Good evening everyone. I'm gonna call the meeting to order at 7 PM. My name is Lauren Christensen. I'm the president of the board. I'm going to ask my fellow board members to introduce themselves starting to my left. I'm Edma. Thank you all for coming. >> I'm Cheryl Pequard and it's nice to see
everyone tonight. >> Good evening. I'm Anu Chug Sudu. Thanks for being here. >> Hi, I'm Patrick Kio. Thanks for joining us this evening. >> I'm Judy Wester. Thank you for coming out tonight. I'm Jennifer Voss. It's nice to see you, our student co-chair. >> Good evening. I'm Josh Patterson,
Plymouth High School senior and student voicing action co-chair. Glad to see you all out here tonight. >> Dr. Mer, can you introduce yourself and your team? >> Yes, Josh. I was just saying I was so overwhelmed by seeing you as a senior. Time went so quickly. >> Brought tissues.
>> Now I'm like almost lost. >> Hi. I'm like, who am I? Superintendent Monica Merritt. Welcome. Glad to see you this evening. I'd like to begin by introducing my executive assistant, Miss Diane Robertson. We want to thank her for being here to capture our minutes. And also Mr. John Kger, who is here take
caring our take care. He is taking care of our technology needs this evening. I like the remaining members of the staff to introduce themselves to you on my right. >> Thank you, Dr. Merrick Curtis, assistant superintendent for student services. Welcome. >> Good evening. Jill Minn, chief finance and operations officer.
>> Good evening. I'm Jen Curry, chief academic officer. Good evening. I'm Abdul Mun, Chief Human Resource Officer. >> Welcome. Liz Vartanian Gibbs, assistant superintendent, student family engagement. >> Great. Thank you. Let's all stand for the pledge. Josh, will you lead us?
I aliance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for it stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all. Okay. Um moving on to the adoption of
the agenda and the approval of of the consent agenda. This is action item number 26-05-66. Can I please have a motion? >> Madam President, I move that we adopt the agenda. Approve the consent agenda action item number 26-05-66.
>> Can I have a second? >> Second. >> It was moved by Vice President Sadu and seconded by Secretary Wester. Dr. Merritt, can you please take us through the agenda? >> Thank you, President Christensen. This evening, our consent agenda consists of human resources transactions since our last time together. We have leaves,
resignations, and retirements for your consideration, as well as the approval of minutes. That's from our regular meeting on May the 12th, 2026. And finally, we have the approval of the cooperative education program agreement with Wayne Westland Community School District. As you recall, these are our
annual um agreements between the school districts so that our students may take part in some of their programming. >> Thank you, Dr. Merritt. I'm going to call for the vote. Those in favor, please say yes. >> Yes. Those oppos say no. Motion carries 70. Um Mr. Maidun, can you take us
through human resources? >> Um yes. Um we have um quite a few retirements that I would like to acknowledge today. Um I will start with Brenda Bellinger, French teacher at Salem who's been with the district since 1991. Kelly Campbell um at Workman who's been
with the district since 2005. Joshua Carroll who has been with the district since 2004 at Plymouth. Ronald Duran um also a working um teacher who has been with the district since 2003. David Federa um who's been at Dodson
since 1994. Leanne Gianadria who's been a classroom teacher at Ericson since 1997. Kimberly May who was the director of state and federal programs and student and school improvement since 2008 with the district. and Marie Moss um also at
workman um has been with the district district since 1995. Michelle Rushlo who's been at Miller since 2000. Nicole Shammy a Plymouth teacher who's been with the district since 1995. Michelle Smiley, history teacher at
Canton since 1991. Carolyn Washington, who was the elementary school principal at Ference, who's been with the district since 2002. Rebecca Young, a classroom teacher at Workman who's been with the district since 1998, and Julie Zinser, a classroom teacher at
Smith since 2001. And I would like to give them all a round of applause. And um welcome >> and we would like to wish them well in their future endeavors and um and thank them for their service to the district.
>> Thank you, Mr. Mu. All right, up next we have celebrating success with member Sadu. I know every one of my board colleagues wishes that they could be up here today. Um we have a special one. They're all special um but we've had an opportunity
to work closely with um this student. Tonight's celebrating success um presentation is especially meaningful because we have an opportunity to recognize one of our very own. This evening, we are proud to honor student voice and action co-chair and Plymouth
High School senior Josh Patterson as a recipient of the PCCS Stars Award. Josh, would you please join me at the podium? By the way, my board colleagues call you OG of SBA. I just learned that today.
Simply put, Josh Patterson is a leader and a student whose impact on this district will continue to be felt long after he walks across that graduation stage. Josh's service to PCCS began as an advocate for student voice. It has been an amazing journey watching Josh
grow over the last four years with his leadership and mentorship. Many in our community first came to know Josh when he appeared on the 88.1 the park's community focus program alongside then president school board president Shawn Wilson to discuss the newly formed
student voice and action committee. Josh's passion for ensuring students have a meaningful voice in their educational experience led him to join student voice in action where he has served as a co-chair for the past three years and he was the original person
that kind of got us off the ground with one or two years of our pilot work. So he has been with us with SBA for I want to say almost five years. In that role, Josh has represented students at the board of education meetings and worked closely with the district administrators
to provide thoughtful insight on issues impacting our schools. His leadership has earned him the respect of his peers, district leaders, and members of the board. Josh's fellow committee members have shared that his passion and dedication have inspired them to
continue the committee's important work well into the future. Josh's commitment to leadership is matched by his compassion and desire to make the community he calls home a better place. As a part of his Eagle Scout project, Josh established a food
pantry at Plymouth High School. He oversaw every aspect of that effort from fundraising to organizing supplies, creating an important resource for students in need. He has also volunteered extensively with the STEM department, helping the staff organize
and prepare equipment for the school year. His dedication to inclusion and peer support is evident across many areas of student life. Josh has participated in the unified sports as a peer partner in bowling, basketball, and
botchi. through the peer-to-peer program. The relationship Josh built inspired him to adjust his senior year schedule to continue supporting students through the music program. That's dedication. As a link crew member, as a link crew
crew leader and participant in the leadership mentorship mediation class, John has Josh has helped younger students successfully transition into high school. He has also been a strong advocate for mental health awareness through his work with students versus
stigma, helping reduce barriers for students seeking support. His efforts earned him an award from the Michigan chapter of National Alliance on Mental Illness. just for that. Josh consistently leads by example
through his kindness, curiosity, taking initiative, and unwavering dedication to improving both PCCS and the broader community around him. His presence at this board table will certainly be missed, but my colleagues and I are excited to see all that the future holds
for this truly exceptional young man. Josh was nominated for the stars award by PCCS assistant superintendent for student and family engagement, Dr. Liz Vartinian Gibbs. And now I would like to give her the opportunity to say a few words.
It is an absolute honor to congratulate Josh Patterson on receiving the students with tenacity achieving and reaching success stars award. When Josh was a rising freshman, the development of the student voice and action committee was just beginning. Josh didn't just join
the committee, he helped build it. He rolled up his sleeves to develop the core mission and strategic plan and took on the task of marketing and communication to ensure his peers knew they had a seat at the table. To say he committed to this cause is an
understatement. Josh has served on the committee for all four years of his high school career, stepping up as co-chair for his sophomore, junior, and senior years. For the past three years, Josh has also attended board of education meetings, serving as a student representative to advocate for his
peers. His journey from an eager freshman to an exemplary student leader at Plymouth High School is a shining example of dedication, commitment, and service. Josh, you have truly set a standard for what student leadership looks like. Thank you for unwavering
advocacy. I know you will achieve great things as you bring your tremendous skills and passion into the next stage of your life. Congratulations, Stop. Stop. On behalf of the Plymouth Canton Community Schools Board of Education, it
is our honor to recognize Josh Patterson for his leadership, service, and commitment to others by presenting him with a PCCS Stars Award. Congratulations, Josh. And now I invite you to see if you want to say a few words. Wow. Um, first of all, it's weird being
right back here. I sat in that chair for two years before I was in that one. Um, and I spoke at this microphone, so it's kind of full circle. I I say that a lot. Um, like you said, five years, time flies. That's just not okay. >> I want to say start by saying something
ironic, and it's even more ironic than the fact that you went on and on about all that I do. Um, I've never really liked receiving uh awards for the work I do because I didn't start doing this work to get recognized for it. I started because I wanted to make change and change things. And that's always been my
goal. One thing that I've learned sitting in the meetings, speaking at events, and working alongside this board is that student voice only matters if people are willing to act on it. And I've been lucky enough to work with people in this district who truly care about listening. To my board colleagues here tonight, thank you for treating
students as partners in conversations instead of spectators to them. That matters more than you realize. The truth is meaningful change usually doesn't happen in big moments instantaneously. Most of the time it happens slowly through uncomfortable conversations and
showing up day in and day out. And sometimes that is hard because it's much easier to say nothing at all. Trust me, there are a lot of people who have helped support me so I can stand here tonight. I want to thank both of my co-chairs Arjun and say um say obviously
was my previous co-chair all the board members in district administration who have answered my countless questions and helped guide me along through my journey. Dr. Liz for her continued support and none of this would have been possible without my mom um before I could even drive. She was taking me to
board meetings and events constantly sometimes late at night, sometimes after long days. She supported this work from behind the scenes and it wouldn't have been done without her supporting me. So, thank you mom and thank you dad too. >> And finally, thank you for this
recognition. Even if awards still make me a little uncomfortable, I'm grateful not because it celebrates me, but because it shows that student voice, inclusion, fighting stigma, and countless other things are worth recognizing in the first place. So, thank you all. So Josh has
so thank you for joining us in celebrating Josh and his many contributions. to PCCS. We invite Josh and his family to join us in the hallway in a minute. But Josh had a request and he's been watching the board meetings this long to know that there was a point where we had people come from the podium
to shake everyone's hands. Do you remember that? >> I remember that. >> And after COVID, we started to walk away from that. But he has a request and he wondered if he could shake everyone's hand because you have meant so much to him. So I said yes.
Would you join me in the hallway? >> All right. Going to compose myself. We're very, very proud of Josh. Um, up next we have our board committee reports and action. Um, up first is the president's report. A few things I'd
like to say. First of all, happy uh, belated Memorial Day. I hope our students and staff and families had an opportunity to enjoy the long weekend and spend some time with loved ones while honoring those who made the ultimate sacrifice for our country. I also want to note as we return back to
school this week, the countdown is officially on. I mean, we've been acknowledging this for the last couple board meetings, but it's here. Um, the countdown's on to graduation and the final days of our of the school year. It certainly is an exciting time um and a memorable time for so many of our
students. Um, we look forward to celebrating our graduates uh at commencements that begin next week, which is exciting. I do have a few board shoutouts. It's been uh a busy time of the year. Um, we had several of our honors nights last week. So, at a few of
our board members were able to attend each of these. So, at our Plymouth Honors Night, we had member Ahmed, member Pequard, and Treasurer Kho. Thank you for for being there on behalf of of the board of education. At Salem High School Honors Night, um, Vice President Sudu, and Treasurer Kho
attended on behalf of the group. And at Canton High School Honors Night, Treasure Kho and Secretary West were there. So, thank you. Um we myself and member Voss uh had the pleasure to be uh guest judges at the PC EP uh art show
last weekend and I don't know if you wanted to share a couple words about that experience but boy oh boy it was it what an honor and like how incredibly talented are all of our students K through high school is just amazing. I'm sure you felt the same way. I did. >> Yeah. Yeah.
>> Forgot to mention I went to the art show as well. Incredible the talent. Yeah. Yeah. It's amazing. Thank you for going. Um, and then we also had an a memorable evening, the ORSA Hub grand opening last week. Several board members were able to attend, including Vice President Sadu,
Secretary Wester, and Treasurer Kho. So, thank you all for attending and please keep u filling out that board tracker form so I can continue to uh celebrate all of the shoutouts and events that we were able to attend. So, >> so I just wanted to say that I went to
the memorial um day parade and that our band started the thing and that was wonderful. >> And and then we also had um that Mr. Belch's class also participated this year too. Great posters and all the work. So that was really great. Thank
you. Appreciate that. And that concludes my president's report. Short and sweet today. Um up next we had student performance and achievement committee with uh Secretary West. >> Madame President, we have not met since our last meeting. Our next meeting is
Wednesday, June 3rd at 5:00 pm in this room. We hope everyone in the community can come out and join us. Think we have an action-packed agenda next time. >> All right. Thank you. Next, we have policy committee with Vice President Sadu. >> Thank you. We actually just met and we
had a a different meeting than normal. We had a meeting of the whole in this room where we invited all board members to be a part of the discussion for a very important conversation which is changing our policy provider and we've been looking at a new provider for quite
a while now and we started this work in January and through that process every month we would meet we discuss um opportunities and challenges and we had two providers came to us giving us some highlights of what they could offer. Ultimately, the committee chose Miller
Johnson, but we wanted the entire board to have a conversation about the pros and cons and ask questions. And by the way, thank you for asking such great questions that we didn't think about in our normal meeting. And that's the benefit of inviting more people to this conversation. So, they had an
opportunity to look at um all aspects of the proposal. So, when it goes to the whole board for a vote next month, they will have had this opportunity to dive in deeper with the conversation. So, that was it. Um, anyone else want to share anything? Amina, did I miss anything from the meeting?
>> Nope. I think you got it. Looking forward to it coming to the full board next time. >> Thank you. The next meeting, sorry. >> The next meeting is June 23rd, Tuesday, 5:30 p.m. We'll be back in our corner room. Great. Thank you very much. We
have Finance and Operations Committee with Treasurer Kiho. >> Sure. Um, we met last Thursday, May 21st, and we had a little bit of differences that happened there. We met at 4 pm instead of 5:00 pm, and we met at Salem High School um in the main conference room there to allow us to
attend the honors night that same evening. So, at that time, we discussed the purchase of the pilot furniture for PEP that'll be, I believe, on the agenda for this evening. um as well as uh the uh a painting contract for Hovind Elementary School that's got a slight
revision to it. We talked about a security clamor replacement that'll be on the board uh this evening and for the Durham uh transportation contract renewal. Uh we also had a uh preview of the budget process update and final assumptions which we'll also be talking
about here this evening where we understand some of the really substantial challenges are facing uh public education as a whole in this district in particular and some very difficult choices that we're going to have to make and we'll talk more about that this evening. We then had a very brief and abbreviated financial report
for the month of April um before we adjourn to the uh the honors night. The finance and operations meeting again will be a little bit different for the next one. There's some conflicts this next week. Um and so we won't have it on Thursday as we normally do. We'll be having it as a committee of the whole.
It'll be here in this room on Monday, May June 8th at 5:00 pm. And at that time, we're doing it as a committee as a whole to give the whole board a chance to talk about some of the work they're going to be doing around a potential syncing fund that could come onto the ballot for this November and help
support some of the uh the and the opportunities that we have and give our community a chance to to support public education. >> Anything about cookies? >> So, there's always a a healthy competition between um the policy
committee and the finance and operations committee and we had this committee of a whole meeting here last today and there was an opportunity to see how great policy was and it was a good discussion don't get me wrong. I mean, it was a good discussion, a good presentation,
but just wait till next Monday or a week from Monday. We're going to bring it. >> I'm going to blame you. >> We're holding you to it. >> We're holding you to it. >> All right. Thank you, Treasure Kho. Up next, we have Student Voice and Action
Committee with Arjun and Josh. When SVA last met, we had representatives from ORSA Credit Union come in and they presented and got student feedback on a new idea for an opportunity to teach students about business and increase financial literacy across the district. Additionally, we introduced our SBA
substance use awareness initiative feedback form so we could collect input on what we did well this year and how we can improve on this initiative for the upcoming year. Our next meeting will be next school year, but the date's not decided. >> Thank you very much. And that concludes
our board committee reports and action. Up next is our su super superintendent report. Dr. Merritt. Thank you, President Christensen. This evening, I'm going to take an opportunity to brag about our students and our partners and all things district. I want to begin with giving a shout out to our inaugural
PC girls flag football team. They successfully qualified for the Michigan State Finals at Fordfield and get their first season of competition. I had the chance to catch them in action for that game. It was so wonderful to see all of our student athletes, their
fans, our middle school participants were invited to to gather and support this team on that journey. The finals will be held again at Ford Field. This is May 31st and this is free for all. So, be nice to have our community come out and support our student athletes.
