such amazing food, amazing service. We got to see the students in action. We got to see other students come into the Rock Cafe and be
served by the students and adults were there as well. So it's it's a great experience. The Rock Cafe is open to the public and I encourage all of you to sign up to go there because they do have limited seating and I believe they're only open like three days a week and
they do close early in the spring. Um, but you can email Diana Woodward and let her know what days you're interested and she will get back with you. It is truly an experience to have and you will remember the food, the the students and we will be going again this year. Uh,
like I said, usually I try to go once a year, but this year we were just so impressed. And they cater to everyone's needs. So, you will definitely get something that you like there. And the prices can't be beat. Like, we were just shocked by the prices. We're like, is this real? And the quality of the food is fantastic. So, I could go on and on
about um Diana's uh Rock Cafe and the students that work underneath her and um thrive under her leadership. So, thank you to the students. Thank you to Diana for all that you do. So, again, a big round of applause to them. Uh, were there any other members that attended any events over the last two
weeks? If I missed that, because usually President Christensen has that that information. >> I went to see um the um >> musical music man. Thank you. >> Okay, good. >> Yeah, that was really good. Went Friday. Yeah, >> thank you. You know, as a board, we we have a commitment that we try to get
into the community as much as possible within the schools, outside of the schools to support our students and staff. So, I'd like to honor that during the president's report, and I know uh President Christensen does that as well. So, did I miss anything else for the last couple of weeks?
No. Okay. Well, you'll hear more updates from our future events together. All right. Moving on um to the next part of my president's report. I know we are at that time where um we're gearing down and this is we're in the midst of a
holiday season. People celebrated um so many different holidays over the last couple of months. We'll continue celebrating into December and January as well. I want to wish everyone a great holiday season, a muchdeserved break for many of the staff and students. You've been working hard. I know Josh is
probably looking forward to a little bit of winding down. He's been working hard as well. So please enjoy yourselves, time with your family, with friends, and if you just need to just chill out and just, you know, spend time with you, take care of you. So thank you for everyone that is a part of this great
district. And Dr. Merritt, you too take a take some rest. >> I will take that. >> Thank you. >> All right, we are moving on to um committee reports. We are going to start with student performance and achievement
spa. I know member Wester is not here. Is there anyone to fill in for her? We did not meet. >> Okay, you didn't meet. So, the next meeting for SPA is Wednesday, January 7th, right after the new year at 5:00 p.m. in this boardroom. Next up is the policy committee. We have
not met since our last meeting. However, we have a meeting tomorrow. It is not a typical uh policy meeting where we won't have any policies that we're discussing that will move forward to the board. We are however going through taking a scan of our 300 400 some policies which we've
been talking about for two years. Um so to review 300 plus policies is a lot of work. Uh in a typical evening we get to two to three policies. So imagine taking on a task of going through like 300 plus policies. So this is the first time we're going to go through it. Tomorrow
is going to be sort of our test to see how we do as a committee. All committee members had assignments. So I'm hoping that they come prepared with their assignments and we can get to work with the our policy review process. So, um, if you'd like to watch this in action, remember this is our first time doing it, so go easy on us. We are meeting
tomorrow at 4:30 down the hall and I will have some treats for everyone that's here. Uh, next up is finance and operations. Uh, member Kho is not here, but that would be me. >> Okay. So, we had um our meeting last Thursday and we went over a lot of data
that is around our um activities, our sports activities and our club activities and just kind of going over the expenses, how many people are involved and just a lot of information that um trustee Kho had had um asked for and we had gone over this a while ago
started to in spa. So, we are continuing that and um our next meeting is December 18th at 5:00 in this room. So, still December >> and the public is welcome to all of these committee meetings. By the way,
next up is student voice in action with Josh. >> So, we actually have not had a meeting since our last board of education meeting, but we are very excited for our next meeting on Monday, December 15th at the Pioneer Media Center, and we can't wait to see everyone there. >> Thank you. Uh we are now at um Superintendent Report with Dr. Merritt.
>> Thank you. I'd like to begin by inviting our community to join us this holiday season as the talented student performances in our award-winning arts programs at PCE take the stage for their winter concert series. The concert lineup actually kicked off this evening.
Unfortunately, we're not able to be there, but our PC band is taking the stage for their winter concert. The concert highlights the work of the band ensembles that are part of our high school curriculum as well as some extracurricular bands. The orchestra program will kick off its event on
Thursday this week on December the 11th. And this concert will mark the first performance of the year for our middle school orchestra students. And it will also feature the beginning and advanced high school orchestras. And rounding up the concert lineup will be the PC choir
program. and it's going to present its annual winter songs concert that will be on Tuesday, December the 16th. The concert will see all three or all of PC's choirs perform holiday music along with special selections. All of the upcoming shows will take place at 7:00
p.m. and that'll be in our Gloria Logan auditorium. Tickets for all concerts are available at the door. I think some might also be available online, but definitely at the door. So, if you're able to support our students, they would love to have you there. Um, as you heard from Trustee Pequard,
our park players present The Music Man. They opened up last weekend. She and her family were there. I had the opportunity to see the students. It was amazing. They will continue on this weekend, Friday and Saturday. They will conclude. The Music Man is a show that follows a
col con man, Harold Hill. He comes to River City, Iowa. He's um selling uh instruments and he's saying that he's going to uh organize this boys band, but he doesn't even know an instrument. He paid him to. So, it's a the kids just do an outstanding job. And uh again,
tickets are going to be available online or at pcepparkplayers.com. I encourage all if you have an opportunity to take a look at that show. And that one is actually in the Canton High School Little Theater. I want to highlight the work of many of our schools across the district along
with parent groups and families who took the time this holiday season to organize food drives to help people in need in our community. At a time when food insecurity is growing concern across our country, I'm so proud of the work that has gone into planning these drives and the generosity that our community has
shown to our families. If you're interested in donating to any of these drives, please contact our school buildings. So our students have really taken this uh on and it really is when we look at the name Plymouth Canton Community Schools, this really highlights the community, the sense of community when we come together to help
each other. So really proud of that work. Finally, as Vice President Sadu said, I want to wish all a wonderful holiday season. I can't believe it is December. In a couple short weeks, we are going to close the doors and I will take that directive and we all will
close the doors at PCCS at 4:30 on December the 19th. Our holiday break will last and resume on January 5th. So, the school district is shut down. We want all of our students and our staff and our families to take this
welldeserved break. This is a time for gratitude. So again, just want to thank everyone for the role that you play um being a part of this strong community, ensuring that our students have the environment in which they can thrive. So um again, we will be closed for business, but we have two more weeks to
go. Kids are blowing up my uh email all day about a snow day. There are no decisions that are made. We have been on the call with meteorologists today and uh as always, what is our process? Uh Mr. Tiscoitz as well as more members of
the team will be up uh driving about 4:00 in the morning. We have our maintenance crew will be salulting about 3:30. Um we will organize around 4:30 a.m. to see the latest conditions. We are in Michigan. So even though you might hear 1 to three today, by tomorrow you could have a dusting or you could
have five inches. So we will not be premature in that decision, but as soon as we know um you know, I will say go ahead and sleep with your what is it? pajamas backwards, a spoon under your pillow, students, whatever the things that you do, >> spoon under the pillow, crayon on the window sill,
>> go for it. All all of the above. And we will inform you in the morning in the event that the plans change. But as of now, Plymouth County Community Schools will be open for business on Wednesday. And that concludes my report. >> Thank you, Dr. Mayor. And do not email
the board. This is not a board decision. >> Good point. >> I do want to request Josh's cheat sheet, though. Oh my guest. >> And uh speaking of students, I want to welcome our other stu SBA co-chair, Arjun. >> Hi, I'm Arjun Swaminatan. I'm a
sophomore at Kent High School and I'm the other co-chair. Thank you. >> Thank you. Welcome. All right, we are moving on to citizens comments. Uh we are going to go through the first portion of citizens comments which lasts 30 minutes and this is allocated for
citizens to come up and share their remarks for three minutes and you will see a timer appear. Um we ask that people respectfully adhere to the time and do not mention anyone's name as you're talking about their work performance or behavior uh unless you have their permission. If a comment
requires a followup from uh the district, Dr. Merritt or her team member will follow up with you in the next couple of days. We appreciate your engagement in this process. So, we only have two, so we'll get through this quickly. All right. The
first one is Rachel Hayes. Hi, my name is Rachel Hayes and I'm a P Flag board member and a member of Western Wayne Indivisible. Tonight I want to talk about something foundational to success in our classrooms. A student's sense of belonging. When a child walks into school believing they matter and are
accepted, everything changes. They show up more. They act out less. They engage more deeply. And their learning accelerates. When students feel rooted in their school community, they're more willing to try, to persist, and to trust the adults guiding them. The research is
clear. Belonging is one of the strongest predictors of academic success across grade levels. However, when students feel like outsiders, their attention drifts away from learning. They spend their day managing social stress instead of focusing on academics, and that
distraction adds up. You see it in their performance and in a gradual disconnecting from school long before they actually leave our system. Belonging is created or destroyed by the choices this board and this district make, the policies you pass or refuse to
pass, the training you provide staff on the anti-bullying and inclusive policies we do have, the messages you send about which students are welcomed and protected and which are debated, minimized, or treated as problems to be managed. the way you respond when kids
are targeted for who they are, whether by peers, parents, or sometimes even adults in authority who abuse their position. Yes, when someone uses their platform to single out and target certain students, it signals to vulnerable kids that their
belonging is conditional and nothing undermines learning faster than that message. Our students hear it, their families hear it, and the outcomes reflect the harm. But when the board majority consistently affirms that every student has a rightful place here, you
are doing right by all students, including students of color, immigrant students, LGBTQ plus students, students with disabilities, and students from every background. While there is work to be done, you are building the conditions for learning because no curriculum, no
benchmark, no intervention works if a child is sitting in a classroom thinking, "This place was not made for me." As we move into the holiday season, we talk a lot about togetherness, about welcoming people in from the cold, about making room at the table. Many of our
students don't experience that warmth at home or in the world around them. For some, school is the one place where belonging is even possible. And so, Superintendent Merritt and the board majority, as you set priorities, adopt policies, and respond to the community in the new
year ahead, please remember how crucial a sense of belonging is. Remember that it is the greatest gift we can offer every child in this district. A community where they know without question, I am wanted here. I am safe here. I belong here. Thank you and happy
holidays. >> Thank you. Next up is Michelle Mustakus. I have a hand. >> Good evening. My name is Michelle Mustakis. I'm a Canton resident, a member of Western Way Indivisible, and a
member of Pwag. Uh first, um I'd like to show you some data. And this is a chart. that's going around that shows the criminal record of those detained by
ICE. As you can see, it's the blue part. The vast majority of immigrants being detained have no criminal backgrounds. I'm showing you this because when I made
this statement during my presentation at the last board meeting, I heard one of the members mutter something under her breath that it wasn't true. Second, these are not just statistics. They are people, many of whom escaped
unimaginable violence and poverty to start a new, better life for their family. Until this administration, they could safely send their kids to school to pray in their houses of worship and go for treatment to the hospital. But
under this administration, they aren't safe anymore. Of most concern to us here is the ICE activity occurring in and around schools across the country. There are numerous documented incident incidents of parents being pulled out of
cars and arrested in the school pickup or drop off lane. Sometimes smashing the windows as terrified children scream. Ice has shown up at grade school graduations,
sending parents scrambling and leaving kids sobbing. In one particularly egregious ICE incident, ICE arrested a 15-year-old boy with multiple disabilities. They had their guns drawn. They
handcuffed him because they believe him to be a suspect and later released him because it was mistaken identity. Close to home, there have been several Detroit high schoolers with no criminal record who arrested and deported. Schools in Clarkston went on lockdown several weeks
ago due to ICE activity in the area. The Oakland County prosecutor later issued guidance for schools on interactions with ICE. I have a copy of that guidance here for your information and it's going to continue. The administration has a goal of arresting 3,000 people a day,
90,000 every month. Schools are lowhanging fruit for them and that's why training is needed for all school staff who would encounter ICE. At the last schoolboard meeting, Sarah provided a great checklist for training, and we appreciate that there was followup from the district offering a meeting to
discuss this. We also appreciate that the policy committee is willing to work with us to revise and add language to policies to help protect immigrant students and their families. These mass arrests don't make us safer, no matter what this administration would have you believe. Instead, they make us less
just, less compassionate, less aligned with the values we claim to uphold. We look forward to working with you. Happy holidays. Merry Christmas. Thank you. Next up is administrative reports and recommendations. And we're going to start with our PCCS dashboard
with Dr. Merritt. I have to say I am super super excited to provide this update to you. Uh this evening when we gave our um update on the dynamic plan, I believe that was in October. Uh we talked about um having a meeting on that
Thursday with a new set of partners that would hopefully help us deliver on a dashboard, one that you have asked for and we've been talking about for quite some time. Um, ironically, how that meeting came to be, as we had been talking, I think my my team shared with you that night, we were still working.
We'd gone through so many different iterations of this dashboard and still could not quite nail something that met everyone's desire or needs. And it was um an email that we received from a company, Qualrix. They were in town. They were meeting with some neighboring
districts and they did some dashboard work. So, we called right away and said, "Hey, while you're in town, um, could you stop by?" So, it was a perfect I'm call it a perfect marriage. That's what I'm going to call it. And so, that Thursday meeting that I foreshadowed with you has now resulted in what I hope
uh is something that will peique your interest and satisfy this desire as um we are looking to be transparent and display data on various aspects of our dynamic plan for our community. So this evening I want to introduce to you um
Mr. Joe Schmidt. He's from Qualrix as well as Mr. Josh Borzik who is from CISA6. And together we have worked on the creation of this draft dashboard which you're going to see tonight because we're looking at the dynamic plan. We
built this dashboard around our pillars or our goals. So tonight we're only going to go through goal A which is the goal of achievement. PCCS. Um, in terms of all of our STE students, we're looking to improve achievement and close
gaps. Uh, we work to really develop a scope of work based on the information that we've heard from you in terms of the desires of uh, data to be uh, displayed to our community as well as some administrative feedback. Uh, tonight really we want you to be critical friends and take a look at this
dashboard only. Pillar A, give some feedback on how it's presented. Um, the data that we're capturing. Does this really meet the need that or the desire that we were seeking to do? Once we kind of have some feedback and direction, I've shared this uh live link. It is a
draft. It's not available for public at this time. You'll see it here, but I've shared with you that link for board members that are not here that can give feedback as well. We'll go to work on building the um remaining pillars of the dashboard. With our hope right now, our goal is if we can get this accomplished,