Also, I want to uh congratulate and I'm excited to announce that our award-winning studentrun radio station 881 the park reached a very important milestone in their amplification capital campaign when they recently crossed the
line which is the $200,000 mark in fundraising. If you fundraising, if you recall the power of partnerships, our noon uh Plymouth Rotary Foundation supported a match. So, if our uh students were able to raise 200,000,
then the Plymouth Rotary was going to match that 200,000. So, we have met that at $400,000. And with that generosity, we had people calling in such as Margaret Dunning Foundation, Orsa Credit Union, Relentless Care Foundation, the Giving Hopes Women's Circle, Plymouth AM
Rotary, um as along with community members like Don Sunn and hundreds of listeners. Also, shout out to Miss Pequard's family uh with uh I I was there. I was like, "Hey, I'm I get glasses here." And so, they had a a really nice uh gift card that people
were able to auction off. So, uh it was just a wonderful day. I had the opportunity to spend and be a guest DJ and getting what do you not a DJ. What do you call that that we did? >> Guest auctioneer. >> Auctioneer. I was like lightning by fire. I walked in in like one second to learn. But the kids were outstanding and
we had a great time. So just really enjoyed that and so proud of the students for all of the work that they've done. And also uh Mr. Kger, I know that you assist at the radio station and he kept us all on track that day. And I I see Miss Cummings in the background. I know you're influential in that radio class. So all of that has
just created excellence for our young people and this space will now um as a part of the the the bond work we were initially looking at but now this grant will really fund that new space production space for them which is really beautiful to get a chance to come and see it. Continuing to brag about our
young students, I want to share that the Plymouth Canton Educational Park seniors, Arouche Kumar, John Collins, and Andrew Thai, have been recognized for their academic excellence and success both inside and outside the classroom after being awarded 2026
National Merit Scholarships. John and Andrew, let's go ahead. John and Andrew plan to study computer science while Arouche intends to pursue a career in medicine. They are among fewer than 100 students in Michigan selected to receive awards during the
second round of the National Merit Scholarship announcements. These scholarships are funded directly by the National Merit Scholarship Corporation and are awarded to students who demonstrate exceptional academic achievement, leadership skills, and potential for success in rigor rigorous
college studies. John, Andrew, and Arouche continue PCE strong tradition of national merit scholarship success. I am going to then move on to our community and you mentioned President Christensen, our grand opening that took
place with the ORSA hub um with our partners from Orsa Credit Union. That was a fantastic event. We had a student who was the MC for that evening and we were able to really come together and just celebrate what I'm going to call the first of its kind instructional and
learning space for our students kindergarten through 12th and beyond who can get together in an innovative way for collaboration and hands-on learning experiences. Our robotics team now has their dedicated practice field. And I
just share that our robotics uh kids have just been so flexible over the years. They don't complain, but after they set out their robots, they've been using cafeterias and hallway spaces. They have to disassemble every night and through that are still world champions. Now they have this the dedicated space and it's already set up and and soon as
we turned over the keys uh for occupancy, they were right in there uh building their whatever you call that field. All those things that are there. It's just wonderful. But again, just thank you for board members, our community members, our staff um that came out, our partners at ORSA for
really making this a reality. 25 years, $5 million commitment to our students and their future. So, we're so thankful for that. And finally, I have given birth to the dashboard. After all of these years of asking, it has arrived
and it is live. our PCCS dashboard which is a huge milestone for our district. Our board asked that of me how many years ago has that been two years over five we started talking about it and this concept of dashboard and we were you know KPIs we know in the operations
side but we weren't as using that term uh within our teaching and learning side but really have um found the right partner who uh came in and created the dashboard now that uh has our strategic goals that has each of our goals um divided out with data around our student
achievement our student voice our staff uh recognition how long our staff has been here. Each of the goals really are are um able to be spelled out with information that's very very rich. So, you can visit this dashboard. It's in the about section of our website,
pCCSK12.com. I really want to invite our community members to check this out. It's really great to see exciting things that are happening in our schools. Right now, it has that popup. So, if you go right to our website, you'll be able to um get to that. So, please check it out. Give us your feedback. And this is some pages
will be static and they'll change once a year. For example, our scores, our student student test scores and other things will be able to change throughout the year. So, please uh take a look at that and give us your feedback. That concludes my report for this evening. Thank you very much, Dr. Merritt. Okay.
Up next, we have citizens comments. Thank you, Diane. Okay. So, as a reminder, excuse me, this is the first segment of citizens comments and it will last 30 minutes. If we have citizens comments that move us
past that 30-minut time limit, we will hear uh the remaining comments later in the agenda. Each citizen has three minutes to speak. The board will not respond. This is your time to share. The administration will follow up with each individual who participates in citizens
comments. As a reminder, please do not share any names when sharing concerns or criticisms or unless you have their permission to do so. We've got a pile up here. So, I will call the first comment. Up first, we have Rachel Hayes.
Hi, my name is Rachel Hayes and I'm here tonight on behalf of CAPES. This week, the US House passed a bill that would pressure schools to adopt policies requiring staff to disclose a student's gender identity to parents and restrict conversations around gender identity and
LGBTQ plus topics. Regardless of whether this bill survives the Senate, the message to LGBTQ plus students is clear. your privacy, your safety, and your identity remain under attack. There are absolutely people in this community and
sitting on this board who cheer for policies like this while ignoring the damage they cause to innocent children. Because acknowledging that damage would require empathy and the willingness to admit that targeting vulnerable kids is actually cruel. Instead, some people
wrap themselves in buzzwords like parental rights and pretend that makes every outcome righteous. No matter how many students end up terrified, isolated, or emotionally harmed in the process, people can convince themselves they are the heroes in this story.
Meanwhile, actual kids are paying the price. So, let's talk honestly about what these policies actually do to children. increased anxiety, depression, and self harm among LGBTQ plus youth who no longer trust adults at school. Students avoiding counselors, teachers,
and support staff out of fear private conversations will be reported home. Higher absenteeism because students no longer feel emotionally safe in classrooms or extracurricular spaces. Family rejection or housing instability for students whose parents react
negatively after forced disclosure. Social isolation after being outed to peers or losing affirming spaces. Teachers becoming hesitant to support vulnerable students because they fear backlash. Increased bullying and harassment when
rhetoric tells students that transgender kids are controversial or unwelcome. And long-term damage to trust when students believe adults prioritized politics over their well-being. The same people pushing these policies are often the first to say that academics should be
the district's top priority. My questions are, how does any of this help these kids learn? How does fear improve attendance? How does isolation improve concentration? How does forcing students to hide who they are help them succeed in school?
Or is the expectation that only certain kids deserve the opportunity to reach their full potential? Let me be very clear. Parents matter deeply. Families matter deeply. But student safety matters, too. Capes is asking the board
majority to continue its commitment to protecting LGBTQ plus students. And CES will continue standing firmly for public schools where every student feels safe, respected, valued, and given the chance
to succeed. Thank you. Thank you for your comments. Up next we have Oh, Kate. Can you read that? >> Oh, Kelly Giovani. >> Gerini. >> Germini. Thank you. I I apologize.
>> No, you're okay. I'm married in Italian. >> There's a lot of eyes in there. Um, hi. My name is Kelly Geramini. I am not only a proud graduate of Salem High School, I've also been a teacher there for 18 years. Um, and in those 18 years, I have taught the credit recovery
program for 12 of them. And that occurs during the day, after school, and during the summertime. Edgenuity is the program that we have used. And when we first did it, it the purpose of it was to have the ninth graders recoup their credit without having to go back into the ninth
grade classes. So, we could keep SLC's pure. From there, we created a seventh hour known as FastTrack so the students could recoup credit before possibly staving off Stark weather. And then after when COVID hit, things got wild. We ended up using egeneuity for everything that we could possibly think
of for all of the possible classes. And what happened was since it was largely unmonitored, the cheating abounded. And since then, we have attempted to get things back on track, but it's largely different based on how we use it. So, we need to regroup for a multitude of
reasons um for what we use for our credit recovery course. Now, adopting a new platform would really give us that opportunity to make sure that we're doing something ethical and making sure our grading is system is actually solid. Um so, this year twice, Kim Domen, um
Derek Southwick, Ray Miller, and I met with Joe Green to talk about our desire to switch programs. Um, and I know that we also need to fold in the 21F kids who are taking classes virtually. And the opportunity to unite with one program really gives us an opportunity to ensure we are being intentional with the
offerings we are giving our students and the opportunities that they have. One positive with our current situation is all the kids know the credit recovery teachers during the day. There's actually one classroom in Salem where uh Mike Ginta, Ricky Sty, and I all rotate out of that classroom. And the kids
really know that if they show up to that classroom, they're going to find somebody who's willing to help. Give them a note card, give them colored pencils, deal with the fact that they super glued their finger to the Chromebook, whatever has happened in that day. Um, and they they know that that applies to FastTrack and that
applies to summer school as well. Um, and in short, we need to update our system for credit recovery as well as 21F, but we need to keep our connection between staff and students as strong as possible. What scares me is June is next
week and we don't have a formal plan. Um, and with capitalism and education, it's a pretty dirty business because with the money that went into credit recovery, so many platforms popped up and they're flashy and they're trendy, but they have not been on the market long enough for us to create a robust
education with those programs. Without a well-crafted program, the students are never going to be able to take their educational skills and their executive functioning skills and transition it to the classroom. and to help our students feel connected to this school and to support their future. The reduction of student teacher
interaction is just not an option. And I hope we take that into consideration with the program we purchase. Thank you for your comment. Up next we have Venus Harris. Good evening. My name is Venus Harris and I am the parent of a senior in the
autism spectrum disorder program at Plymouth High School. We moved to this district more than 10 years ago for the special education program and were pleased with the education my son received at TANDA. However, at the high school level, our experience has been
one of being an afterthought. My graduating senior will be transitioning to this district's post-secary program for individuals 18 to 26 years old. My question for this board is why is there zero information on the district's
website about the Madonna or goals program? When I reached out to the special education administration via email, the response I received was that I could email my questions to them or I could schedule a meeting to have my questions answered. Is there any other
group of students and families that are required to schedule a meeting or email their questions just to learn basic information such as times, location? Is transportation available, etc. as it pertains to the district's educational
program? No, there isn't. There's information on the website for incoming kindergarteners, sixth graders, and ninth graders. I can search and learn about safety town for kindergarten kindergarten and first graders, kindergarten orientation, the web
program where everyone belongs for for incoming sixth graders, um link crew and walk the park for incoming ninth graders, the differentmies at the park, and even the alternative and adult education programs at Starkweather. But for this population of children who
arguably need to have access to the basic information about transitioning to the next stage in their lives the most. There is nothing. No opportunity for an orientation, no group tour, no online
presentations or videos are afforded to our families. It is disgraceful really. I am curious to know how does this fit in with the district's strategic plan for inclusion, innovation, and student success. The district's new and improved
website was launched in June 2022. The postsecondary special needs students and families. Obviously, we were not in considered prior to launch, but one would think that since then, this oversight would have been rectified.
I would be happy to share other examples of how special education families are made to feel like we are an afterthought in this district, but my time here is limited to three minutes. This is just the most recent example. PCCS and
specifically PEP needs to do better. Thank you. Thank you for your comments. Thank you for your comment. Up next, we have Cheryl Corson. Hi, my name is Cheryl Corson. I am a coach of Infinity Tech Robotics and I'm
joined here with a couple team members from Infinity Tech Robotics as well as another robotics coach from Liberty Middle School. Um, Infinity Tech from East Middle School is one of the first is the first PCCS middle school team to advance to the first Tech Challenge World Championship in Houston where we
took third place in qualifications this year. In addition, PCCS middle schools overall saw its strongest showing yet with a record number of teams with their best showings at the state championship. We were honored to be invited to the
recent ORSA Innovation Hub grand opening and we are here to request the use of the hub during our September and to December competition season and funding for two district-wide first tech challenge practice fields. There are
upwards of 14 PCCS middle school teams of up to 15 students each and our team alone logged 531 hours working in temporary spaces like classrooms, libraries, and basements. Lacking a
permanent home, each meeting we must unload and unload cars worth of supplies, tools, and robots. Setting up and dismantling practice fields takes an hour every single meeting, which significantly detracts from our ability
to focus on innovation. We know other teams face similar challenges and have set up their practice fields in various garages, hallways, and more. Each First Tech Challenge practice field is 12t x 12t and is a one-time expense of $750.
Plus, there's $500 for annual game elements, which change each year. One field can accommodate up to four teams. Therefore, we request that PCCS purchase at least two practice fields to be stationed at the ORSA hub during their
hour competition season. Our competition season, once again, is from September through December and does not conflict with the high school's competition, which runs from January through May. This is basically robotics middle school team's uh equivalent request of asking
for a basketball hoop to the newly built basketball court. Middle school first tech challenge teams bridge the gap between our many many elementary robotics teams and the high school program with lightning robotics.
All of our teams already perform extensive STEM outreach and access to the ORSA Innovation Hub from September through December would amplify these current efforts. So, we ask you to support the hundreds of current and
future middle school teams um in the entire district by providing the hub as a seasonal workspace and funding to practice fields and game elements. THANK YOU SO MUCH. OKAY, THANK YOU for your comment. Up next, we have John Stewart.
>> Please allow me. Eagle Scout from February 18th, 1964. Husband of Beth and father of Laura uh K12. Well, you started the clock. Okay. I hosted a forum.
I also got Sheila Alice, the only woman who has ever been superintendent of the state of Michigan for our public schools and private schools and home schools. Sheila and Sam Barese went to Smith
Elementary. They were education royalty. There wasn't much publicity about it, just like there isn't about the fact that four of you have had your yard sign in front of my law office of 41 years and about 8,000 people drive past that
office. But I want to thank Sheila Alice and uh Sam Barisy and Nicole Renan is incredible. one of the most the superlative fits her as far as a teacher Nicole Renan. I gave these
comments I'm asking you to read. I gave these comments to the state board of education a year ago and I'm going back again. Glenn Mleco and I get along the state superintendent. He's a hockey coach and he's building relationships going all over the state of Michigan.
Seth Furlow, MEA, great guy, intellectually honest researcher, been to my law office several times. We dispelled the myth of the Mississippi miracle.