we hope to go live for our community for the second semester. So that would be the be end of January, beginning of February. So with that, I want to turn it over to Mr. Schmidt to kind of give us a high level introduction and then we'll move into the dashboard. >> Awesome. Thank you for that, Monica. Um,
so my name is Joe Schmidt. I'm the Qualrix K12 rep for the state of Michigan. Um, for those of you that don't know, Qualrix is a researchbased experience management focused company that enables organizations to better listen, understand, and act on both the
experience and operational data that makes up the district. Through utilizing our platform, we hope to allow districts to make quicker databack decisions while also building trust and accountability within the company or not company, within the community. Um, and then with
me as well is Josh Borzik. Um he's a partner of Qualrix. He has not only uh sat in an educator seat but utilized Qualrix at a district of his own and now full-time uh implements Qualrix for other school districts across the United
States. So he's kind of the mastermind behind a lot of the building of this dashboard that we're going to be reviewing tonight. >> Thanks Joel. So today we're what we're looking at as Dr. Dr. Merritt said it truly is a draft. We are in preview mode right now. Uh my team and I have worked
to construct the first uh the first goal all around academics. So as we go through it today, I'm going to walk you through top to bottom of the dashboard. And as you're reviewing it, again, it's a draft and we want your feedback as far as is it displaying the data in a way
that is meaningful to you? Is it displaying the data in a way that you actually want? And then also just pure aesthetics, you know, do we want green instead of red? You know, we can really this dashboard is your dashboard. We want it to feel that it's part of your
community and we want it to be feel like it fits in with your vision. So, as we look at this right now, um this is just a welcome page where we walk through what are the uh the goals that we have. It is a preview of for the community
when they log on they get to see a snapshot of what are we hoping to accomplish and then as we scroll a little bit further down to it just highle stats about the about the district so that well the high level stats nothing too fancy very clean very
clear where the bulk of the work that we have done thus far is on the left hand side on the goal a achievement pillar in here we've structured the data pretty much top to bottom going with the state assessments first, the high level
numbers. This looks better on a computer screen. So, if those of you who are looking at a laptop, it is far more vibrant and easier to read than what you're looking at here. But what we've attempted to do is look at first step is the um MSTEP dashboard looking at both
ELA and math for achievement. You can see we've got line graphs that are comparing Plymouth to the neighbor to the county and as well as a state looking at longitudinal data. And then we have bar graphs that break down that same data just within the school
district but broken down by grade. So you can able to see growth as a district as well as growth grade by grade level. As we scroll, I shouldn't say growth, um, change in achievement over grade level because the next one, we're starting to look at the percentage of
students who meet their growth target again for both reading and math. And as we're looking at that same idea, we have the line graphs that represent the district as a whole. And then we have bar graphs that represent the growth, the percentages of students who are
meeting their growth target by grade level, by year. We then move down onto the next level where we start to look at the PSAT and SAT. And the goal of this is to make it easy for your community to read. So we were very cognizant about keeping the
same type of format for each test. So again, we've got the line graphs that are talking about uh achievement over time comparing Plymouth to the state and to the county. And then we have bar graphs that represent the same data by
grade level. SAT is a little bit more succinct because it only is we are only looking at 11th graders. So no grade level pullouts on that one, but we are still able to start comparing growth over time for ELA, I'm sorry, achievement overtime
for ELA and math. Once we get done with the state assessment data, then we start getting into the local assessment data. Now it was my understanding that um the board was interested in NWA MAP data specifically. We have included that
here. This is generally representing the same data that is above in the PSAT MSEP program because we are looking at um at the achievement percentile. So we're looking at how well your students are doing. This would be an area this um we
have disagregated this by school and this may be an area that the board may choose to keep or remove because it is showing very similar data to some of the data up above as far as achievement levels. Once we're done with the assessment
data, now we start getting into a little bit more about the school specific, not school specific, um, less about the state testing requirements and more about what we are doing for students and what students are able to accomplish within your buildings. So, we are talking about the percentage of AP tests
that are passed with a three or higher. Again, always broken down by grade level and giving us a nice line graph that show achieve our percentages over time. So we can monitor growth and make sure that we actually are doing right by our kids and that they are the percentages
should be going up every year ideally. And then we start wrapping it up where we start looking at the average attendance rate contrasted with the percentages of students who are chronically absent broken down by um excuse me by year as well. and we start
looking at that same data broken down by gray level. So just high level metrics we can see that with the chronically absent the light blue are those who are not chronically absent. The dark blue are those that are chronically absent. And then we start looking at the grades
or the students percentage of students passing course with a C as well as a percentage of students who are graduating within four years. Again over time disagregated by school. So we can really start seeing where your schools um that pretty much when you look at the
SE or higher you can see that you were performing well across the board with all three all of your schools. So this is the achievement pillar. Uh before we talk about where we will be going with this any I know this is the first time you're seeing it but any immediate questions, comments, concerns
about what we have here. >> Thank you. Um we'll go around the table and uh provide comments and feedback and I'll start with my left with me member Ahmed. >> Um I know you said this is a draft and so are the filters meant to have uh
various parameters or how are you envisioning the filters? >> So the filters that are up there right now I believe I can't read it but I think we have it just for by grade by school and by year. Is that what I'm looking at right now? >> School year school and grade. >> Yes. So those are the filters that we
have up on top. We are able to bring in whatever filters you would like. But when I'm building public facing dashboards for organizations, we tend to keep things very high level. Um we are as soon as this is done, we will be immediately be pivoting to building an
internal version of this dashboard that is going to be far more robust. um including filters by all the demographic groups and widgets that instead of just disagregating by grade level, by school, we will be disagregating by those demographic groups as well so that we
can make this data actionable for a district. This is high level so that your community knows what's going on and then we're going to get really into the weeds for an internal facing one. >> Okay. Thank you. That's all I have and thank you for this work. It's really exciting to see this.
>> Thank you. Yeah, member Vicard. >> Um, I don't have any questions, but this is helpful with us trying to figure out the information on the data. So, so thank you. >> You I have questions, comments, but I'm going to go around the table and then
we'll come back to me. Um, member Voss, >> thank you for this. I don't have any questions right now. >> Students, our SBA co-chairs. >> Hi. I really liked it. Um, so one thing is I really like how you're showing the data even if it isn't the most appealing
data. Um but so one thing I would consider though is maybe if we have um categories that we really feel as a district that we're strong at, we're happy about maybe having that at the top like we can bolster our strengths at the
top by having that you know in circles or saying that like let's say the attendance rate's gone down by five or gone up by 5% and we can say that at the top 5% attendance rate increase. So, showing our strengths a little more at the top. And then one question I have
is, is the park considered um when you're looking at like AP exam scores and stuff, are you considering a metric of the park together or is it only separate schools? >> I believe on AP it's we have broken down by schools. >> That's all together, right?
>> Let's see. >> Those are all together. I believe those are >> your students taking. So would it be possible to make one um one uh row with just P7 in general the park in general like all three schools combined?