That was they retained low performers in grade three and they only tested kids who weren't retained. Now, let me end on a very positive note. a kid that went to K12 in Plymouth Canton schools. Then she went to Western Michigan University and was an academic
athletic all-American softball pitcher and an elementary school teacher in Charlotte, North Carolina. Harvard picked her out. 147,000 students in the Charlotte North Carolina and Charlotte North Carolina now exceeds Michigan in
population. So they picked a kid out of Charlotte at a magnet school and this kid went to Harvard last August and she was a presenter. This year Laura Stewart is invited back
to train teachers in the science of reading during the week of of August 10th. and Beth and I are very proud of our daughter Laura Stewart who has been very integral in the part in the science of
reading program. I would be finally I have made a promise to Seth fur furlow my final comment I have not re as an elected trustee in Plymouth Township I have not received one piece of paper one invite to any school function
I have an obligation to say will you host a get together a punch and cookie thing with the Plymouth Township Board of Trustees with the Plymouth City Commission and let's try to work together. I'm thrilled at the positive
congenial atmosphere of this. >> Mr. Stewart, your time is up. We appreciate the invitation. We would love to talk to you about that afterward. Thank you for your comment. >> Okay, up next we have Judy Oldfield Wilson. Hi, my name is Judy Oldfield Wilson. I
am the parent of a first grader at Smith, my alma mater as well. And next year, my youngest will join her there as a kindergartener. In the last two years, I have been privileged to volunteer in what my day was called the library and we now call the media center.
So, I'm greatly dismayed that you have cut the position of paraprofessional, not just at Smith's Media Center, but at all elementary schools in our district. I have seen firsthand the need for this position. What was once a simple act of reshelving books now includes a plethora
of technological needs. This is not something that volunteers such as myself can fulfill. Furthermore, it is dismaying that in a time when many districts are facing book challenges, we are reducing the staff in our media centers. So too, as we are mired in
uncertainty over the rise of AI technology and the ways it's rapidly changing our daily lives, we need more skilled adults teaching our children about technology applications, not fewer. A list of programs our librarian
will most likely not offer next year without the aid of a parapro include open library times world scholars program the scholastic book fair coding with robots communication with parents tech support for students and many more.
I want to touch briefly on a few of those. One of the great joys as a parent has been volunteering at the book fairs and watching the kids judiciously maximize their money, deciding what to buy and calculate tax. I'm up here talking about volunteering
in the library and maybe it seems like we are a golden library family. We are not. My kids live in two separate households and I can't tell you the number of times we forget library books in the shuffle. Currently, my daughter is able to pick out a book that the
library holds for her and then she may return her books the next day and check out her holds during open library hours. We desperately need that open library time and the communication the parapro provides us reminding us to bring back late books. To make it clear, this
position touches every student and family at Smith. Our paris supports technological learning and development, diversity and inclusion, and social emotional learning, implementing systems that walk the line between stability and adaptability and growth.
Between growing up here and returning back to raise my children, I lived in a very large school district, which in an effort to save money closed too many schools. That city's size increased, and in the end, the district paid more money to reopen the schools.
I believe in coming years you will realize how technologically necessary this position is and you will perhaps pay more money take more time and take
more effort to bring them back than what is being saved now. I implore you to further explore ways to retain these exceptionally skilled workers. >> Thank you so much for your comments. Okay, up next up next we have Mary
Miller. >> Hi, good evening. Thank you for allowing me this time and I'm just going to gift you all a story. I'm going to read aloud. It's called All Are Welcome. It was written the year that my grandson
went into f first first grade. Can't talk about the kid without C. Okay. So, pencils sharpened in their case. Bells are ringing. Let's make paste. School's beginning. Dreams to chase. All
are welcome here. No matter how you start your day, you what you wear and where you play. Or if you come from far away, all are welcome here in our classroom. Safe and sound. Fears
are lost. Hope is found. Raise your hand. We'll go around. All are welcome here. We'll share stories from the heart. All are welcome here. Time for lunch. What a spread. A dozen
different kinds of bread. Pass it around till everyone's fed. All are welcome here. Open doors. Rush outside. We will sling. We will slide. We'll have fun side by
side. All are welcome here. We're part of community. Our strength is diversity. A shelter from adversity. All are welcome here. Oop, sorry. Usually read sitting down.
We will learn from each other. Special talents will uncover. There's a big world to discover. All are welcome here. How am I doing? So much to learn, so much to do, and
when the busy day is through. Can't wait to come back and start a new. All are welcome here. Head for home, get some rest, and greet tomorrow ready and refreshed.
Our time together is the best. You have a place here. Oops. Hold on. You are welcome here. So, the reason I wanted to bring this to you is he's going into high school at Plymouth Canton Schools this fall. This
belongs in every library. Thank you for your comment. Okay, up next we have Jessica Huait. I'm sorry. Good evening. My name is Jessica Hoy and I am the parent of a Workman Elementary kindergartener, upcoming young five student, and another
that will be in school before I know it. I'm here tonight to ask the school board to please take a closer look at Workman Elementary. Our school seems to be one growing beyond our means, even if enrollment is supposedly down around the district. Houses are continuing to be built in our boundary and our school is
bursting. Speaking only to the school that I know, I don't feel we have the necessary resources for sta staff to succeed and students to excel. Two key points I would greatly appreciate your attention to. First, I have concerns about our parking lot and lack of parking for the
size of our school. The parking at any event for our school results in ma massive chaos. There are parents jumping over curbs to park in the grass. double parking, finding any little wedge they can. During the open house for our current school year, the fire chief came
in and expressed serious safety concerns he had. He did not think it was safe to continue the event. But whether what other choice was there during school pickup at the end of each day, the parking lot is overflowing and student parents are waiting in long lines in the street. The lower elementary line does
not have a shoulder, so the line is in an active driving lane. This causes serious safety concerns. My next concern is related to class size. My current kindergartenner has 27 students in her class. It's just too many. As the parent, I have a young
child coming home expressing the difficulties related to a class that size. Headaches from the noise, sadness that her teacher is telling her that their her class is the worst that she's ever had. Stress over distractions from her classmates keeping her from her
work. All three current kindergarten teachers at Workman were offered the buyout and took it. I feel that speaks to the difficulty they've had with the number of students they have this year. I reached out to all departments at the beginning of the school year with my concerns. I was not heard and no action
was taken. I decided to let the school year go, see how things went for the school year and I I really just don't feel it went well. Um, now my upcoming Young Five student is about to enter a class with 27 students for this age and
many children's first school experience. I do not believe this is a suitable size. As a family, we're considering not letting her come to Young Fives and pulling her from the district until we go to kindergarten possibly. My oldest had such a positive experience with Young Fives program and it helped her
blossom into a beautiful, wonderful young girl. We love to have that experience again. I thank you for your time and I hope that we can find some solutions. Thank you. Thank you for your comment. Up next we have Danielle
uh Kil Kilbride. Okay. >> Um I will say first I was so nervous to speak and then hearing these two young men do such a great job. I was like wow maybe I can do this. So, thank you. Um, my name is Danielle Kilbride and I have
um a student at Workman and an upcoming student who will be possibly attending Workman. Um, I enrolled my son in the Young Fives at our home school at Workman. My daughter goes to kindergarten here and also attended the Young Fives program. We had an excellent experience in the program and we feel it
set her up for success for kindergarten the following year as the program as is intended. We were hoping for the same experience with our son. We enrolled, discussed it with Workman, and put in our request for him to have the same teacher as my daughter, and finished our conversation with the understanding he
would attend Workman in the fall with his sister. There was no point in time written or discussed that it was a possibility that he would not attend another that he would attend another school from our home school than our daughter in order to access the Young Fives program. We later received an
email um stating that he would then um go to Dodson Elementary School for Young Fives. my daughter goes to workman. Um, this obviously poses some concerns for myself and my family. Um, please review and consider these list of concerns. First, two children at two different
elementary schools poses a huge issue for our family. Two PTOs, two sets of different school programs, two sets of activities. This is very difficult um and not feasible for one family to accommodate, especially as a mother taking and being the sole responsibility of taking um my students to and from
school, which leads me to pickup and drop off. It's not possible for me to get both children to two different schools that have um virtually the same drop off and pick. I understand they offer busing, but that is not something we're willing to use right now and still don't really understand how that would work for two different schools with two
different children. Point number three, having the comfort of a sibling at school um with a child who is already a ve very anxious child about attending school in the fall and was hopeful for the security of knowing the school already and having his sibling there. This is a big stressor on
a young student. This is our youngest and most vulnerable population of students and it seems as if we are not protecting that to the greatest extent possible. four, leaving young fives going to kindergarten the following year, switching schools yet again, going from what they know at one school to then
having to start all over again in kindergarten the following year at yet a different school. I do not believe this is setting the young fives um the most vulnerable population of our student population up for success. Um we were speaking to some people and
realized that um this may have happened because he um myself had enrolled um maybe later on in the process and um we were missed a few times in the pre-enrollment process getting the phone calls back and um just setting up that conversation. Um so that was um mostly
out of our control. Um, also the fact that students who have siblings at their home school were not considered a priority to stay at their home school during that decision-making process seems very flawed to me. This is very stressful for our families. Um, it was suggested that we um
>> Thank you so much for your comment. Someone will follow up with you. >> Thank you. >> Okay, up next we have Michelle Wakis. Good evening. My name is Michelle Mustakis. I'm speaking tonight as a member of Capes. At the last meeting and tonight also, we heard some heartbreaking stories about the
devastating impact that proposed staffing cuts would have particularly in the nursing and library areas. These concerns are not unique to this district. They are impacting public schools across the country in red and blue states in urban and rural.
Addressing these budget budget issues will be a major topic in this school board in this year's school board elections as well. It should be. The reasons for these budget deficits are many, including federal and state cuts, inflation, lasting impacts of COVID
disruption, declining enrollment, and school vouchers that siphon funds from our public school students. We need school board candidates who are willing to be honest with the community about the cause of the problems and propose fact-based approaches to solving those
problems. What we don't need is for our schoolboard meetings to be turned into political theater by anyone recycling national political talking points, scapegoating LGBTQ students and immigrants and attacking vague woke
policies instead of offering real solutions to the staffing, funding, and student support challenges our district actually faces. In fact, that happened one year ago tonight in this very room.
Some locals brought in outofstate members of Charlie Kirk's group who ambushed the board with lies, rude comments, and threatening behavior. They provided no solutions to the problems our district faces, but plenty of fodder
for those who only wanted to stick it to the libs on the board. And it was an awful look for anyone who was thinking about moving here. And for anyone paying attention, they would know that Capes did not begin in response to this
incident. As has been insinuated, CAPES members began attending board meetings in January 2025 and haven't missed a single one since. We have continued showing up meeting after meeting because lasting community engagement matters
more than one night political spectacle. We're still here and we will continue to be to make sure the focus stays on real issues, not on culture wars that hurt all of us, particularly our vulnerable students.
Our basic question this election season to the candidates is simple. Will you fight for the right of every student to be safe, secure, and valued for who they are? It is only when we agree on this, with no exceptions, that we can go on to
focus on the issues that will help our district continue to be a top district and be the heart of a community that everyone can be proud to live in. Thank you. Okay, thank you for your comment. That concludes this section of citizens
comments. We are going to move on to administrative reports and recommendations. We have finance and operations with Miss Minnik. >> Good evening. Thank you, President Christensen. This evening, it's my pleasure to present to you a progress update on the 2026 2027 general fund
budget, which is next year's uh budget. Uh and a discussion around our final assumptions that we'll be using on which to as a foundation to build the budget. As always, we start our work with a connection to the PCCS dynamic plan. Strategic goal A. PCCS will increase
achievement for all students and close achievement gaps. Uh we uh will achieve this through object through strategic objective FN1 and two align financial resources to areas of greatest need as support and as identified through student achievement data and through
strategic goal B. All PCS students and staff will report they feel physically, psychologically, and emotionally safe and represented at school. And we'll achieve this through strategic objective FNO4 to align financial resources to the areas of greatest need to support the social emotional needs of all staff and
students. So with that as a foundation uh this evening we will be covering a number of things. Uh first I will uh bring us back to that budget development timeline and where we stand in that. Uh I'll uh briefly I'll briefly cover some highlights and
outcomes of the May 2026 consensus revenue estimating conference. Recall that the state held one in January. They hold two per year per year, one in January and May and occasionally in August, but that's rare. And then we'll compare some executive house and senate budget proposal highlights. And then we
will use uh the the consensus revenue estimated conference information uh details from the proposals all on which to build and and finalize the assumptions for cast forecast for next year for revenues and assumptions. And we'll walk through the budget process uh
that we use this year to arrive at next year's budget revenues and expenditures and then next steps in the budget process. You're all familiar with the budget de development timeline. We have a blue arrow there at the May 21 and May 26 uh
date because tonight is the night we are reviewing uh just as we did on May 21st FNO committee meeting. uh as I mentioned the highlights from the CRE and the various budget proposals and our budget assumptions and then it details that on June 8th at the next FNO committee
meeting we will review that proposed budget and then on June 9th and June 23rd we will bring forward the 2026 proposed budget where we will have a public hearing and a first reading on June 9 and then budget adoption on the 23rd and by law the district must adopt
its budget by June 30th of each year. So just some brief highlights from the consensus revenue estimating conference. Uh just as a reminder, this is a time when the state of Michigan brings together representatives from the house fiscal agency, the Senate fiscal agency, the state budget office, and they hear
from national and local economists and other researchers and forecasts for the purposes of estimating revenues both in the state's general fund, general purpose, and the school aid fund. So what I have for you this evening is the bottom line is really simple. The May
2026 correct continues the January's nominal but positive school aid fund revenue growth forecasts for FY27 and FY28. And so you can see in the chart uh we highlight here the January consensus information for fiscal year 27 and
fiscal year 28. And then to the right of that, the same information highlighted for the May consensus revenue estimating conference. And so the first row there is the state's general fund general purpose. And you see a red arrow for FY27 and a green arrow for FY28 for the
January consensus. This indicated at that time if you might recall that presentation where the state was forecasting a slight dip in the revenue in the general fund at the state level but then rebounding FY in FY28 to the tune of nearly 3% increase from the
prior year. Uh reading across then to the May consensus revenue estimating conference, you can see that it reflects but refineses the forecasts for the state's general fund. Both a dip in the revenues from FY26 and FY27, but then
that same level of rebounding from 27 to 28. And then in the row beneath it, we see the school aid fund revenue. We see some blue arrows. uh that's been very consistent even in the May 25 consensus revenue estimating conference
where we see just this continuous uh positive but nominal growth of around 2% in the school aid fund as forecasted in June or rather in January uh and then again in May which is good news for schools that's consistent uh forecasting so that's
great um next we have some updates around and some highlights around the various budget proposals. Um we're excited that the House and the Senate have released their budget proposals. Some years they come sooner, but oftentimes they come later. So we're
excited to have this information on which we can build maybe some better or more consistent uh and likely assumptions in our budget for next year. So we have just a brief chart of some highlights that we've spoken of before and things that are of interest um maybe to you in the community as well um but
which are very pertinent to our general fund. So we have the executive or the governor's budget, the house and the senate proposals. And just four metrics. Uh the first is the foundation allowance increase. All three budget proposals uh
support a $250 increase in that per pupil foundation allowance uh which results in $10,300 per pupil for FY27. So having that consistency, that's very um likely in our minds. And so we are
using that as a as an assumption for next year as we forecasted back in March with our preliminary assumptions. Then weighted funding for at risk and multilingual. So I brought this forward for your attention the last time I presented around our preliminary assumptions. And this was the notion of
perhaps uh with the governor's proposal to give some waiting to the funding for our atrisisk and multilingual uh demographic groups just because of some added costs there for support. And so we do see that as we mentioned in the governor's proposal, but there's an N
there next to house, meaning that was not mentioned in the proposal from the house and we see a yes under the senate plan. However, they are proposing a 15-year phase in approach. Uh so to us uh there that's not consistent across those three. Um perhaps maybe more than
likely that we don't see much around that for next year. Um and we have not included anything around that in our assumptions for next year. dual enrollment funding. Dual enrollment uh by state statute is required that we offer dual enrollment uh which is for
our high schoolers uh also uh dually enrolling in community college work and we did see some funding for that unfunded mandate in the governor's proposal. We also see it in the house and the senate proposals. And we do see
uh at the house in their proposal they are proposing two times the amount that the governor was proposing and three times the governor's proposal in the senate proposal. So we have included uh some level of dual enrollment reimbursement there uh in our budget
assumptions for next year even though it's unclear what that may be. All three proposals also included various funding levels uh for such things as literacy and early learning. Uh we see a lot around teacher
retention, teacher training. Uh we also see universal meals. Uh universal meals is not funded by our general fund. However, there could be general fund impacts uh if that funding were to go away. uh as well as um some significant operational approaches in our food
service department in our district as a whole. Uh and then the school safety and mental health grant uh commonly known as the 31A grant. Uh we've had this funding for a couple of years, but we don't have it this year uh for various reasons. But
looking forward to next year, we see that the governor's proposal retains uh the same language in the this year's uh proposal with some intent language that that funding should be ongoing. In the House proposal, there's been a a handful
of language changes um and then four times the amount the governor was proposal for ongoing intent. And then in the Senate proposal, uh some different types of language changes with intention for just onetime funding. Uh so for this we have not included any level of
funding in our assumptions. It just seems to be kind of all over the map and um it's a grant as well. So once that becomes known then we can act on that in the fall. Uh so what does all this mean in terms of the crack or the budget proposals and
what does this mean in terms of of our revenue assumptions and um the bottom line here is that we are maintaining our preliminary assumptions that we shared with you in March and that is that we are assuming an enrollment decline of 75
full-time equivalent pupils for an enrollment level of 15,917. that equates to a projected loss of $754,000. And then on the per pupil foundation allowance side, again, we're assuming that $10,300 per pupil, that is a
projected increase um of nearly $4 million. So combined that loss of enrollment with the increase in the foundation is a projected net state aid increase of $3.2 million. And just as a reminder, our state aid, generally speaking, is the number of full-time
equivalent pupils times that foundation allowance. And then our other revenue driver is is around that enhancement mill, which we're grateful for our taxpayers to renew that. Again, that is unrestricted funding. Uh, and we anticipate an increase in taxable values
of just a general 2% just like the state's revenue forecasts. And that equates to about $128,000. On the expenditure side of the level, we have a number of assumptions each year that go toward building our budget. The first is staffing. So staffing is based
on our board adopted class size guidelines and enrolled to enrollment. Staff retirements. Each year we estimate some level of retiring. Uh this year again holding it constant at 20 FTE for about $1.1 million in savings that would
be generated uh by hiring newer staff at uh lower salary points. Uh but we are not including any employee severance plan savings in this uh forecast because we don't know what that might be. We know we have to have a minimum number to break even minimum number of employees
to sign on to break even. Um and we we hear a number of different things that there's a lot of people interested and we do hear that a lot of people will take it but we we are reserving that information uh perhaps to build on next year's and future year savings. Uh so a
lot of that remains to be seen. Uh but around employment contracts, we continue to negotiate collective bargain agreements. And then around the Michigan public schools employees retirement system, we see a decrease in that base rate uh and UAL rates, the unfunded
accounting actuarial liability rate with savings projected at nearly $4 million. Uh employer health care we see a projected hearing of a projected hardcap increase for premiums at 3%. Uh we are a
self-funded plan and those claims uh uh come out of a separate fund. Uh but the custodial transportation costs those are expenditure drivers and those will are based on our contracts as well. And then utilities. We are anticipating a 5% increase in utilities. Nearly a quarter
million dollars for natural gas, electric, fuel. So those are the primary cost drivers in our general fund. And when we take our revenues and we subtract those expenditures, whatever that difference is impacts our fund balance. And what is fund balance?
Fund balance is a financial health indicator, if you will. Uh it is an accumulation year-over-year of those variances between revenue and expenditures. Um it is not just cash and bank although it includes it. Uh but it's an indicator of how long we could sustain operations uh without cash
inflows. Uh so when we look through the past handful of years I for the fiscal year 2223 our audited fund balance after that fiscal year was a balance of $42 million equating to 20% of our general fund
expenditures. So, it's a mathematical formula. Um, in the 2324 school year, our audited fund balance was 49.2 million, equivalent to 23.1% of our general fund expenditures. And that was
the year that we began talking about a fiscal cliff. Uh, we began talking about um the elimination of of ESSER monies, COVID monies. uh we started talking about a lot of things that had to that were nearing their end of life I'll say
and cost for replacement um just a number of factors our declining enrollment state aid grant levels all of those things just creating a perfect storm where we needed to take a close look at our budget and start planning those long-term steps. Uh so with that
uh for the 2425 fiscal year uh we had identified uh to step into that budget with reductions to the tune of about $2.3 million uh with central office staffing reductions and a few other items. And so we landed that year at the
end of that year with a $40.8 million fund balance equivalent to about 18% of our fund of our expenditures. And then for the 2526 school year last year, we stepped into that budget with also some reductions to the tune of about $3.2
million where we landed at a $34.8 million fund balance equivalent to 15% of our general fund expenditures. And as we've mentioned many times, our current current revenue and expenditure projections do indicate future budget
reductions are still required to maintain that 15% fund balance. For FY27, uh that is equivalent to about a $10 million reduction. FY28 and FY29, we're currently projecting another $8 million of reductions. Combination of
investments and reductions is possible as well. Um but we are forecasting still needing to make those adjustments for the next two fiscal years after ne next year as well. And why do we uh wonder about our fund balance levels? Uh well, as I mentioned,
it's an indicator of fiscal health. And so best practice uh as discussed with our auditors and with the Michigan school business officials, best practice is to maintain a fund balance equivalent to 15% of your uh general fund expenditures. Board policy requires 10%
of expenditures and state statute requires 5% of general fund revenues and we're well within those areas. Uh but we do want to maintain that best practice of 15%. So as we launched our budget process for
our uh next school year's budget uh we identified and committed to a number of guiding principles. One, to protect the classroom and student learning as much as possible. To prioritize student and staff well-being through multi-tered systems of support
focus, to ensure alignment to the dynamic plan and commitment to equity, to align human and financial resources to enrollment and demonstrated needs, and to main fiscal maintain fiscal responsibility and long-term sustainability.
So with those as our guiding principles, we also sought stakeholder input and feedback. Of course, we incorporated board of education priorities. We conducted community survey to gather input on budget priorities. District and billing level leaders provided feedback through various channels. Uh, one, we
uh, revisited a reduction plan that was developed last year to identify additional prioritized tiers of potential reductions and involved staff at building and program leaders as well at each level to review those previously submitted prioritized items. Uh, and
then to evaluate continued or new impact on students and school operations and and any current viability going forward. And then themes and priorities through membership input surveys were identified and considered as well. uh and then we conducted a collaborative
internal review process at the core level. So with that the outcomes of that budget budget process identified some reductions as well as investments in our general fund for next school year. First we have our staffing reductions. It has
led to 15 classroom teaching positions to align staffing with K12 enrollment. aligned with uh that enrollment uh as we mentioned in the previous slides um 20.5 non-instructional paraprofessional FTEE
four non-affiliated FTE 2.5 behavioral specialists FTE uh one half an FTE for counseling roles 11 instructional coach FTE one assisted technology support FTE
three multilingual learning FTE two technology integration FTE, five nurse FTEE, and one security FTE. We also identified operational reductions such as operational efficiencies pursued through process
improvements and targeted cost-saving measures across the district as well as purchase service agreements uh to review and renegotiate those in order to maximize both efficiencies, value propositions and to uh ensure responsible use of resources. And none
of these reductions uh were simple or easy, but following our guided uh principles, our dynamic plan, um these are the prioritized uh reductions, but alongside it, we have operational investments. We have fair compensation for staff. We are continuing to
negotiate our open contracts. Uh we are committed to an equity-based resource allocation methodology where we differentiate supports based on student needs. And we are investing in one FTE district level technology support role. And then through activities and
athletics to increase district support of high impact extracurricular programs that directly support our student success. Uh so what are our next steps in this process then? Uh we will continue monitoring as a district our budget conditions including state aid and
federal revenue allocations. We will monitor our enrollment trends. We will maintain focus on student achievement data and dynamic plan implementation. We will affirm our ongoing commitments to transparency and communication as well as student and staff safety and
well-being. And the mechanics behind it all is to prepare and review all budgets for all funds at our June 8th FNO committee meeting on on June 8th at 5:00 in this room. uh where we will not only review the proposed budgets for next year but also that final amendment for
this school year and then we will be presenting all budgets at the June 9th board of education meeting where we will share both again the 2526 final amendment for uh first and final reading and then the 2627 proposed budgets of all funds uh for first reading and a
public hearing and then with recommended approval at the June 23rd board of education meeting for those 2627 proposed budgets. Uh so that is a a very brief and quick overview of our budget process for next
year. Um the assumptions on which we are building our revenue and our expenditure assumptions. Uh and I'm happy to take any questions and concerns you may have. Thank you. Thank you Miss Minnik. I'll start to my left with member Amed.
>> I had a question about with the declining enrollment. What does the difference in the like in the assumptions is the ratio of teacher to students still being maintained and what is the ratio of
administrators to teachers? I guess also thank you for your question. As I mentioned, we are aligning our staffing with the class size guidelines as established by the board. Um, and I'm not sure if anyone else might be able to weigh in a little bit more around that, please. So in terms of class size
guidelines, those did not change. So based on the board established G guidelines, it's a formula that determines teachers. We have 26 students in our kindergarten through 2 class. We have 29 students in third grade and 30 students in four and five with a plus
one flexibility K12. Our formula for middle school is 30.25 and our formula for high school is 31. So you take the number of students and that determines your staffing. Based on our projected enrollment and the loss of
75 students across the system, we've arrived at a 15 classroom reduction to align with those current board established guidelines. That is a u that number could fluctuate. So if we get more students that would trigger an additional teacher we adjust for that
before the start of school. >> So that is very fluid. Thank you for mentioning that. And then I guess based on that then with the 15 reduction of CL potential reduction of classroom teachers how does that work in terms of administrators
then do they like does that also go down or like what does that ratio look like? So it's not a formula based on class size. Uh for administration, building administration, we have one principal per building and depending on the level. Um at elementary school, we have one
which would be the equivalent of an assistant principal. That's our student support coordinator. So there's 14 principles, 14 student support coordinators. At the middle school, that is a similar design where we have one principal, one assistant principal. And our buildings are running between 400
and up to middle school with 77 I think Liberty is probably the biggest one. 778ish. Um high school uh per high school we have one principal and then there's four assistant principles. Three uh that are
content area and then one that is um assistant principal of athletics and activities. And then at our alternative program we have one principal and there's a dean uh that supports uh that's not in the PCA. >> Thank you.
>> All right. I got a similar question about with administration and then the >> the lower enrollment because our when I look at our organizational chart which may not give me all the information I'm actually looking for but I it seems like you know when you go back to 2023 and I actually had the charts from before that
did not bring that but the amount of um people listed on the organizational chart was a lot less and now we have an increase on it and so I'm just wondering with our enrollment going down like is there any um changes with that going to
happen? >> I appreciate that question because how we've presented the ORC chart, we have posted over the years additional positions that are not administrative positions but the functions fall under those um administrators. So for example,
if you look at teaching and learning, um we would have traditionally because the chart trying to get everything on one page, we might have just put like the level leaders and the directors. And then over time as we started to decrease administrative positions, we put for
example, if we had instructional coaches or uh data coordinators, people that were still not affiliated support found their way on the chart to just say for transparency, who do you call? These are the people that are there. Um, as Miss Minnik shared, when we started our
process of reduction really three years ago and trying to still go with that principle of keeping reductions as far away from the classroom, we intentionally with that first year just reduce central office positions and didn't touch any building level positions. We did some reorganizations
of contracts um to try to find some efficiencies to get to that 2 million. So we went through a process of looking for we really were looking again through attrition. So when people would retire, for example, the executive director of curriculum and instruction retired, we didn't fill that position. Um the CEO
just took on those responsibilities. So we tried to model the very first year to reduce administrative positions before we hit the buildings. We duplicated that then again for next year. So we reduced I'll give an example of a central office position. we had a curriculum
coordinator of social studies and we reduced that position that that person was able to be placed in a vacancy in a building and then um again eliminated that. So, we did two years where we uh continued to reduce central office positions and now at a $10 million
reduction, we had to do central office positions in additional in addition to basically positions across um uh all basically all I think all areas union groups. Um still again you see under
this uh with the idea of retirements or resignations so that we uh would not replace those and just absorb those roles within existing positions. And then when we looked at for example a paraprofessional position the goal was to try to maintain employment of all
staff as to the greatest extent possible. So we currently had enough roles in our paraprofessional world that if we reduced positions we could guarantee employment for every position that was re reduced. So as a part of
this budget you see it for example with a paraprofessional that first line 20.5 reduction every pair professional will have an opportunity to be offered a different job but within their classification of a general office pair professional. and then that kind of
begins that bumping process. So those were two really um ideas around through attrition or could we find positions where people could land so that we would minimize layoff. Um we through the teachers world as you're seeing we had I
think close to 14 retirements. So any of our reduced positions would still result in placement. So we wouldn't have to lay off teachers. The only um issue within our PCEA that will lay in potentially for a reduction if we don't have further
retirements would be our nurses. So we had two nurses that have already resigned this school year and we just didn't replace those positions. You see a total of five in the recommended budget. So those are the two retirements through attrition that will not be replaced. And then we have three
additional nurses positions that are being recommended for elimination. Now, with those because they're only certified as nurses, they would not be able to um be employed or put in an open position. Those would be the potential for layoff. Now, if we do have, for
example, any retirements, then that could allow a potential recall on that. So, again, through that lens, we have reduced administrative roles over the years. Um, and as we're getting to this, we we we see really um across all all areas with the classroom being the only
reductions are based on enrollment. And that's something that would increase if we have uh students that come in. >> Okay. Well, I just had a question, too, because we had we used to have the diversity, equity, inclusion director, but we changed that to cultural. >> So, we actually
>> So, it didn't really >> Well, we did we had a position, central office position that was a compliance uh director. So, when that person uh resigned, we eliminated that person and compi combined two roles. So we had a
actually an office of diversity, equity, inclusion and that originally started with a director and we had two DEI specialist. So in that first year we eliminated the DEI specialist and we kept the director of diversity, equity,
inclusion as really a standalone with the goal of building out our equity teams at the building level. So that person was really working to train our buildings to ensure we have a lens on equity within the building um and then also handled across the district. So
then that was two years ago we um reduced two central office positions under DE and I last year with the reduction of the compliance uh director when that person resigned. We then combined those two roles of the DE and I
director with compliance and that title of uh school um culture and climate and compliance. So that was a reduction of one um really to continue to build out that work of equity at the building level and then that freed up that plate to take on that compliance person's job
and we dispersed another element of that job to I think the grants person within that department as well. So that has really been modeling over the years how we can eliminate FTE and take on responsibility in a more efficient manner at an administrator district
level. Um and then again now this is the year that we then have to see how can we continue to provide a highquality program for our students and do this work in a more efficient manner as we are reducing in students. How do we then
reduce administrative staff and support staff? um that is uh in line with that reduction of enrollment. >> Um I get one more question. So my concern with the federal funding like there wasn't I didn't was it I don't know how much federal funding we get but
I know that some laws are changing or potentially changing and that there's been some pre precedent lawsuits and things on um on parents rights and um and so I'm concerned as we do not you know follow through with that that
could put risk at our federal funding and I'm just was concerned at how much federal funding we have or we get because I So that >> I'm sorry. Thank you for that question. Each year uh some of the consistent federal grant funding is around IDEIDA
which is special education funding early on which is early childhood special education funding as well as uh title one two four and five I believe maybe three uh one two three four and five.