>> That that is all >> that is combined. Sorry. >> Oh yeah that's all I wanted. Thank you. >> Um I actually had a sim or sorry I had a similar thought where at the top you kind of highlight some things. So great to piggyback off you there. Um then I
had two other questions. So since this is a public facing dashboard, is there going to be the option for the like we're diverse community for people who don't understand the English language or can't um like comprehend all the charts especially is there like options to translate the data as well you know that
that is just for your knowledge it is possible. So Qualrix would not be able to translate it uh there wouldn't we cannot build it so that there's a drop down at the top >> but we can offer multiple translations of this dashboard. So that is definitely something that we could build into into
this once we are ready to go live. >> Good question. >> Yeah. >> And then my other question kind of same thing since it's a public dashboard. I know all of us here and probably those in the audience right now understand a lot of the terms like grit and stuff. Um but not everyone in the community would
know all those definitions. So whether it's like being able to click or hover over grit and it give you a little drop down definition or having the definition under words like grit or um like the map scores like exactly what that is or growth like the NWBA growth versus the other scores that sort of a thing could
kind of be helpful for the publication dashboard at least. >> Just something to keep in mind. >> Absolutely. But it's looking really good >> I think. So it's a partial of that Josh but not the definitions. If you look at the text box, it'll tell you to the side like what that, you know, growth targets
are or >> but your in terms of the word. I think that that's something we can look into as well. >> Yeah. >> Yeah. Great suggestions by the um students and board members. Um so couple
of questions in terms of first of all, thank you for doing this. We have been asking for data dashboards for about a year and to actually have something to be able to comment on is great because now you can see the potential of where where we are where we can be. Um so one
thing uh I do wonder about is in terms of readability in rather than scrolling through a a big page. So under goal achievement A on the left and again I don't know how this is going to be if you already have a design
forgive me for this but when you have goal achievement A I wonder if there could be like subcategories that you look at so people can look you can click on a button that talks about um MSTEP and you get to the MSTEP data then you click on NWA then you get to the NWA
data so you're looking at it in chunks as opposed to this massive Yeah. So my eyes start to kind of glaze over from one section to the other and I need a little breather in terms of okay now I I'm looking at MSTEP I'm looking at NWEA
let me uh digest this a little bit in terms of what am I looking at what is the data telling me because what I don't want is for our public to have this massive scrolling list and say oh that's a lot of data but I want the data to be meaningful where people can pause and
reflect and understand where we are and where we're headed. So, I don't know if that helps in terms of the comment. >> No, it very much does because I what we would what we could build out if this is the direction we wanted to go. We have the category where it says achievement, we can put on the achievement page some
maybe some highlevel information, things that we want to highlight and then we'll just have subpages underneath where here's our MSTEP, here's our PSAT, SAT, here's our attendance. >> Yeah. >> Yeah, we can definitely do that. that would be helpful in um just kind of breaking this down and and looking at it
in chunks. Um the other thing I wonder about is in terms of the achievement of that goal. So we have lots of sub we have goals under achievement. I've seen some districts where they have
a green, yellow, and orange in terms of yep, we've met this for this year. Orange, we're still working on it. Red, no, we're we haven't met it. were behind. I wonder if that is something that we could have just sort of like a gauge, you know,
>> um whether it's at the top or the bottom in because it's one thing to again look at data, but then it's another to see what do we want out of this data. We want people to see like for attendance. The district has done a great job in the
attendance rates. We have tackled the chronic ab absenteeism. the district has put forward a lot of effort and resources and I believe we have met that goal in terms of reduction by some percentage from last year. So that is a probably a discussion with Dr. Merritt
and the board colleagues when everyone else is here. But that is one of the wonderings I have in like having a gauge. >> Yeah, I can I see exactly what you're talking can visualize what you're talking about and that's something we can bring back and we'll um draft something up and see
where it might fit. >> Okay. And the last question I have is um in terms of the districts that you've worked with, are there other K12 districts you worked with in Michigan that we could look at as a sample? >> Yes. Um I actually just wrapped up it
went live on December 1st. Troy has a public facing dashboard and it's linked on their website. I don't have the direct URL um memorized. as soon as they have like a popup as soon as you go to the website, a little block that is the dashboard they're probably >> because I like to get ideas from others in terms of what works, what doesn't.
>> Yeah, absolutely. >> And do you have any other maybe great models from across the country that you would think that are good models for us to look at? >> I can share those with Dr. Merritt and then she'll pass them on. >> Okay, I'll get some for you. >> Excellent. Okay, >> I just thought of a question.
>> Sure, please. >> As as I'm sitting here playing with it, questions are coming up. Where should we direct those questions that may come up? Should we send them to you and Lauren? >> Yeah, >> I have a couple questions I just thought
of. Sure. Um, >> so this is kind of related to what you were talking about with kind of having a gauge. um in terms of being able to look at let's say for advanced place and test scores, AP test AP scores, a parent whose uh children are middle school and
trying to see how good um the high schools are might not be able to look at a 50% pass rate and say, "Oh, that's good." So, do we have like um uh AP scores compared to a national average on this too or like that kind of stuff?
>> Percent passing rate. >> Yeah, that's a good question. I think that goes along along the lines of what you were asking for as far as benchmarking what is good and what's bad. >> Yeah. >> And then so once we have that to would it be possible to have on each of these
sections uh yearly a district-wide goal. So let's say right now our pass rate for AP exams is 50%. For 2025 we want it to be 53% let's say. And so then at the end of the year, we can have um kind of like
what you're talking about a percent or a gauge that shows how much we're how much were our goals were met, how much were not met, you know, and also parents can look at and see what we're striving for as a district. >> Excellent. Yeah, >> great feedback.
Given that this is a a very important conversation, I'm going to ask my board colleagues if they have anything else that they wanted to add. We'll go go around one more time >> because we we want to give you feedback that's actionable. You can work on it and come back to us in terms of the next phase. >> Absolutely. And it doesn't need to be
today either. I mean, as you communicate, this is a work in progress. We're communication weekly. >> Yeah. >> Okay. >> I think I need to review it before I just >> didn't have a chance. So how about we have an assignment u given that some of our colleagues are missing
>> um maybe mid January we can provide feedback to >> I would like earlier so I did in the email I suggested for those that are not here if they had some things by the end of the week but maybe let's say by the end of break the only reason that I say that is because we'll go to work our next steps we're going to go about
building the next and we really want to go live second semester so you know because we just talked about being shut down for that time coming back we'll be back January 5th and that doesn't give us a lot of time between January 5th and the end. So, if you have time to review it before we go from for break, that
will be okay. >> Helpful. >> Um, can I ask Diane to send an email reminder to everyone to send feedback to President Christensen and Dr. Merritt by that specific date? So, everyone has some assignments.
>> Okay. And so just to kind of highlight next steps, you see that we've named the pillars again by goals. So our um additional steps, we'll have a belonging for goal B. We will have a community partnership, student engagement for goal
C. When we get to student voice and being the leader in innovation, um kind of what we've been talking about, we have to see how it plays out. It might be more like a website versus like the dashboard. So on the uh leader in innovation, we uh may capture all of our
achievements and awards that our students, staff, things along those lines may achieve. Outside of the uh five pillars, we've also decided just because of the work that we do with finances to have one uh financial pillar as well. So separate from our dynamic
plan goals, this was a dynamic plan dashboard, we'll also um envision creating a financial uh dashboard as well so that people can track our finances. >> I mean given that this one of the biggest uh jobs of the board is to make sure that the finances are managed and
we're transparent with that process. I think that's a great idea. >> All right. >> Okay. So we thank you so much. >> Thank you. Yes. >> We'll send you more work >> and appreciate you. It's safe travels back. We appreciate you being here. I'm
happy. You can tell I'm just beeing >> to see when it's What is What is that movie? When a plan finally comes together. What is that line from? >> There we go. >> You don't love when I'm playing. >> I love it when I'm playing.
>> I miss that movie. All right. All right, thank you again tricks. >> Thank you. >> All right, we are moving on to part two of F, teaching and learning and we're going to go through the high school
program highlights and this is part of goal B and it's a presentation for tonight. Okay, who's going to lead that off? Mr. Joe Green. Okay, great. Thank you. Good evening members of the board of education, superintendent, core team,
members of the PCS, PCCS community with us here tonight and those watching online. Uh it is my pleasure to uh discuss with you tonight the high school level highlights on particularly around goal B
and should >> Yep, there we go. All right. Sorry, I clicked too far. So, uh this will be sharing some highlights that are a combination of the end of last year 2020 202425 and this
year 2526 uh that support both the dynamic plan and our learner profile. Um and we'll be looking at uh our area of focus around belonging. Um this year teaching and learning is focusing on goals A and B improving learning for all students
across uh the entire park and stark weather and then also looking to create uh emotional, social and psychological safety of all students by creating a sense of belonging. Um these are going to help us create an environment where our students can achieve the learner profile which is a very forwardthinking
view of what they're going to need to be to face the changing future ahead of them. This is our logic model uh that shows our thinking through our work. I won't belabor you by going through it, but it's there for you to refer back to at your leisure when you see this posted
online. Um we are also in the process of adding to this more ways to recognize and incentivize and value the positive accomplishments that our students bring. Um, our common high school vision is so that students will have equitable access
to a positive and collaborative school culture with multiple varied opportunities to engage, get connected, and participate in all of the opportunities there. We want them to be supported in a safe environment that values the rich diversity we have, the excellence that we have, and honors
flexibility in learning to know that it's not one sizefits-all. We also want our students to become strong, independent, and adaptive learners in achieving excellence in their unique goals through our high school experience and beyond.