Yes. Thank you. Uh so those are some of our more consistent uh flows of federal funding as well as Medicaid. um um and a number of others. But each year those do fluctuate. Um I have not heard uh for some time there was some chatter that
perhaps there would be a significant reduction in federal funds. Um and that seems to have evaporated um and title one and some others have been um I'm hearing in my business circles anyway that those funds will not be uh significantly reduced if at all. Uh
there are some other types of federal grants that we're that we don't receive that I think are being considered for elimination, but um we're not anticipating any significant shifts in federal funding. >> Okay. Just wanted to >> Thank you. Great report. >> All right. Vice President,
>> thank you. Um great report. Thank you for all the details. Um staff cuts are hard in on every organization. I've been through it in my past organization and it leads to um a lot of frustration, a sense of loss
for people that have put in so much time and effort into their work and I look at the staff reductions and I wonder about the impact of these reductions on students. Um so what will happen to this
work that's being done by these staff members who are being cut? I understand that the class sizes are we have less students, 15 less teaching physicians, but I also look at behavioral health specialists, counselors, um assisted
technology, nurses, and what will happen to that work once these positions are cut. So, um that was when we kind of looked at a revised process. It was important as you look at the different stakeholders that weighed in. So, as we looked at um recommended
cuts to your point, there's always going to be a need in a in a case and it sometimes I think comes out what feels to be a value statement like this position is more valuable than that and that's just not the case. As you look to 85% of the budget being for staff, it's
necessary to reduce. So as those uh proposed positions came forward, each area was tasked with where will this work go because the work doesn't go away. It just can be done differently and again for couple of years we've kind of worked to model it's not so easy to
just say hey you're going to get more work you know because so we have to figure out how it's going to go. So I'll give for an example out of the 20.53 are copy machine a copy center professionals
>> and um that is a very valuable position within our district. It allows when we look at just our the size of our park alone the pace park alone to be able to assist with um you know the efficiency so that there's not backup. I know that
someone had asked before there's more than one copier in but that was a position that was assigned one per building. Um so looking at that work we do still maintain a copy center in our district that is a K12 copy center. We don't fund the person the staff member.
This was through our agreement with Kanuka that we print our cop copers and then they provide a staff person. So it will definitely require you know planning if there's so all of the things like lamination all the things that are able to be done individually we'll be able to utilize we'll have to
do it you know we can't just just do things like right on that morning so that's going to be an adjustment and we know you know could be burd burdensome to staff but individual copy rooms are still available um and supports so it's looking at what is the plan for the work
because the work doesn't necessarily go away but how can we do it with the staff that remains and still make a reduction to the budget. >> So, we've been hearing a lot about the library aids, all of that work. So, are these conversations happening collaboratively with the teams involved
to say, "All right, you've got all of this work that's being done by the current staff. If these positions are eliminated, who takes on that word?" So, is there a team building approach? I'm sure there is, but I'm hearing just a lot of concern from the media specialists as well and families who don't understand that.
>> Yeah. So, thank you for that question. We actually thought about one process that we haven't done in the past, the reductions, which I will submit really a district level letter after we get through this to say, hey, this is what's in the budget and the reduction so we know. But as uh Miss Minnik mentioned
those planning groups so when we had our uh building uh principles they were able to work in level with their level leaders. We revisited a reduction list. So last year as we were looking at potential reductions. We did like a tier one, tier 2, tier three reductions which
is a priority list. So last year most of the tier one the first phase we took as a part of that initial plan and then the tier two was you know some of these reductions that are here we revisited those to say is that still a viable option and then they worked to say what
is the plan for that. So with our media center for example, we've gone through iterations. You know in 2011 when we were really in lean times if you know we were in a place where we didn't have full-time media specialist at every building and that was a priority. It came from board level from community
really looking at elevating our work around literacy and media specialists. So we we staffed the media centers in the past with the pair of professionals and then we were able to bring on board the media specialists. So we currently have one per every building. We then
were able to continue to pair that work. So we kept our media pair of professionals and our media specialist. So as the team was looking to say at the elementary level for example is there a way and that again not a value because very much a valuable position I believed
that the last meeting uh when one uh citizen brought forward all of these responsibilities those responsibilities don't go away. We've done work in which you um I'll say couple of things go on when we look at a one media specialist per building that is a specialist class
for example in the elementary level um a full-time position is 30 sections I'll use that example I believe for example I'm going to come out of my head but let's say go with the Smith school do they have 15 FTE and our specials they would align so for
our innovation and our music, we would have nine um FTE across the district because we schedule them according to that. But we've had a priority to keep that media center. So if you have 15 uh sections like Smith or if you have 24
sections like Workman, everybody has the same media specialist which is there full-time in addition to that parah. So in looking that idea came let's continue to support that importance and look on literacy to keep that full-time media specialist there. the parah has assisted
because the media specialist also is the technology support at the uh elementary level. As we know at the district level, we're doing some committee work around what does our one-toone future look like and are we moving away from more screen time that would really shift our need
for that individual building support to the greatest extent for that media um person being the support for technology as well. We look at the classifications of general office pair professionals. So there will still be general office pair of professionals which come under the
and help me out. You have your front office, you have our kindergarten paras, we have lunch pairs. And so looking at the ways that you can still have support within the building by pair professionals and that's what will work for the teams the buildings to say how do we ensure that the work is there that
the media specialist is still supported such that they can continue to do that important work that they're doing around um you know all the things that they are responsible keep that full-time there and add additional supports for and again I just emphasizes um that no
position is easy to cut and everybody knows this not about me but I I do I like I like a plan and I don't deal with change much and I'm very people oriented and so this is very very hard so we really do have to depend on the full team to say come together and to the ex
greatest extent possible how are we keeping people employed um how are we maintaining high quality education for our students and how can we be creative and to and to do this work more efficiently and so those um that work
has been done to arrive at the list that is before you. >> Thank you. And you're right, this this is very challenging knowing that all of these individuals put in a lot of time and effort into the work to the students. So, I go back to the guiding principles, protect the classroom and
student learning as much as possible, prioritize student and staff well-being through MTSS focus. And so when we look at CLA protecting classroom and students and I'm I'm glad I'm not in that
position to figure out who and what goes where, but I want to make sure that that stays at the forefront of all conversations with administrators and teachers and family members. And um Cheryl brought up that over the last or
actually you shared over the last three years there have been some cuts at administrative and central office. Um could you give us in board notes the changes the transitions over the last three years that we've had um for administrators central office staff
versus teachers and to see if we're downsizing over the years in the right way in the best way. um protecting students in in classroom support. So, I just want to ensure that for the community that's been asking these tough
questions, for the families, uh staff that there has been a thoughtful process at every level. So, I'd like to see percentages at every level. Yes, we can do that. Okay. Thank you. Um I wholeheartedly agree with a lot of the sentiment of my fellow
car colleagues. This is a not a fun place to be in, right? sitting here and um taking this all in. I do appreciate your thorough presentation here and um making this all very uh understandable for um
ourselves and for the community. Um I keep thinking about we bring this up oftentimes when we do have budget conversations about how sorely underfunded public school actually is. And you know this is the general fund. when we're talking about state aid and while we see
these nominal increases, it's just not enough. So, even though we do see that we have a a a declining enrollment, albeit minor, um there's still just not enough funding for for uh education. And
so what I encourage the district to continue to do is seek for creative ways to find funding like the Horsa part partnership, like the the incredible donation, the $200,000 match that we just learned about for our radio
station. Um we're going to have a conversation at our next committee of the whole for finance and operations around a potential syncing fund. All things that can kind of help buffer this burden that we're we're faced with at this moment. So, um I I encourage the community to get involved and talk to um
our legislators and and really advocate for that funding because it's really important. Otherwise, we have to face really tough decisions like the one we're talking about today. I I really appreciate that comment and um it is if we even think about our history of our school aid fund the general fund when
the state does their budget many years ago I mean maybe in 2010 11-ish I don't know uh there was a borrowing from the school aid fund because the general fund was was short and the idea was that we would borrow and then return and now it
has just become a perpetual uh rate on the student fund really this for the general fund. So we're like over I don't know the number Jill you might know it but it's over a billion dollars that has been taken out of the school aid fund and when we look at being 44
out of 50 nationwide for our achievement for students there is no way to do this work without that money and so we have to really think differently as a state and advocacy is so important is put the money to get the supports that can help literacy and numeracy and all the things
that will allow our students to achieve. So the advocacy is so key and then the partnerships by far are really that direction that we're trying to go and we thought differently in the past even about naming rights and things along those lines but really finding those men mutually beneficial partnerships that
can support not support what am I trying to say it support not like it's still the job of public schools to be able to fund the basic education and then to expand upon those opportunities but the final thing that I will say I appreciate your comment around our declining ing
enrollment. It is a birth rate uh issue in our state for sure. Um and people have choices and we always say, you know, we we support people in their choices, but I believe with all my fingers, toes, everything that we provide the best educational experience
in our area. So enrollment becomes all of our jobs as our staff, as board members, as community. We are key ambassadors about this work and and programs and opportunities that are here. Uh and and we all if we know somebody who's not attending and having
conversations because every student that comes in here allows us to bring back additional staff, keep class sizes low. I applaud the board. I know class size is something that we always hear, but when we even look at ourselves to local charter schools, our local some of our
benchmark districts, our class sizes have not gone up. And that sometimes is a a place that goes like let's make class sizes higher, but we have not done that. We have not done that in years and it's important in terms of being comparable. So I know that it says like well you know that's that's a lot for
this but when we compare where we are to some of our benchmark districts uh we still have um uh we have a commitment to keep that class size the way it has and we did that that that number one priority didn't even have us bring that forward as as an option this year. So all of those things are so important and
that is the collective work of our community to continue to advocate um for all things funding for schools. I appreciate that very much. If I may just add one more comment, I was remiss in not mentioning that with that correct projection of state aid revenue
increasing just that modest 2% we know cost of living inflation is three and a quarter. So it is not keeping pace. So I apologize I neglected to mention that. And perhaps maybe a little bit of silver lining is that around our enrollment uh when I arrived just two and a half short
years ago um we were projecting about two 225 student enrollment decline each year and that trend has really flattened out now. So um I'm hopeful that that trend is reversing itself. Um but at this time I think that's that's a great success in itself. So
>> thank you. Okay. So, on the subject of declining enrollment, you know, while we're seeing declining enrollment as population trends in the state, our actual decline is lower than that. We have both a growing community and we're capturing more than our fair share of students in
uh this district. So, our um our school of choice program allows us to bring in additional students from uh from surrounding districts to fill in those extra holes and to help to be able to support our budget process. And that's one of the reasons that we've been able to keep our enrollment numbers not as uh
as severe as what we see in the state as a as a whole. So that's just a commentary on the great work that's happening. And I also appreciate the work that the administration has done on a purposeful marketing campaign to make sure that we let both the people that are in the district know why they're
here and why they're important to us, but also let the people know that are not attending our schools why we're the best choice for them to come. So that really helps us to to see that and we've seen some of those numbers in our kindergarten enrollment that those numbers have been higher than what we've
seen in uh in in the past. >> So I do have a few I do have a few questions. >> Um when we look at this $10 million and if it was $10 million this year, I think we'd be like we'd be a little concerned and everything else, but this is $10
million this year, $8 million next year, $8 million the year after. This is a cyclical problem. that makes it really challenging for us to address. And so we're making these cuts as part of this process. As we break down that $10 million, we've been lucky that the Mipser's UAL rate is going to give us
about a $4 million savings this year. >> Correct. >> In addition to that, I think I remember correctly, we have a we're projecting about $2 million in unspent funds. >> Correct. uh as part of that. So, this is just the normal budget process on a a budget our size that there's a certain
amount of money that's left over at the end of the school year that didn't get spent, and that's a good thing. That helps cushion that those savings that we have. We've also projected uh from what I can see here about $1.1 million in staff reductions that we know are people are are retiring and they're going to be
smaller class sizes as part of that >> around attrition. Yes. >> Yeah. Around attrition. So, as we look at that work, that leaves us about almost $3 million that we have to do. If we if we look at these staff reductions, that's really where those numbers are coming from. It's predominantly in
staffing because staffing represents 85% of our of our costs. Is that is that fair? >> Yes. And there have been other investments. We noted um that we continue to negotiate and bargain uh staff salaries and benefits u for all of our staff as well. So there are other
investments that are added to that bottom line, too. >> So that's a really important thing that I want to make sure it's clear to the to the community and everybody that we're going through here. We're not saying in the face of of these declines that we're not going to provide new contracts and and we're going to negotiate those
things. I'm not trying to get into the the business of negotiation at all, but it is something we're not saying we're we're we're we're we're helping pe holding people flat because we recognize that our most valuable employees um our most valuable asset as a as a district is that staff that's supporting our
students and that we need to continue to invest in them in the face of high uh inflation rates and everything else. And it is a very challenging environment in terms of what we're working with. So that's if we said we're not going to give anybody any raises and nobody was going to get steps, we probably would be
in a different position with respect to our um with respect to our budget uh uh process that we're going through. But those things will be become part of the contract negotiations that we're going through and that's part of why some of these cost reductions need to come in.
>> That's true. Yes. Thank you. >> So the the I did want to make sure I clarified something. When we look at the staff reductions that are called out here, there's called out is many of the things are called out, but there's four non-affiliated. Can you just provide
context for us for the community as to what non-affiliated mean? >> So nonaffiliated is the equivalent of our central office administrative staff. We have both non-affiliated administrators and nonaffiliated support staff. >> Okay. So in addition to these uh paras
and these reductions through uh enrollment and and other cuts that we have throughout the district, there's four administrators that are also going uh at the at the district level as well. >> Yes. So for example, you approved one administrator that's a central office uh
retirement this evening. Instead of replacing that position, then remaining members of the the team will take on additional responsibilities. So there are administrative positions that are also part of these reductions here this year as well as they have been in the past. >> That is correct.
>> Are they four administrative positions or some part staff like support staff on that current list of four? We have four administrative positions and one central office support position. >> And for the listeners, I'm sorry. I was just going to mention that
non-affiliated is also synonymous with not being represented. >> Thank you for that. under the union group. >> Okay. So, as we were talk about some of our administrators, if our administrators are that are in the buildings, they're represented. Correct. >> They are. That is correct. >> Okay. So, like a principal would be
represented. >> Yes. >> But administrators that are here in the central office often times are not affiliated. >> That's correct. >> Okay. So, I'm just clarification >> just providing context for the community when they're looking at these numbers. I guess ultimately in terms of uh the
questions and I think that the analysis work that you're going to provide as requested by um secretary I'm sorry vice president to do will give us context around the administrative positions as a whole because sometimes we hear feedback from the community that we have too many
administrators overall and I think as we've heard tonight we've focused on administrative uh cuts in the past years and stayed completely away from nonadministrative cuts. or largely away from non-administrative cuts and then this year it's a little
bit more balanced in terms of what's what's happening. >> That is correct. I um I appreciate even the question for followup to be able to give an updated percentage because we have uh historically remained within a percentage um that is less than many of our peers and I think we've demonstrated
that a few years ago. So, it's good to even give an updated list for the board because we have now reduced even more positions over the last three years that will take that first comparison that we gave you a couple years ago um down even further than that. >> So, just to reiterate the the point by
President Christensen, this will be hard this year, this will be hard next year, this will be hard the year afterwards unless we get um fair compensation, fair support from the uh our legislators in this process. So,
it's super critical that we um talk to our friends and our family and we elect people throughout the state that support public education. >> Thank you, Secretary Wester. Thank you for Thank you for all of the hard work and and very clear explanations and
thank you for the good discussion so far. um one of the so so the five nurse FTEES last uh meeting we heard from a number of parents that had students that had uh
chronic conditions like diabetes um and with the cut to the five nurse five nurse FTEES how what is the plan for uh manage helping families manage manage
those conditions especially of students that are not old enough to manage on their own. >> So thank you for that question. We have developed over time what we call as a health care team. So it is a priority through our certified nurses. They
currently in the district take care of our health care plans for our students. Um I'll take you on a brief history walk. Prior to COVID, we had six nurses for our district and we utilized um our staffer, you know, for for uh things
that wouldn't be like medically fragile students. Through COVID, we actually increased our nursing staff and I'm going to say 13 or 14. Um because at that time, if you recall, the contact tracing that we had to do to stay open, our nurses took on that responsibility.