So, how do we go about creating a sense of belonging? Uh, you may recognize this next slide. Similar to the middle school, we are really working to create uh a synergy and a coherence across the district and in particular 612 to make
sure that we create not just a nebulous affective kind of touchyfey definition of belonging, but one that's based in science and research and is something that's achievable. And you'll notice that there are two key components that add to it. It's a sense of acceptance, a
belief that you're recognized and affirmed for who you are as an individual and that you're fully embraced by a community or a group. And then also that you have a sense of purpose, that you feel that you're able to contribute to something beyond yourself and that you play a meaningful
role in the community or group that we're in. We don't want students just to show up and have school done to them or feel like they show up and do school. We want them to feel that they are a part of something greater, that they're building both themselves and their peers to be the best people that they can become. I think that's a little more
concrete, a little more uh achievable and something we can aim at. Um, I want to thank uh both Josh and Arjun and all of your fellow students uh in particular with this next slide. You'll
see this is an a a tracking of our measurements of the sense of belonging from students from 2021 or sorry 2022 all the way to this fall 2526. Uh you'll notice BOI means beginning of
year MOI middle year uh EOI end of year. Um we are really really excited that last year we had pretty good about a quarter of the park respond at the beginning of the year and then we had a massive drop off in responses in the
spring um by about a thousand less. And so uh our principles and um our director of data assessment research and evaluation Mr. Jonathan Flukes took the time to solicit
student input and student feedback and meet with groups of students and really get a sense that the the survey had been too large to the point where it kind of their eyes glazed over. They didn't want to complete. Plus, it muddled a whole lot of things together. So, in response
to that, we cut the survey size in half and we tailored it specifically to belonging. And that got us a 34.7% increase in student responses. We got we went up from 1657 in the fall of last year across Starkweather in the park to 2232 this year,
>> right? >> Which is huge. That's more than a third of all of our students, which means we are getting into meaningful data as opposed to just a small snapshot. Um I also appreciate I think it was you Josh that said at an earlier board meeting um that you appreciated the change, but you
want to see what we do with this. We are happy to be able to start working with you guys and show you what we're going to do with this data. And I think you'll start seeing that in the coming uh weeks, probably after the break. Um so we are really really proud of the fact that the students took it seriously um
and gave us really excellent responses to work with. Um some key activities we're engaging in uh to create a sense of belonging. We are creating district and community partnerships to create more opportunities for students to connect and be a part of things. We have home
room once a week on Wednesday and academic skills that also helps create a sense of belonging and connection. Um we have mentoring programs like link crew, NHS and various clubs. Um my gosh I feel like we have a club for everything which is a good thing. Um and we have a really
cool process to propose new clubs that go through student and adult vetting and it gets voted on and it's amazing the clubs that students come up with. Um, we've focused our professional development this year around instructional technology to create more of a sense of engagement and connection
and interaction. We're building universal tier one teaching practices uh which try to make uh basically the instruction that happens on a daily basis accessible to anyone. Um we're also this might sound mundane uh but in the furniture purchasing with the bond
we are really looking at movement science and engagement science. Um, and the power behind that is we're looking at things like chairs and tables and desks not as rows and simple things, but actual the user interface of the classroom that it can be adapted and
changed and shifted to the needs of whatever learning experience has to happen. And that the students have different seating choices so that they can find something that works for their body that day. Something that moves a little more, something that moves a little less. There's tons of health implications and cognitive science implications behind that. We have
touchscreen boards in all the rooms at Canton and Starkweather. Those are going to come to Plymouth and Salem as well. Those are interactive for students to get up and work with. So, we're seeing a lot in our PD focus. We're also seeing teachers shifting practices. We've had pilot classrooms with the furniture where teachers are completely shifting
to be much more interactive. And then we've had some courageous teachers taking the desks we currently have and rearranging them to make sure that students are in groups and working more closely together on a regular basis. Um, it's pretty awesome that we have some intrepid people willing to take risks, break old habits, try new things to make
sure that students are connecting. Um, we also have a math a math pilot going on in algebra 1, geometry, and algebra 2. And I'm happy to report we just got data back from student surveys that are ongoing. Um, it was amazing. Students were able to tell us that they saw how
one lesson fed to the other, that it built on previous knowledge that they felt they had an understanding of before they moved on to something new. They highlighted again and again both in the survey and in comments that they enjoyed the ability to talk to each other and picked the brains of their peers as they
were working and grappling with math. And they felt like the math was working more towards what they would see in real life. um and on the order of hundreds of students telling us that relative to about 30 to 100 saying they didn't like it. Um so there's a lot going on and
this might seem like it's pedigogy but it's about creating interaction and connection between students as you can see hopefully from that last slide. Those are the work that we're doing to try to create and uh greater instructional opportunities for our kids, close achievement gaps, but more
importantly get them connected with each other and get them connected with the school and make them feel that they are part of the school, that they are accepted and that they do have a sense of purpose. These are some examples from across the park of different opportunities we have.
You'll see student advisory board meetings up here. You'll see staff connection, belonging, and recognition of adults. You'll see student recognition across the board. You'll see student gathering spaces, class meetings, homework hangout.
Here you'll see shifting instructional practices. In the upper left, you'll see that instead of being in rows, the students are grouped in tables and inner circles and outer circles so they can face each other. You'll see Starkweather students presenting to parent council about their experience, successes, and
strength of sense of belonging at Starkweather. You'll see Kitty campus coming to visit our culinary program. Um, you'll see mental health presentations to students, homecoming and school activities. I'm really proud that they're opening the building to other age groups or the park to other
age groups to create a sense of comfort and connection there already. Um you'll see uh in the middle at the bottom the North Stadium, the new North Stadium packed to capacity for Salem Homecoming game at the North Field. The marching band performed there and played as a pep
band. So we've changed some habits of doing different things to kind of create more opportunities for students. We did learn that we probably don't want to have com homecoming games at the Northfield anymore just because the sheer volume of people there actually probably fits in the larger stands. Um
but uh it was a nice fun experience and man was that crowd bumping that night. Um you'll also see in the lower right um admin and staff greeting students each day in response to student feedback. Our recent survey data showed that they had
asked in years before just to say hi and connect and greet people each day and we have seen a a noticeable increase in our new survey data that this is having an impact. Interestingly, they're saying, "Okay, great start. Now add depth." They want us to get to know them more
individually, get to know them deeper, have better understanding of them, which we're going to work with staff to do. Um, and that'll be the focus of a lot of our work moving forward. Um, you'll also see here honoring students, administrative classroom
visits to connect with students, staff, and gauge engagement. You'll see student voice in the hallways. that young lady posing. I think you can see her right beneath the tree. Um, she made that mural at Stark Weather. >> Yeah. >> Um, you'll also see things, this picture probably could have been brightened up a
little bit in the lower right, but activities like senior sunrise that our, uh, principles engage in to really create a sense of belonging and connection with students. As a former principal for 14 years, those moments where you open and close the year with students is huge. You set a tone, you set a vision for the year. Um, so really
pleased to see all the things that we're doing to support our students and create belonging. Last but not least, there we go. Uh, you'll see uh community partnerships, classroom inreach, and outreach. You're going to see the quarter 1 superstars at Starkweather
with strong attendance and grades. And in collaboration with United Way, those students that received certificates also received a monetary award from United Way um for achieving high levels of attendance and grades. You'll also see Painless the Musical coming in to talk
to students about different situations, things like drugs and things like that that are kind of real issues for them. Um you'll see students feeling in the lower left comfortable enough just to be themselves in a candid shot when an adult is nearby in a picture. and and
you'll see in the lower right an auto showcase where we have people interfacing with the community. Um our next steps are going to be to deepen our learning around incorporating practices and researchbased strategies that enhance student belonging. Um we're
working a lot with Jeffrey Cohen's work belonging out of Stanford. Um we have equity based multi-tered system of supports that we're putting in place across all classes. We're continuing our focus on deep student engagement, collaboration, and interaction so that students get a chance to know each
other, their teachers get a chance to know them, which would be bedrock upon which to build belonging. And then we're working on evolving our practice, as I said earlier, with interactive smartboards, new furniture, the math pilot, curriculum work, and teachers already shifting practices. And then our plan is to engage in datadriven
continuous improvements throughout this and track how we see uh changes in grades, changes in attendance, things like that to show our progress. Um that's everything I have and I'd be glad to answer any questions that there might be. >> Thank you so much. We'll start with
member Peard. >> Okay. All right. I have a question. I know we've, you know, spent a lot of time with this and this was originally, I think, social emotional learning was changed to belonging or is this something totally different? >> Um, a little different. Social emotional
learning talks about skills that they might particularly work with. The research behind belonging is pretty profound and has really grown in its prevalence in maybe the last 5 to 8 years. Um, the research shows that when people consistently have belonging or
sorry, a lack of belonging or a sense of belonging and security, it registers the same way in the brain as chronic pain does. And so rather than teaching kids social emotional skills, we still do that of like how do you resolve conflict, how do you interact, how do you mitigate stress, this is about
making sure that people feel a deep sense of connection. Um, the research is telling us that Maslo had it wrong. He puts it way high up at the top. We need it as much as we need air. Um, and so if you don't have a sense of belonging, your heart's not open, your mind's not
open, you're not bringing all of yourself to be ready and vulnerable to learn and to push yourself and to have grit and to try things. So, >> so this is more based on the belonging book. I mean, I'm just wondering what this is more based on because I know castle social emotional learning. This
is more >> they're slightly interrelated but this is a larger picture about just creating a sense of belonging and connection that is fundamental and it comes out of a deep body of research. >> Um okay share a little more information. Well, I was just concerned because um I
don't know when when we say affirming, I think that that's a little like expecting students to affirm things that they might, you know, other people. They can affirm a person, >> but maybe not affirm the things that maybe other people believe or think or say is state as fact. So, I think kids
need to be that needs to be a clarification too on kids because I think what that does is if they disagree with something, they're more less likely to not say anything and don't feel comfortable to say something because then they'll be accused of certain
things like people are. And so, um, I think it's very important that kids understand that they can give respect to a person and not everybody is going to feel a belonging sense to all other people. I just think that that's something that um that's kind of a
freedom thing and it's kind of a mind thing that kids should be I mean I know of an incident you know just recently where a student um wanted to start a club America chapter in our school and she was or he I don't know what it was some student said that it was that it
was um very controversial and um that that never got pursued but then we can have other clubs that are controversial And so I think that that um to me I know there they've been talking about microaggression, macroaggression. To me
that would be a macroaggression. And so I think that there's some things we look at and we need to be careful. I'm concerned about things that that that some people may may think is a macroaggression where other people
don't. And that that in itself could be a macroaggression. you know, being accused of something that >> So, I think there's a lot of terms. I I think this is an area that's that's um very easily subjective and like I don't
I don't know. Um I think kids should feel belong. I think there's a lot of good things that are happening in there, but I think on when we start telling kids they have to affirm everything, they have to accept everything. I think that there's a little line there to to draw and there's habits kids have and different things that they do that maybe
might not be affirmable for some people. So, I think that's something we need to be careful of and kids kids are impressional impressionable >> and and they will just follow suit because they don't want to appear to be a certain way and they won't speak out. So, I think it's a way of also quieting people. Um,
>> but I think it's overall a good idea to for kids to >> If I may, I take your point and if I gave the impression that it's about simply affirming and agreeing with everything, my apologies. That is not at all what it's about. In fact, a lot of the research talks about situation crafting where you actually create
learning opportunities where people with differing ideas come together to understand each other. They do not have to agree, >> right? But they do try to help find some common ground of at least understanding the logic and understanding that we are able to disagree. So it actually speaks
very much to not quieting things and actually finding ways for us to have productive discourse in disagreement. >> Um so if I gave an impression counter, my apologies. >> Okay. Well, and some topics probably shouldn't be discussed with certain age groups and so that's a parent concern
too. Okay. So, I just think that that needs to be shared with if there's topics that um young kids should not be confronted with or taught that they shouldn't that that should be a um concern. >> And if I may also, member Pard,
>> uh the I just want to make sure that we put it into any room you referenced that club and I think I followed up in board for you all to hear that that we investigated that did not occur here in our district. Um we do have a process. So, there was not a an application that was submitted. Um, I don't know if you
wanted to speak to further, but or you can look at at board notes. >> We did we did investigate. We looked at every single club proposal we had. We did not have one at all that we received. Um, >> I I don't think one was I think the student was told it wasn't received. The student said they did submit it. Um,
that was why I thought it'd be good to But but whether I would say I know it probably wasn't. You say, she said, what I'm saying in an investigation, we have no evidence of anything submitted or conversation. So, we did do a thorough investigation of that. And so, just want to make sure >> and we've yet to find anybody that's had
any conversation. We did reply to the organization with our process and said if the student is interested, here's the website. Here's the materials. Here's the process. By all means, please have them apply and never >> I just think back again, well, from from what I understand, the student was
uncomfortable pursuing. I I think we all heard that that it was investigated and this is factual information that we are getting from Dr. Merritt and her team. So if you hear of something different, please reach out to Dr. Merritt with some credible resources or sources of
information. Um but thank you for your comment. >> Yeah, I just was concerned about that because I I just don't want our district to to make a statement where these things are okay, these things are not. we have some policies that are are not considered belonging for some people.
So, okay, >> I just wanted to share that. >> Okay. Um, member boss, >> um, I thank you for this and I am a proponent of belonging. So, good job.
Um, I'm wondering if there's evidence um or that correlates student success with how they feel they belong. >> Yeah, awesome question. Um, John Hattie, I don't know if you've like with all of
his research, he's found that a strong sense of belonging has a 045 um correlation, which actually is beyond point4, which is where he says it's statistically significant. Um the research that Cohen and his team has done out of the graduate school of
education in Stanford has found that just a just by instill not changing any instructional practices but creating a greater sense of belonging has typically a 0.19 impact on GPA for all students across the board. Um it also tends to have a 10 to 15% I think if I'm
remembering my notes right 10 to 15% increase in grit and persistence on students parts. um they're actually now starting to even look at the health impact that it's actually diminishing anxiety and other things as well as health markers like blood pressure and things like that. They're finding that
it has real broad impact. Um but Hadtie's work on that 045 correlation is huge. I mean that's in some of his top pieces. And I think too just think about when we come to something with our full selves, when we feel open and confident enough, we all perform better. Um, and
I'm sure you can think back to a time in our education when every single person in this room probably had an experience where they didn't have that. Um, and so really trying to create that sense that our students can bring out into the world too, that each individual student feels like they have value, purpose, and
belong um to instill that confidence I think would be a good gift to give to our students as they leave along with the learner profile. >> Thank you. Could you provide us with the links to those um studies that you just mentioned? Thank you. >> Can do that. Absolutely.
>> Great question. Member Ahmed, uh thank you for presenting on this. This is something that is really uh very central to sort of uh my view of education and a lot of it as you pointed to does go back to my own experiences
but also experiences of other students and I appreciate the work and I have a question sort of flipping it that as you've done this work could you list the top three barriers that you found to a
sense of belonging to students in the district. >> And maybe it's a follow-up, but it it's just like a curiosity that I have. >> I would be I would be speculating on a pile of surveys that I read, so I can definitely follow up, but there would be a top three that we could pull out for sure.
>> Okay. And then I think you did mention this as you were um addressing member Peard's concerns, but just to be clear, there is a distinction between affirming and belonging. as you're approaching this, right? >> Yeah. 100%. >> Okay. >> Yeah.