Um we previously had one certified nurse at Pace at the park and then we had u u paraprofessional support in each of our buildings. Yeah. And so through co now we have a nurse at each of the high schools on the campus.
>> We through co we also took on beyond increasing our nurses from six to is it 13 to 14? >> 13 six to 13 we took on healthcare tech if you remember that. So we had uh support positions at each of our buildings. When the federal funds went away, we did a slow walk back. Instead
of taking getting rid of all healthcare techs, we got rid of I think half and then we brought those into the general fund because of you know looking how to manage and then um student and family engagement is where the nurse healthcare teams reside. So they went to work on saying how can we do this differently um
to reduce. So where we are um landing in this current iteration, we'll have nine uh building level nurses. So again uh more nurses than we had prior to co but the reduction of
some of those and not to say that that you know we we we have more medically fragile children I will say than we've had in the past. So it is the importance as a part of that plan from our health care experts to say let's ensure that those with that medically fragile students still have access as a part of
their health care plan to that certified nurse and at the same time utilizing the health care teams um to meet the needs of all of our students >> are the um what kind of qualifications do the health care teams have that are not nurses are
>> so I'm get a little help from my friend phone So healthcare teams are comprised of all different people who work in a building and they are trained by our school nurses. It could be I I don't want to develop a team for a building but the building principal would work
with the people in their school and say these are all the members of our healthcare team just like we have members on a medical emergency team or we have members on a crisis team. So it's more of the training they need than the certification. They need to be trained on how to um properly
provide medicine to children, properly use special um equipment. But our school nurses will still be involved in the kind of functions that a school nurse should be doing. The essential functions of nursing will still be provided by a school nurse.
>> Okay. All right. I echo uh member Christensen's and and member Kho's uh plea to the community to advocate for more public school funding. So, thank
you. >> Member, >> um I I just have a few comments. As far as the nurses, if you actually talk to um the staff in
buildings like elementary school or middle school offices. those um paras and administrative assistants are so swamped with already taking care
of kids who don't we don't have enough nurses for that I question how much more is going to be put on their plates um to to help with having nurses gone. Um I also am wondering if
we're getting rid of our who does the um career student career center. Are we getting rid of the student career center completely or will those will there
still be something for our kids to go to? Also, um these paras, these um library paras, I speak from experience with a daughter who had a a issue that
came up while she was at library very um uh uncomfortable for her. And that parah was able to help her um keep her okay. And because we have
these positions like executive director of student services and director of state and federal programs that we can say we don't need to replace. I would rather look at cuts at the board level, the board
office level, than taking away paras and um nurses who really affect our kids dayto day. It just And is there a reason why we can't and I don't I don't know
about the reasons for this, but is there a reason why we can't take our fund balance down to 10% and save these important positions for our kids? >> So, um it's a very good question and I
would love to be able to keep every single position that we have. So, I'll answer um in a few ways. So that last question uh and I think Miss Melbourne said it so well at um FNO this week when
we think about our payroll alone that's the total of what what is our payroll bi-weekly about 6 million weekly uh bi-weekly we don't get state aid until October. So even looking at a 10% fund balance would
be approximately $28 million, right? $25 million is um and if we were to say we're going to take this down to 10% just through a few payrolls if anything were to happen that could put us in a situation if we get to 5% the state
could come and take over. So although our board policy says that we really are just like we want best practices in the classroom, we want an opportunity to maintain that cash flow. It impacts our as you just sold our bonds and we had a
very good bond. Our our rating makes a difference for our taxpayers and and the money that we're paying. So it is important to really think about what does it cost to operate a district? What does it cost for payroll? And then the importance of the 10%. And in doing that with the 85% being staff, it makes it
difficult. Um the part about like central office when you look at those positions that you you shared and you really break down what do they do. Uh so that is that oversees transportation and student like our whole uh discipline process. One of the positions that you
shared um our uh pupil accounting like positions how we get our money in terms of our pupil accounting. And so yes, that executive director is a central office position. It will be cut, but that work we have to do people accounting. We have to do transportation. We have to do all these
things. So that goes on another plate. And and I'll be able to demonstrate those cuts that we've made at the central office level. When we look at state and federal programs, that is a very important position in terms of our students. That is our title uh ones, our our vulnerable population of students,
our students uh ML students. And so providing testing and service and support and and and funding and budgets and all of those things if we don't replace that position then that still resides among those that remain. So that is work that must take place. So again I
know it feels as if um is one person more one position more important all positions are important and it's saying how can we do this work and one thing I will say as superintendent it is my expectation that there is a champion for every single student in our buildings and all of us need to show up as
champions and I know that that doesn't always happen so we have to continue to work to to expect and and and hold people accountable if we're in this work we're in this work because we're changing kids lives and so having um a person who that that point like there's
nothing more valuable than having that young people who has well you said one of one of your students had a a person who was very impactful. We got to expect that from our 2500 staff members that are there. I will say even that creative work to try to and I I know we've worked
with our uh our our our union leadership which has really been such a blessing is to say like even within our contract where you would have bumping a position is eliminated and and that would mean you know bump into open positions how can we work to say with seniority that person can still stay within that
building. So kind of doing some creative ways so that champion might not be in that building where they were but will be in that building because they are part of that school community. So everything has been very intentional of trying to say how do we keep students at the center keep their high quality
programming and uh do that unfortunately with less people and continue to advocate for for funding. So I would even say as we say compensate fairly if we give one raise this year that is a compounding effect. So that raise this
year and I'm just using fake ner terms but I'll just say a step for example which is automatic is like $5 million. So once that $5 million goes on the books next year that's five million and if you give another step so that's a compounding effect and so that in itself would take us down to that 10% fund
balance if there's no other adjustments that are made. So it's very complicated. It is very and we are in the people business. We're in relationships. That's what matters here. And so um again I can't I will not stand before you and say that every position that is on every position that is on there is valuable
needed and we can have the data around the impact of and so it's around um recommendations but the whole team not a top down to say from your building level from your district level from your how can we do this work um with the recommendations that we have before you.
So, I I do appreciate the question and it's not easy. It is it won't be easy. Um and and we have to approve a budget by law with those um requirements or parameters by June 30th >> and live live within our means. >> That's right.
>> Thank um I had a couple questions and a couple suggestions. So, to start off, I was curious on I mean we've all discussed how impactful the cuts are going to be, but going to be most impactful to the people working in the school of the teachers. I'm curious on how much
feedback you've gotten from the teachers. You know, as a student, I've heard so much uh talk about what getting rid of the copy lady is going to do to um you know, how much work teachers are going to have to handle, how much chaos is going to be in the copy room. I mean,
I've heard how valuable of a position that's been from countless teachers. So, I'm curious how much teacher feedback involved in this process. >> Thank you for that question. So, yeah, I was going to say in terms of um I'm going to answer answer two things. So,
with copy parah, it is definitely a valuable position. Um that is uh a position that we've had at the high school. That is not a position that we've had K8 at um our buildings. And so utilizing uh you know planning time and and supports and others like how can we
still accomplish that task uh for supports as we we have in our K8 buildings is what we're looking to do and with still that copy center so big projects our K8 teachers are able to to submit and use that and so how can we utilize that that uh position but when
you ask for input that's when we talk about stakeholders and as we look to our level leaders who are meeting with building principles and then building principles working among their assistants, their teachers, their whomever to get feedback around these recommendations that make it to a list.
That's really where the input uh comes from and then we assess then what is that plan? So if there is work that has to belong somewhere else and that's the conversation to say because you can't say we're just going to cut this position and give you know this this group all of that work. So that is
really that process of feedback is to um say systemically if we're changing then give feedback into how all positions being valuable and needed um where can we make some reductions and also I think last year that that question was important. And so we're not just looking
every year, but we're looking longterm to say, "All right, this is the furthest away from the classroom, tier one, two, three, and revisit what can come on the list, what needs to go off the list, and and adjust." And all of these things, I would say, even as we've looked at reductions in the past, um what we've
we've gotten we've had to reduce, we we eliminated kindergarten pair professionals in the past, and as when times were lean like 2011, 12, and that need was so great. So as money came back that's a position that we brought back. So those are things that we have to be
on this model of uh continuous assessment and evaluation to say when we reduce what is the impact on kids and if there is an impact that's too great then that's something that we need to look to say let's return that support and then maybe have to look because we still have
that $8 million that we have to reach and it can come through investments. It can come through more money but we have to get there. So kind of answering that question in terms of that process allows for feedback at the building level, community level. So we took the themes from the community survey for example.
So you see in this budget, it's going to be a recommendation for $500,000 that will be an investment in activities and athletics. Looking at our study, we had a committee that said we have sports that are MHSA recognized, but they're self-funded. So, those parents are
potentially paying $1,500 for their student to participate in baseball. We have pay to participate where our district raised our rates during lean times and then we didn't go back and revisit that to bring it back down. So, our families are paying more than our local or neighboring communities. So, an
ability to bring that burden down to invest in uniforms and equipment things that we haven't been able to in the past. So those are taking that feedback to say then we we placed that in the budget but then where's the offset to still get to that 10 million. So a lot of factors are in play.
>> Thank you. Yeah, I think that when it comes to things like that where you have to weigh your options between like higher paytoplay rate comparing, you know, how much money does that make us and stuff like that. I think it really is important because there definitely are families who will struggle with
being able to pay that higher rate. There's also a lot of families who can't afford that and you know being able to offer maybe uh a cut off or families who can't afford it can get help but we can still keep a higher rate because if we keep a higher rate that means we can you know keep positions that are keep
opportunities that are more important, more beneficial. And then >> one thing I just I do want to respond to that because again I want to continue to to work us all to not say that one position is more valuable than another because that's indicating like oh these positions that we cut we don't feel
they're as valuable as athletics and that's not the key. So everything is invaluable. When you think about activities and and athletics that is an intervention for students. So if students are at the center of what we do and there are students that can't have access to play
because they can't afford that or even families that you know could they're they're paying for that but they have you know three three children and to play multiple sports. So many districts have one rate and we were similar before and now if your children play multiple
sports which could lead to you know future and you know that that is that is it's important to take a look at that just to to make sure that we assess it. So it's not making that more important than any position, but it is looking at all of our goals in our dynamic plan.
That's why we say NTSS focus. So what do students need to be successful to to be globally competitive to thrive in a school district? And then how can we align our budget, our financial and human resources to support that need? >> And then um so this is kind of going
back to the uh bio or the severance plan. I believe last meeting you said it was 27 to 37 somewhere between 20 and 30 where you you know you reach you're not losing any money >> 35 >> 35 yes sorry um but I've heard a lot of
teachers are participating I don't know if you know the exact number obviously the deadline isn't right now but with the if you have a higher than expected amount of teachers who participate in that bio plan and the amount of money that we're saving is more than we expected is there a possibility where we can
Maybe we saved u you know x amount of money more than we expected and now we can look into hey this um this position can be now it it's not on the table for being cut. You know we can take some positions that were used to be
on the table for being cut but now we see how important they are and we kind of have to we can be able to reduce the amount of cuts we're having because of the more money we're being saved through the B. curious if that's an option. >> I I really appreciate that question and
um kind of think about the exercise that we did in future projections. So, as we share, I don't remember the numbers, but I want to say it said 7 million or 8 million. Um and so the idea, as Miss Mick said, is that this budget has to be approved by June 30th. And so, we know
we're looking at a structural deficit. So, this is this is money that continues, right? It's not one time. This is a structural deficit that we're dealing with. So any savings that we get, break even is 36, but anything that goes in addition to that would allow us
then to reduce the structural deficit. So instead of having to reduce 8 million next year, if we're fortunate enough to have $4 million and that would be a significantly less number of positions or services that we we would have to reduce next year. So
we're that's when she said we we can't use that a part of this year's savings because we won't even realize that until July by the time it's all said and done. It's probably September because we also have to then replace those positions and we have to really be disciplined and not hiring people over a certain amount so
we can get savings. So those that money again we're looking at a structural deficit and to be able to um offset and at the same time it's important to know that every year there there is there's not a position that we don't look at every year to say is there a return on
investments for students. So we could have some positions that are reduced this year like I shared the kindergarten pair professionals and we brought those back because it's needed. So there could be positions that we bring back and there could be further positions that we we continue to support for this school
year that we say, hey, it's really not giving that impact for students. So that could be something that >> Just to be clear, we're not cutting kindergarten Paris this year. Just making sure we're all clear about >> Did I say that? Did I say >> No, you didn't. But you said like you were using it as an illustration that came back.
>> I'm just making sure that everybody's clear that we're not going. No, I'm so glad you did that because it really is that you have to look every single year to say the impact on students and that impact is is great because our youngest learners as they're in the classroom and they're learning just how to do school. So there was a case we had a halftime
before we've had different but we have to be able to say let's look at the results. How did it impact kids and this is something that we need to prioritize is either returning to to our staffing or doing even differently. So it's a continuous model. And if I may add on to your comments, um, as you mentioned, we
have to adopt that budget by June 30. And as we've demonstrated, there's a number of factors we don't know. We don't know what our enrollment will be. We don't know what state aid will be. We don't know what those categorical grants will be. At risk, multilingual, so many factors are really up in the air. Will
they even pass a state aid bill in July or will it be October again? Uh, and we don't receive state aid monies uh for the full month of September. and the monies we receive in July and August are for the prior school year. Um, so there's so many assumptions to become
known over time that it's always evolving. And I have said at this podium, it's always budget season. We talk about it kicking off in January with that first consensus revenue estimating conference, but we know now, we've had this conversation now for three consecutive years, and we're going to continue to have it. It's always
budget season. It's always as you mentioned continuous review and evaluation of our programming of our allocation of resources to be sure they are equit equitably allocated and to be sure that we are achieving our dynamic plan and looking at our achievement data
and other data as well. Um, so there's so much to become known and we will continue to monitor as we mentioned. Um, we'll just keep our ears to the ground on all of those variables and we continue with our process of amending budgets. So we're always current and always projecting along with our monthly
financial statements to look in the review mirror and say how did this past month go and where what does that mean for next month and ongoing. So we're doing short-term and long-term uh range uh projections. So broader context maybe as a response
I appreciate your questions. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> First of all, thank you for your work um and your team. Uh I als I want to say that the one good thing is that the budget proposals came out early. So >> I was really I was really grim about
that. I didn't think that was going to happen. So great. Um you know, I've been staring at my notes and questions. Filled my sheet already. um and thinking like how can we fix this? There really isn't a solution.
Um with that said, inflation, I know we've already talked about funding doesn't reach what studies show students need and it's not that we aren't reaching at just this year. We've consistently been below for the last several years. Um and that's only compounding.
Um, one question that I have for you. Uh, a while back you were talking about how we're expecting 75 student FTEEs to come from our district or or we would lose 75 FTEs. Could you explain normally how you calculate that projected loss?
>> Sure. Uh, we start first with our rollup numbers. So, we take our third graders and assume how many might be going to fourth grade. And we do that throughout the district. Uh we also have an external firm that provides enrollment projections based on a number of factors, housing starts and birth rates across the state and all kinds of
things. Uh and then um we have other staff that look at our schools of choice and how many might have applied and how many spaces we have and how that enrollment might be calculated. Uh and then we look at um intra district transfer requests. Um if there might be
other factors that I'm not aware of, please join in. But that's our typical approach. Um as well as um looking at um what else is going on in districts around us, right? So around Arjun's question around um the pay to participate, we know that we need to be
competitive with other districts so that we don't lose more students around what are we what are our fees for pay to participate? Are we offering the sports that our neighboring districts are offering and those kinds of things as well. And if you just look at um we say birth rate alone our higher end would be
in the high school so approximately 1500 seniors your peers when they graduate we have 1100 this year kindergarteners and we're projected right now to have about 1100 which is great because our first grade class is like 900. So we as we we've heard we've started to increase
our kindergarten enrollment which is wonderful but exiting 1500 and only bringing in 1100 that's already going to be right. So then we're filling in with schools of choice and I know people have opinions on but we don't have enough we have enough students that we can't close
a school. So we're going to have a classroom open and it allows for um kind of the conversation even around like the the the the um combination classes and if we have more students in there you're able to dissolve that combination. So those are things that are in play and so
you're trying to bring then these other factors in new housing starts and even with new housing starts I will say uh you know I heard a comment I think this evening about workmen which at one time is still our largest school but it was close to 750 and it's projected at 622 so it feels large there but it's about
100 students less than it has been in the past and so and because it is a large school that's not one that we necessarily put a lot of schools of choice students in. Um, so it's really that balance of all of those things uh that are factors that we don't know yet that we have to like make some
projections and just adapt along the way. >> And we've had some very robust numbers in our tuition programs, our tuition preschool, I should say, as well as our GSRP preschool programs. And that brings in students as well. >> Yeah. Our capture rate. So we would have students that are in our preschool program that aren't um
>> right our residents. >> Yeah. So then and so now we're actually we started off a couple years ago tracking that we were capturing about 66% of our preschool students and this year we captured 82% that actually register for kindergarten. So that's that intentional marketing work that we're doing around getting our programs
and but we heard from our communities like we got so many things here and we don't even know it ourselves. So let's make sure that we're getting that out and that again is not just the communications department which was another cut over time. We had that was a that person we had communications director that was a central office administrator. We didn't replace that.
We divided the work. That was two years ago when Mr. Brandon left. And so it's that work that the work is there. It's important. And how do we do it differently? I think I just went BW. Sorry. >> I've been talking a lot today. >> Um kind of bu piggybacking off of that
around schools of choice. Um if theoretically would we be able to expand that program further and do you think if we expanded the program to say a thousand students that we could fill that or do we think the number we're at for student schools of choice is probably solid.
>> So, um, right now, actually, uh, Mr. Tiscuit will tell me because he's he's spot on with that. He, uh, he suggested we go up to 600, I think 650. So, what happens, Josh, we we, um, like this 500. We've never actually taken in 500 students because we we accept them, but
then people exercise their choice or they don't get to choose a school, they choose a district. So, it might feel like it's too far for them. They don't end up coming. Each year, we've grown. Right now we're 28 >> eight which currently I think we're this year we have like 138 students that are attending out of the 500. So those that
have accepted and enrolled this is really really good news. It's getting greater but it's not anywhere close to the 500. The idea though is if we expand it it could potentially allow for us to accept more because what happens is that we just accept the 500. There's that waiting list and then all of them don't
come. But it is also at the same time um so it's it's it's a conversation every year to say who actually shows up and as we're going into this annual we give the best recommendation on how that should look but for the last few years we for many years we haven't we've just kept the number at 500 because we haven't
realized that total number >> um kind of more specific questions I noticed that there was a security officer being um cut I was just curious what building or like what their role was and that's being moved around. >> So at Starkweather, we had one security
position and that person resigned. So that currently is an opening. We have a what's called a floater security position. That is a permanent position at the high school that is operates like a sub position, but that person is guaranteed employment every day. So
where we did is we made the cut at Pep for that floater and then that position will be placed at Starkweather so they maintain one security personnel. >> Great. Um, and then around the nursing cuts, I just want to echo member Voss's
um, comments around their need. I know that we have to make um, critical staffing cuts. So, I I don't want to say that they're better than some other position, but they I would say directly impact students. So, I I don't know how
to how to solve it. That's the It all comes down to that. There's no good way to to move forward. So, good luck. Mr. Meritt, on the on the nursing levels, >> our staff is is really returning to about where we were precoid. Correct.
>> We are actually returning to we're three greater than we were pre-COVID at 19,000 students. >> We had substantially more students >> and we had more less nurses than where we're headed right now. >> So, just just context for everybody. I'm
not saying that the positions aren't valuable. I'm not saying the need isn't there. It's just context of where we're at. Can I make a comment on that quickly? Is that we have different students now with more needs um >> for to be seen and so the workload for
the office staff is just it's already unbearable. It's going to get worse. And I will say um although we have like uh in some contracts that that is a part that would help in terms of office staff but we also have to your point of
students being um with more needs that have allowed for different supports within the position that could also so for example we didn't have a student support coordinator in our elementary buildings before. That person can be trained to be a part of that team as
well. So they're in the office. So it doesn't have to fall, it shouldn't fall on one person regardless if it's in their contract. It really has to take when I say it takes a village, it takes a village and you utilize the supports that we have in place to to assist. And again, our certified nurses, we are
ensuring that they are as a part of health care plans. We're not going to expect a student support coordinator, office pair educator, an administrative assistant to do a a feeding tube. That would not happen. But if giving it like a daily med or something along those
lines, how do we utilize other staff that's in the office, not just because you're absolutely right, it it's across the system. We can't burden or burn out one particular uh position. >> Well, this topic is very important. I I know we've all had a lot of good commentary dialogue around this. If you
have any additional questions, please send them to Dr. Merritt and myself and we can continue to um answer them. But I know members do had one last question and we can move on to the next question just a comment as you talk about advocacy. It was mentioned three times um and we tell the community advocate
and when you go to your legislators you say you need more money and they said we just gave you more money. >> How do you respond to that? I think the bigger question is how did we get here and why is the gap of where we need to be and where we are even with the increases we got why are the gaps so big
and as we talked about uh a couple months ago I shared like 10 15 years ago we've gone through negative FTE zero FTE for years we never were able to catch up so I think as you talk about advocacy um treasure kho I would like to have a
session with the community Dr. Merritt and Miss Bennick where we bring the community along and say this is the big gap that we've been working with for so long and we've done great with what we have but this is how we got here. How do we fix it is the bigger question because
they'll tell you they're giving us more money and the paper says more money but what's needed and and where we need to be is huge. >> Thank you for that comment. Thank you for the presentation. If I may just add, I want to thank the work of everybody in the district, every leaders, all the
leaders. Uh we, as you know, we used to work through a budget process called transformation. We've moved away from that in this environment of reductions, and it is challenging. So, I just want to thank everybody for uh their contributions to the work. >> Thank you. All right, Miss Minnik, do you want to take us through the next item?
>> Uh thank you. Uh, next on our agenda this evening for your consideration is uh, presenting a first reading related to the continued implementation of the PEP pilot furniture initiative as part of our 2020 bond program. This item supports the district's efforts to
create flexible learning environments that promote curriculum delivery and student engagement at Canton, Plymouth, and Salem high schools. Over the past year, students and staff have participated in pilot classroom experiences and provided feedback on furniture layouts and instructional
flexibility. Based on that feedback, we are recommending the purchase of round two pilot classroom furniture and related equipment through the Omnia cooperative purchasing program in an amount not to exceed $51,500 funded through the 2023 bond funds. And
with us this evening, we have Natalie Miller with TMP Architecture and Joe Green, our executive director of high school education to walk us through the exciting and really transformational design timeline and overall plan. Thank you. >> Good evening and thank you everybody. Do
we There we go. So, thank you for your time tonight. We uh Oops, there we go. Sorry. So, over the last year, um since the board initiated the pilot starting last
summer, we've really come to the conclusion that this is a monumental change for our schools. Like, it is is not hyperbole to call it an inflection point. Um, we're really transforming the learning environment uh to be healthier, more movement friendly, to deal with
sedentary behaviors that have locked you in a seat and now kids can move in a seat and to create dynamic instructional spaces that will uh support modern pedigogy, student engagement, and equal access to learning environments. And so what you're going to hear from us is this started with the initial pilot you
approved last summer and how it's evolved over this year. And one of the biggest things coming out of that is a sense of a strategic vision. Um we're developing a common understanding of how physical spaces and the research behind them actually support learning and
achievement overall and in particular the um in particular the learner profile. If we expect students to be um innovators, collaborators, um people prepared for the 21st century, they need an environment that can flex
and shift with them. And so it involves movement, cognition. Um we also then went and got the research behind that, brought in teacher and student input. Um and through the pilot classroom experience, we realized we needed to make a shift in how we approached it.
rather than rush through one pilot, we wanted to pivot and expand uh to make sure that we could make a well-informed decision. Um if any of you remember back when you were in high school, we have desks where the chair and the table are one welded unit and it is not oneizefits-all.
Um we still have those in a lot of rooms um in rows. And so this is a massive massive change. Okay. Um, so just to give you an overview of our timeline and where we're currently at. Um, it's really dense because this is going to be a process
that takes over a couple years. So in kind of in that top right, you can see we started in 2025. um June of last year, as uh Joe mentioned, we had that first pilot classroom set that was um approved by the board that was then
installed before the start of the 2025 2026 school year. Um in the fall, uh teachers were able to pilot these classrooms. There was a rotation about every six weeks uh where it moved room to room to reach more staff and students that we are then able to gather feedback
um from all those participants. Um along with that, we've had additional uh learning opportunities for staff to better understand the um background and importance of this shift. So in November, uh a group went to North
Carolina. Uh in February of this year, a larger group went to a uh Grand Rapids tour. Um as well as in March uh we had some PD um at the park um where uh furniture was brought in. We were able
to see um you can kind of see in that top right image um taped off like a typical classroom size so staff who maybe hadn't gotten a chance to work with the pilot furniture yet could see how that furniture might work within their space. >> And if I if I may, at that event uh on
March 4th we had probably in excess of 150 to 180 somewhere around their teachers. They flooded the stage and all moved the furniture and got involved with it because we realized there's a hearts and minds shift behind this. This isn't just swapping furniture like we've
done in the past. Um, and the staff got really excited because they saw it, they could conceive of it. Um, and they even started saying, "Okay, for most classrooms, this works. What about science classrooms? What about these particular classrooms?" And so it really got the thinking going and the teachers
truly I'm super proud of them have owned this and really become a part of it. >> Um and then so just kind of showing a review of what we had purchased last summer. Um so this was that round one
set of pilots. Uh three different classroom sets so that there could be one at each of the high schools. Uh each set had slightly different pieces just to get a feel for what's out there, what kind of the oper options are and what then they felt um best aligned with
their you know classrooms and their teaching. Um so from there just wanted to highlight uh we also took in student feedback. Um this was from some surveys. So we were able to highlight like what pieces that students preferred um to take that in consideration for the
second round. Uh the goal of the second round is to really fine-tune um our direction after round one was kind of like more discovery. Um round two is refining. Um so taking these this feedback both from staff and students
and what staff has been able to learn um through these different opportunities. Um we came up with a couple different um pilot sets. So at Canton High School um really important and you'll see at all three schools is uh furniture that um
different a variety of furniture that is able to work together very easily. Um so for us we decided it was very important that everything was rectalinear. So it was very easy to create different sized groups as needed. Um so we have you know desks, tables, uh height adjustable
pieces in the space. Um so that also there is ability for visibility from like the back of the classroom that you can have those higher seating um spots. And then if we go to Plymouth, um similar concept of having the
configurability um and height variation uh just with slightly different pieces that made more sense for their space um through that process. And then at Plymouth um showing a very
similar um setup to or sorry Salem Salem and Plymouth um did end up going with uh the same pieces for this second round just because that's what they we went through several iterations and
that's what they both felt fit best for their schools. Canton with their um unique classroom shapes uh felt that they wanted to go a slightly different direction, but all those pieces still work together um between all buildings
like it's it's all still cohesive. Um and all of these classroom sets um we uh designed to a student count of 34. Uh we do understand that sometimes classes can go up to 36. Um keeping that in mind and
when we are buying at the larger scale um knowing that because of the uh flexibility and configurability we could easily introduce an additional you know piece or two to support those additional students and >> I think it's important to note that in
everything they chose there are height adjustable elements. So, when you see a 6'5 young man or young woman who can't fit in a tiny desk, when their feedback was, "My gosh, here's a place I can actually fit." Um, also, if you've ever sat behind someone that's tall with the elevated seating in the far reaches of
the room, you can see over everybody. So, there's a lot of intentionality. A lot of groups of teachers came through to vet these. Um, so there's a lot of buyin from there and a lot of student input as well. >> Accessibility with that as well. >> Yes. Yeah. And actually, all of it is
very adjustable. A in terms of people being able to slot up the desk, be able to move to the height they need. Um because they're not affixed. All we got to do is move a chair or a stool and we have a place for any human being to access the classroom. And I think that was the biggest thing. This is a un user interface for the classroom that we've
changed, not just furniture. >> Yes. Um I did want to jump in terms of so in terms of where this places us. Yeah, that would be great. um where this places us in terms of overall timeline. So our if um this second round is approved, we would then
have the furniture uh installed over the summer. And so then taking both the um three sets from round one and three sets from round two. Um doing that same rotation of about six weeks with staff um to just reach more staff and
students. Um, as we then finalize design, um, specifically for Plymouth and Salem, um, the goal would be for them to have furniture installed next summer in summer of 2027. Um, so by the end of this year, so like December of
26, um, have those final decisions. Um, same sort of process of bring to the board. Uh, and then for Canton, they would get their furniture in 2028. So, um, both being able to take
additional feedback from Plymouth and Salem as well as the continuation of them to be able to use those pilot classrooms up until that point and just keep that momentum going and interest uh, in this shift of furniture. And through the second wave of pilot, we'd
get 12 more teachers in each building and 12 more well 72 different classes working through it over the course of the year to acclimate everybody to this and make it a much smoother runway to this transition. Um and then we'll be able to help Canton keep doing that in
the following year. And so this should be a pretty smooth shift um for everybody to acclimate to. >> Questions? Yeah. If the board has questions, we'll be glad to entertain them. >> Great. Thank you. Um, member Amed, any questions?