>> Thank you. >> Yep. >> Appreciate that. >> You're most welcome. >> Students, >> my co-chairs. >> Um, so one thing is I really like the presentation. I mean, you guys know me. I've always been talking smack about the panorama surveys. Um, but I think, you
know, they it has gotten a lot better. I mean, even in the districts, there's been like classes get cookies if they have the most amount of response rates and all that is working as as you've shown. Um, and I also, one more thing, you talked about having, you know, a
relationship, building relationships with your staff and I personally, from personal experience think that it's really helpful with, you know, making kids be more academically honest, making them want to show up to school. It makes them excited to go to school. Um, so I'd say that's great and keep
working on that. And then this connecting back, you know, I still not a super fan of panorama survey. And I do agree with member Picard's point on the fact that students will adjust what they're saying um based on their environment, based on the questions. So
to avoid interviewer bias, response bias, would it be possible to make a open survey that students can respond to whenever they want, which will and where they can say, you know, um their current
state of belonging, any issues they're facing related to like their state of belonging, any things that they think could be improved, you know, overall feedback and I get the I guess the wording and how the survey is formatted could be a follow-up
or could be um discussed later, but having something like that to remove a student's uh like a bias when they're responding to a question and feeling like >> you know maybe I have to say yes cuz um I'm pretty sure that you know your ID is still collected when you respond to a
panorama survey. >> Not in this case. >> Not in this case. Okay. >> So but still you know maybe students may have like you know feel that they have to say that they have a higher sense of belonging than they actually do. I mean you never know. Maybe someone's watching them when doing the surveys. So that
kind of stuff may help get more honest answers. >> Totally get it. um we can't control the language necessarily. We asked about that within the Panorama surveys because they're nationally normed AC and and so they we'd be asking them to change their whole architecture because I agree some
of the language I was like I don't know how people would read that. Um but we got them as clear as we could. Um and we have some tools to collect the information you're talking about. So we can definitely look at expanding those. We have some student surveys that people can reach out to and we can look at that.
Um, I would say to build off of that, I'm really excited about what you're going to do with the Panorama survey data now that we've collected such a large amount um from the students. With that said, kind of to build off your point, I think there still is a lot of misconceptions around the panorama survey. So whether it's communicating
through the news or over announcements really like to and I and I'm sure student voice and action would love to like get you a list of all the misconceptions um or even just ones that I know there's a long list so and kind of just debunking I guess all the
misconceptions around the panorama surveys and then just other broad things like that. Um, and then I just kind of want to touch on um, belonging as not every adult in the school is going to impact you, but the ones that do are
the ones that like will change your direct trajectory in high school. So, personally, um, a lot of the lunch ladies have made a big impact on me. And then also there's several so lunch ladies, not necessarily who you probably are thinking of first, but yes, they talk to you every day. I love them. Um,
and then, uh, there's a couple teachers that, um, I'm going to share a personal story. So, freshman year, I walk into the high school first day and I'm waiting for my physics teacher to get here. And I'm just sitting around in a pod. I hadn't even really been at Plymouth High School. And one of the teachers who I didn't have in my
schedule pulled me into their classroom and said I can sit on their couch every day waiting for my teacher. So, I actually have that teacher this year and I love her class. Um, so it's really full circle. But that like first step day one like changed my trajectory I would say and I immediately felt more
comfortable and throughout the entire freshman year and part of sophomore year I went into her classroom almost every day and just talked there and talked with the students in there. Um that's a big thing or talking to teachers that you just see in the the hallway and say hi. I have a couple running jokes with them. Like that sort of thing all like
impacts you. And it's not that you say hi to every teacher, you know, every teacher, but it's the ones that like reach out to you. And not every teacher is going to reach out to every kid, but it's important that every kid has those couple of people to support them. And it really makes you want to come to school or classes that like the peer-to-p peer
class I'm in right now, those classes make you want to come to school. >> So, it's really about finding ways to make kids want to come to school and feel comfortable with coming to school. and then you're by coming to school, you're going to succeed. By wanting to come to school, you're more likely to do the things. So, great work. I'm excited
to see where it goes. >> Awesome. And I'll I'll get in touch with student voice in action and we can set up a time to kind of sit down and talk maybe with the principles so we can debunk that. Um, and you hit on something really important and I know I'm well over my time so I'll be brief. The research on a student having one
trusted adult outside of the family is stunning. like what it does for rates of anxiety, depression, and suicidal ideiation is profound. And then just what it does like look at the energy in Josh that just cuz a teacher asked him
to sit on a couch connected with him and he goes back and sees this person all the time, but that's a touchstone every day and then don't sleep on >> everybody that works in this district from our lunch staff to like the folks that work in the cafeteria to our maintenance folks to our security folks.
I've walked the park for three months now and I see people reaching out, dapping a kid up, just connecting, making a joke, somehow just connecting. The more we can get to a point where everybody has at least one or two people makes the park so much smaller
>> and it just gives you that confidence to go out in the world that somebody sees you and values you and it's not just your family that loves you, but somebody else out in the world >> and man, what a gift to build like some bedrock for a human being to be confident. So, thank you for highlighting that. >> Yeah. And that's what this is about.
This is this work is about not just in the classroom, but as Josh talked about, it's everywhere from our bus drivers to our lunch staff. It's everybody that is in the district connected. Sometimes it's a volunteer that comes into a building. So this sense of belonging is
about all of us making sure that we have the best space, the most welcoming safe space for students where they can thrive, they can be leaders, they can, you know, bring other students along in creating a great environment um for
their student body. Um great question member Voss in terms of that connection to student success because I think it is there. Would love to read the research. um you know so I loved your presentation about movement you've highlighted
movement in the learning process and we know research shows a lot of positive outcomes when there's movement >> in the learning process >> and so one of the questions I have is I'll start with a comment and then ask a
question you know it's one thing to say that we're all student centered and this is what we all thrive for and strive for but it's another to have everyone follow along and believe in this philosophical
uh researchbased um program and initiatives. So how how do you get everyone involved in this process so everyone is stepping up in some way to say yeah we we can do better
and because you know I'm a former teacher so you every day is a learning experience and you strive to get better you strive to see what students are out there that need support what can you do so what kind of um support do you have for staff to support students >> I I really think when you look at the
whole school improvement plan um we can have district goals, but how that actually shows up in the building is specific to your students. And so, as our building leaders work with our teaching and support staff, what we've kind of started this year is to know
your student by name, by strength, by need. So, it's taking it, you know, really building those uh those those partnerships and getting to know your students and what they need. And that could look different in each building. So, it can't be a directive from up high. it is um within to say what do our
students need and um each of them have their their groups that kind of work and define um how that comes to be in their buildings. Okay. And if I may, or do we have? >> Yes, absolutely. >> Um, with the furniture in particular, um, I want to thank both Jill Minnik and
Jen Curry. Uh, because we've had the opportunity through the bond, the company that's working with us was able to, um, have us take a team to Charlotte, North Carolina to their showroom. And not just to come look at furniture, but we actually got to meet
with the researcher that designed it, the designer who actually created the physical space. So we had the science and the aesthetic behind it as well as a teacher who goes around and teaches people how to use it. >> We had a mixed team of principles, teachers, central office administration.
Everybody came back on fire. Then at our next PD day, the teachers volunteered to run their colleagues in all three high schools through some examples and presentations about the furniture. They got them fired up. Now, we have a team that wants to go to Grand Rapids and
take a look at the stuff we're figuring out to bring PD in in March around the science behind this. We're rearranging the timeline to make sure that we can roll this out, right? It's become really something that has an immense amount of momentum and very strategically teachers
were chosen. A couple early adopters, a couple middle- of the rotors, and a couple people that were like, "Oh, heck no." >> Um, and they're all on board now. >> Great. and they convinced I sat in the rooms during PD they really proitized
well their colleagues are like okay yeah let's let's do this holy cow this is a big change but let's and so we're really trying to capitalize on that energy and it's it's really a profound synergy of leadership and teachers coming together to do something powerful for students >> thank you welcome
>> I know we're out of time um so >> I'd like I'd like ask one more question um so this is a whole new program then the social emotional learning then right is that it's like combined I was just not a program it is a sense of belonging so it's the work
that you do to create an environment in which all students feel seen >> heard represented safe respected in school so we're not it's not a program that we're doing it is the >> the way of teaching and >> yeah it's woven into every it's it's woven into everything we do it's about
how we greet people how we interact with students um how we draw more out of them how we get them to interact with each other how we work them towards being able to talk about every topic we're learning about and challenging topics and be able to disagree and be able to
coexist. Um, it's it's really profound. This is probably one of the most important things we can do for people's health and for students in general. Um, it explains a lot of what we've struggled with in the education system for a very long time and the attention and research to it is
>> so cost part of it because I'm financed is there's no this isn't like an added cost. It's just okay. That's what I was getting at. >> Yeah, it's just shifting the conversations. It's highlighting and lifting the right things up. We're not buying anything. >> That's what I'm asking. >> In fact, in fact, like the top nine
things we can do for it don't cost anybody anything. It just other than a little thought and care of it. >> Yes. Smile. That's a cool thing to smile and say hello to somebody. >> Yeah, exactly. >> All right. Thank you so much. You're welcome. Um, if you have any questions, comments beyond this, uh, board colleagues, please send them to President Christensen and Dr. Merritt.