>> No questions. >> Member Picard, >> I don't have questions. We went through this at FNO. So, thank you, Vice President Sadu. No questions, but thank you for taking in feedback from students and staff. >> Um, I don't have any questions. I just
want to commend the district for investing in time. Um, oftentimes we see school districts who pass bonds get really excited about the furniture replacement and we rush through this process. So, really being intentional about what pieces we're using or
selecting kind of more broadly across the district is is great. This is a tool for learning. This is, you know, we have desks that I'm sure I sat in that are still here in the district. Um, so it certainly is is about time, but I'm glad we're giving it the the appropriate
amount of time to really garner that feedback, understand the prof professional development behind that, too, because this is a new way of thinking, that reconfigurability, that agility of a classroom and how that can kind of change as needed or depending upon uh the type of instruction that's
happening. So, I commend you for um for doing this. I'm excited. >> Thank you. >> So, thank you again. great discussion that we had in FNO, really long uh conversation about these things. Really appreciate the timeline um and the visuals that you've added to this
because it provides a lot more context that helps us to understand it. And like President Christensen, I appreciate the fact that the first pilot didn't give us enough and because it's really a change in the philosophy of what we do and how we teach. And I think that this this
additional pilot gives us more time to make sure that people get um acclimated to that that change. My only wondering is why Canton is all the way out to 28. So Canton's doing the remodeling under 2027. It'll give us a very very short
timeline to install all 88 classrooms, especially with school coming back sooner potentially um to get all the all three park schools with that much furniture at one time. So the Salem and
Plymouth will be done by then. So, I guess I would challenge us as a district that in all the other schools that we've done renovations for, we've been able to deliver the new classroom furniture simultaneously with the renovation. >> And um I recognize that you may not be
able to give that answer now, but I would like to have us with almost a year to plan for this, more than a year, >> that we could find a way to be able to get Canton done at the same time. So, I I'm not asking for a promise here
tonight. I know that this is a a first read and this is just the pilot, but as you come forward to the next meetings where we come back making decisions in December of this year for the first school, >> let's see if we can find a way to include Canton at the same time.
>> We can do that. >> Thank you, >> Member West. So, as a lefty who survived the uh welded the welded uh single piece desks, thank you. Um
and uh the second thing is I've worked in in an office environment simil with similar furniture for the last 25 years and it really does change the way that you work and I'm excited. So, thank you for doing the work. Thank you for for doing the planning and all of the
prototyping. Um, thank you for this. Thank you for getting student and teacher feedback. I have a son who's 6'4 and he dreaded the first day not knowing if the classroom was the welded desk and so this will it
was embarrassing for him and so this will take that away. I really appreciate it. Thank you. >> You're most welcome. Thank you all for recognizing that. I'm grateful for the support from Jen, Dr. merit Jill in just being patient with us and letting us do this right. I've been
places that forced it before and it you're right, President Christensen, it falls apart. >> So, thank you for having the faith in letting us do this a little slower, a little more methodically. We're going to get it right. So, thank you. >> Good. Josh, do you have any questions? >> Um, just a few comments. Uh, one, I love
the elevated furniture. Um, that'll be amazing. I wish I was here. Um, another on um making sure that for specialized classes like our CTE classes um that the furniture meets those needs specifically. Um, for example, let's say
they have a computer at each desk or there those surfaces they're working on or that sort of a thing. Ensuring that since we have this time to plan that that is well thought out and you work one-on-one with the teachers um to accomplish that. Uh, and then kind of as
a as a joke, um, at our last meeting, we were shown some furniture and there was a nest. Is the nest was the nest considered at our as a part of this pilot? >> Uh, unfortunately, no nest. >> Although, you should have seen all the adults when we went to the showroom.
They may have all been in there at one time or another. >> Great. Thank you for your presentation. >> Thank you, >> Mick. Thank you. Next on our agenda for consideration is a revised contract
award recommendation related to bid package EL4 for the Galamore and Hoben renovations and additions as part of the 2020 bond program. Following the original award earlier this year, the project team determined that the previously selected contractor for the hope and painting scope was a unable to
meet project specifications within the original contract amount due to material cost increases and submittal concerns. And as a result, we are recommending termination of that contract and awarding the painting scope to Trio Painting, the next lowest qualified
responsive bidder from the original bid opening in the amount of $44,450. This represents an increase of $2,000 and would be funded through the 2023 bond programs. And with us this evening is Brian Guestman with our construction management group, McCarthy Smith, to
walk us through those details. I think this is new and different for our bond program. >> For sure. So, thank you. Thank you for having me and thank you for the introduction. Um, you did a a great job in kind of outlining why we're here. It's a little bit different recommendation that we're used to. Um, we came to the board in the winter and
got the Galore and Hovind projects awarded. Um, as part of that, Papus painting, which is our painter for Hovind Elementary was awarded and and subsequently issued a contract. Um, during that point afterwards, postid uh interviews were conducted for all contractors and that's typically where
those issues arise. Um, oftentimes we may come to you guys with a second or th third low qualified contractor because the first or second had an issue with their proposal and was unable to fulfill their obligation as part of their their proposal. In this particular case, that realization for that contractor came
after award. Um, which is not typical, not unheard of, but not typical. Um, and so the good news is there has been no cost um, uh, exchange to set contractor. that contract has not been paid out $1 from that original contract, but ultimately made the determination that they would be unable to fulfill their
obligation um with the cost that was given. Um so, as Miss Minnik kind of identified, as we go back to the original bid tabulation, as we received uh back in December 5th, um the next low contractor would be Trio Painting. The difference between those uh contracts is
a total of $2,30. Um so the overall contracted amount would be increased by $230. Um during the finance and operations committee meeting we did discuss as identified in our original award recommendations. There's two separate placeholders for contingency dollars set aside for Hovind
and Gallammore respectively. Um so our recommendation would be to reduce the overall contingency by that $230. So the overall project cost would remain the same. However, the individual awarded contractor cost would increase by that $2,30. So, our recommendation
today is to resend that contract for Papus Painting and to award Trio Painting a contract of $44,450. >> Thank you for that clarification around the total project costs for sure. >> Thank you. >> And I would be happy to um answer any questions that anybody might have.
>> No questions. Thank you for the clear information. >> Member Picard. Yep. No, thank you. Thank you for your presentation. No questions. I don't either. >> Normally, this wouldn't come before the full board for this small an amount, but because we're changing who the contract is awarded to, that's why this is going
through this process. And so, that's what's happened here. I appreciate the flexibility and the clear explanation. Um, do we need to do is is the timing of this okay doing our normal first and second reads? >> It is. Yeah. So, I have as part of my recommendation that this ultimately
would go to a second read, assuming that this uh passes the the sniff test on the first read. On June 8th would be the second and final read. Um then we have no issue. This work would be taking place this summer, but upon an approval on June 8th, I don't see an issue. >> Great. Thanks.
>> No questions. Thank you for bringing this forward. >> Thank you. I don't have questions. Josh, >> this is interesting. So I just have one question. Um had we stayed with the original contractor, what would the cost have been over or like what would they
have needed to complete the job? >> So which is a good question and inevitably it always seems to be the differential between them and the next contractor. So it was in the neighborhood of two $3,000. Um but how we award is is what's in the the bidding plans and specifications what they're obligated to provide. Um in order for us
to keep it apples to apples and that's how we plan our recommendations. Everybody's been the same thing and so the opportunity to ask for more dollars after numbers are exposed is not something that we can entertain. So we if you can't can't do it for the number you stated then we got to go to the next person.
>> Thank you for that clarification. >> Great. Thanks. >> Thanks. >> Thank you. And finally from finance and operations on the agenda this evening for your consideration is a first reading related to district safety and security. We are recommending the
replacement of 61 older security cameras at PAUP that are no longer compatible with the district's newer visible firearm detection technology. The upgraded cameras and related equipment would be purchased through the Omnia cooperative purchasing program at a cost not to exceed $98,000
funded through the carryover uh carryover funds from the section 31A school safety and mental health grant funds. installation would be completed by our in-house safety and security staff to help maximize available funding and we are here available to answer any
questions you may have this even and I'm sorry Mr. just if you'd like to and >> I can help answer any questions you might have. >> Great. Thank you. >> No questions. Thank you. >> Have any questions? Remember, you do.
>> In terms of the 61 that were previously installed, what what's going to happen to those? Is there any you reusability for those? >> There may be some, but they're 11 12 years old or actually almost 15 years old. So, okay. >> They're almost obsolete.
>> Okay. Thanks. >> Discussed extensively in FNO. Kurt asked the answer the question, one of the questions that we had. Um, there's also a one-year warranty. We consider a longer warranty, but we really haven't had any problems with these kinds of cameras and equipment. So, it didn't
make sense to spend the money for the extended warranty. >> Member West. No questions. Member Voss. No questions. Thank you, >> Josh. As usual, I'm grateful that we're moving towards more compatible um technology and no questions.
>> Great. Thank you very much. >> Up next, we have action item number 26-05-67. Consider approval of a resolution for bid packet number MS-3, Discovery Middle School Furniture and Equipment Purchase. This is a final reading. Can I have a
motion? Madam President, I move that we consider approval of a resolution for bid package MS3, Discovery Middle School Furniture and Equipment Purchase, final reading. Action item 260567. >> Can I have a second? It was moved by Treasurer Kiho and seconded by member Ahmed. We talked
about this at the last meeting. Does anyone have any questions? >> Excited about the nest. >> Excited about the nest. Okay. >> All right. Hearing none, I'll call for the vote. Those in favor, please say yes. >> Yes. >> Yes. Those opposed, say no. Motion carries 70.
Okay. Up next, we have action item number 26-05-68. Consider approval of a resolution for a 26 2026 2027 contract renewal with ABM Educational Services LLC. Final reading. Can I have a second or
>> Madam President? I move that we consider approval of resolution for 2026 2027 contract renewal with ABM Education Services LLC. This is a final reading in the action item is 260568. >> Can I have a second? >> Second. It was moved by treasurer Kho
and seconded by was it member boss? >> Oh, member see my ears. Okay. Thank you. Member Westerra. Um again, we discussed this at the last meeting. Do we have any other questions or comments? >> Uh since I missed the last meeting, I did have an opportunity to watch the
meeting and appreciated the conversation around this topic in particular. Clean cleanliness is really important. We've heard a lot from our students, our staff about this. I just want to say if there can be improved processes in in this um
new contract in terms of where the gaps I I heard that you have a process for those gaps and teachers need to fill out a form, students can um assist. If you're finding gaps in the processes, I encourage the team to look at how do you
ensure that teachers know what is the best way to share what's being missed? U what's the best way to get things done and ensure that there is I think someone mentioned um accountability. So I appreciated those conversations and
questions from last time. We'll go to member boss and then Josh you can >> um I just am going to say that I'm gonna vote no on this um because I found on our website we have an ABM custodial
task schedule and I don't believe based on um staff and students and my own eyes that they are keeping their part of the bargain and so I will be voting Josh,
>> I just wanted to ask, so Arjun was unable to stay for the rest of the meeting, but he was wondering why we don't hire janitorial staff in house. >> And I feel like that question has been asked before. I just can't remember the answer. We've done budget uh uh analysis on this
before. um as an in-house staff we'd be required to have the MIPERS on that and the retirement savings cost for that or the retirement uh cost for that alone makes it so it becomes economically un unviable. We would prefer to do that. Um
but it's just it isn't something that that can that can we can do it economically. >> Any other questions? Can I just one comment? >> Um, >> I appreciate member Voss's concerns. It's something that we've raised. We've had a lot of conversations around
custodial and the the feedback that we've heard from our our our teachers, from our staff, etc. We're not surveying this in the same way that we have in the past, and I think that's something that we need to consider in the future. I am happy that we were able to codify the
quote unquote substitute custodials um positions in this contract. Uh there's been a lot of dispute and conversations around the purpose of those substitutes. Their primary purpose is to support when there's an absence uh in the in the process. But from the very beginning
that when we work with ABM, they committed that those people would be here every single day. And so when there wasn't an absence, those people would be providing extra clean. They'd be providing support. They'd be providing training and other things. And now this has finally been codified in the
agreement. And I think that that may give us some potentially additional resources that might help with some of the shortcomings that we have. >> All right. Any other comments, questions? Hearing none, I'm going to call for the vote. Those in favor, please say yes. >> Yes.
>> Yes. Those opposed, say no. >> Motion carries. 52. Okay. Moving on to teaching and learning, we have, excuse me, and action item number 26-05-69,
consider approval of a resolution for a course revision peer-to-peer. This is a final reading. Can I have a motion? >> Madam President, I move that we consider approval of resolution for a course revision to the peer-to-peer uh program. This is a final reading. Action in 260569. >> I have a second.
>> Second. Who are it? >> It was moved by Treasurer Kho and I heard double over there. I'll say it was seconded by member boss. Um, again, we talked about this last meeting. Any questions or comments? >> Just want to say how amazing this is.
>> Thank you for that comment. Um, okay. Hearing none further, I'll call for the vote. Those in favor, please say yes. Yes. Those opposed say no. >> Motion carries 70. Okay. Okay, we do not have any overflow citizens comments. So, we will move on
to action items and discussion. We have action item number 26-05-70. Consider approval of a resolution for local district's vote on Wayne Resa budget. This is a final reading. Can I have a motion? >> Madam President, I move that we consider approval of resolution for local
district vote on Wayne Reesa budget. This is a final reading and the action item is 260570. >> Can I have a second? >> Second. Okay, I heard that one. Um it was moved by Treasurer Kho and seconded by uh Secretary Wester. We um this was
introduced at our last board meeting and had an opportunity for discussion. Any other questions or comments around this action item? >> I just wanted to have a comment. I did miss the discussion at the last board meeting. I do appreciate the work that Wayne Ree has done in providing us more
details and the FAQ and the information around this because it has been a sore subject for us in the past. I think they've done a good job of trying to address and articulate those things. So, thank you. >> Anything else? Okay, I'll call for the vote. Those in favor, please say yes.
>> Yes. Those opposed say no. >> Motion carries 70. Okay, we are on to follow-up board questions. I don't believe we had any carryover from last meeting if that's correct. Um I did capture
two that are sort of linked probably the same type of question from member Ahmed and uh vice president Sudu around administrative staff changes over the previous three years um as a percentage of our enrollment. Is that correct? >> No is a is a percentage of staff cuts.
>> Okay. So going back three years, how many staff were cut? Uh teachers versus um administrators and central office and just looking at which positions were um planned not refilling and were this year
with those um cuts. Member Ahmed, you had me um requested a ratio and I know we talked about the the teacher to student ratio, but there was a question about administrators to students. Is that something you still would like to see? related. >> I do think they are. Yeah, I think
they're in the same >> um the same >> related >> related. Okay. What I those were the only two that I wrote down. Um there was a suggestion actually, this is maybe not a follow-up board question, but a suggestion for an advocacy workshop
around funding for public uh >> yeah, education, >> school funding. But I will uh follow up with Dr. Merit and Treasure Heho to just kind of brainstorm some possibilities because I think when you ask the community about school funding, it's
very confusing for all of us. So, it's time that we did this. Okay. Anything else? Um I asked what's going to happen to the student career center. Oh, yes. Thank you for that. >> Okay. I requested that we consider uh
getting the Canton furniture installed at the same time as the Salem furniture. I know that that may take a while, but I'm just want you to >> I have concerns about that as well. So, I appreciate you bringing that up for I
had a I had uh just a suggestion I guess consideration um in one of our workshops recently. It came to my attention that in the past we've had a legislative subcommittee.
>> I'm wondering if it would might be time to have some kind of formalized legislative outreach. I don't know if committee is the right word, but >> so the committee still exists. And so if
you it's kind of like ad hoc. So if there's a topic that we want, we could what we typically do is have the Wayne Resa lobbyist um who would come and work with board at that committee. So it's it's available to you anytime you want to call it as a as a school board.
>> Okay. >> Okay. >> Yeah. >> Good suggestion. >> That occurred to me only later. >> Um what I understand that the cameras being replaced are obsolete, but what do we do with them? Like are they recyclable? What exactly
There is a disposal process that's part of the board policy. So, it'll follow the same guidelines. >> Okay. Thank you. >> Okay. Any others? >> Okay. Can I say it? No. I will adjourn the
meeting at 10:06 p.m. Thank you for everyone for hanging in there.