>> Thank you. >> Thank you. All right. Next, we are Next, we are moving on to finance and operations with Jill Minnik. And we do have a final reading. So, before we start this discussion, I am looking for
a motion for action item number 26-12-27. >> Okay, that's us. Anyone? >> Okay. Um, we're asking um I'm sorry I was gonna say president vice president new um to consider um consider approval
of resolution for a chiller replacement at Halsing Elementary School. This is a final reading and it's action number 261227. >> Thank you member Vicard. I'm looking for a second. >> I'll second. >> Thank you member Voss. It was moved by member Vicard, seconded by member Voss.
All right, now let's go through this. I know we already saw one round of this at the last meeting, but do you have any um updates? Anything new? Nope. Same as last time. It is. >> Yes, it is. >> Okay. >> Thank you. >> All right. I'm going to ask for a vote. All in favor say yes. >> Yes.
>> Anyone oppose say no. >> Okay. Action item number 26-12-27 passes 40. Thank you for that. Um we have another final read. I'm asking for a motion for action item 26-12-28. >> Okay. Vice President Sudu. Um we we are
moved to consider approval of resolution for a chiller replacement at Ericson Elementary School and this is a final reading and it's action number 261228. >> Thank you. We're looking for a second. >> Second. >> Okay. It was moved by member Bard, seconded by member Voss and again we
went through this last time. Um can you just briefly give us a timeline in terms of when this would be done? >> We anticipate installation in May. Okay, great. Thank you. All right. I'm going to ask for a vote. All in favor say yes. >> Yes. >> Yes. Any oppose? Say no.
>> Okay. Motion passes 40 for action item number 26-12-28. We are now moving on to student services with Mr. Tisowitz. >> Thank you. Uh tonight the board is being asked to consider as a first reading a resolution regarding the district's continued participation in a limited
school of choice program for the 2026 27 school year. Uh state law requires the board to vote annually on participation in a school of choice program. Our district has participated in this program for the last 13 years. For the 2012627
school year, we are recommending participation with a minimum of one seat per grade from kindergarten through 10th grade. That does include young fives as well. and a maximum of 500 total seats available for enrollment in our district
under the school of choice uh provisions outlined in sections 105 and 105 C of the state school aid act. Uh section 105 does allow the district to accept students in Wayne County while the section 105C extends the ability for
students from counties contiguous to Wayne County to apply as well if approved. This process includes a 30-day advertising period and a 30-day window for accepting applications. It also uh gives the district the uh ability to um
uh enroll students who currently have siblings here as well. Uh currently there are about 1,400 students that attend our district through the school of choice program and by law we must enroll at least one student per grade level. That is advertised. uh but the
total enrollment may reach up to 500 students. Um if applications exceed 500 students, a lottery would be conducted to uh determine enrollment and I would take any questions you might have as well. >> You share also that we provide some background information in board notes on
Friday for your awareness. >> Thank you Dr. Merritt. >> All right, we'll start with member boss. Thank you. I don't have any questions. Member Ahmed. >> No questions. Thank you. Member Petard. >> Yep. Yep. I don't have any questions. Thanks, Josh. >> No questions. Thank you.
>> Okay. You're good at this. >> Thank you. >> 13 years. >> Um, quick question. Could you give us a timeline? So, this is the first read. The board will vote on this. >> In January, which is the first week of January or the second week.
>> And then once the vote, if approved, when would you start advertising? >> The next day. >> Oh, the very next day. the very next day because then we'll have 30 days to advertise. Uh, one of the nice things that we've been doing over the last few years is as families have u uh reached out to us about school of choice and the
windows not open, we keep a list. So, we have about 75 people on that list already for next school year. So, we'll reach directly out with them with the information so that they're aware of the the timelines and the deadlines and things like that. And then we'll do the 30-day application period as well, which
is also, you know, time to advertise as well. >> Okay. So by law there's 30 days and you can't go beyond that, right? >> You cannot go beyond that for the application period. Correct. >> So the public that's listening please put that on your calendar January start filling out those applications because I
get >> the application will be available in February. We advert we advertise uh in January to midFebruary and then midFebruary to mid-March is the application period. >> Okay. So look on our website for the school of choice applications. get on them because once that 30-day passes, I
know sometimes people come to us in April and we can't go back. So, fill them out just in case. >> Just can I ask one question? Sure. Can um now when they apply, do the um applicants, if they have a sibling already in the school, do they get like a first consideration?
>> They get preference. Yep. And they're not a part of the lottery. So, Okay. Yep. But we'll back those. If we have 120 that are siblings, um then we would only have a lottery for the 380. >> Okay. All right. Thank you. Okay. Thank
you. Um we'll move on to since this is the first read, um we'll move on to the next uh resolution that Mr. Tis is going to talk about. >> Oh. Uh tonight we're also asking for your consideration as a first reading uh the recommendation for non-resident
employee choice for the 202627 school year. uh the board has to annually elect whether or not to participate in the non-resident employee program. This program allows any staff member the ability to bring their student into the district regardless of the district where they reside. And
currently we have about a hundred u non-resident family employee families that attend the district. >> Okay. All right. I'm going to ask for comments starting with member Ahmed. >> No comments. Thank you. >> Question comments. Member >> no questions. >> Member boss. All right.
>> Thank you. >> Keep it up. Doing good. These are pretty consistent um annual resolutions or um yeah, resolutions. Okay, that is it for Mr. Tisowitz and now we are moving on to citizens
comments overflow. We don't have any since we only had two the first round. Uh now we're moving on to letter H for discussion. Um, I just want to quick I don't think my discussion is actually more a follow-up board question. So,
>> I will table the board goal discussion with three till the next meeting when everybody's here. >> So, President Christensen is not here to talk about the board goal discussions. I don't want to overstep her plan. So, we're going to put that off for January. >> Uh, so we are now moving on to follow-up board questions. I do have um some from
today that I want to make sure that we have um member boss asked for the research. Did you get that what what research she was asking for? Okay. >> Um >> I feel like that might >> I asked that last time. >> So when we get to the follow-up board
questions, that's still one that's outstanding and I think that that can detail. >> Yeah, it's kind of like all grade levels really I guess would be important. And member Ahmed asked for the top three barriers as a follow-up item. And
with the data dashboard, we are going to get an email from Diane to give us our deadline for giving comments to Dr. Merritt and President Christensen. Are there any other follow-up board questions from today's meeting that we need to look into and get more
information? That's what I noted. That's all you. Okay. All right. From last time, there were board questions from November 25th. Uh that was the fall data review. The board asked about restorative practices and that was in
board notes. >> Um we just talked about the middle school update presentation. A board asked about data that shows correlation between student sense of belonging, which again came up today. That was from the middle school presentation and now we had the high school. So we have those two
>> across the K12 answer. That sounds good. Okay. All right. We are at adjournment. We are at the end of that meeting. >> 8:37. We did pretty good. I want to thank everyone for showing up and being
here. And again, have a great restful holiday season.