Good evening, everyone. Good evening. Good evening. This is a meeting of the Southfield Board of Education in public for the purpose of conducting the school district's business and is not to be considered as a community meeting. There is one opportunity for public participation during the meeting and comments are limited to three minutes per individual. The board will listen to comments but may not respond during the meeting. If you wish to address the board, please submit a comment card immediately. Roll call. Talisha Belk, board president. Good evening.
Leslie Love Smith Thomas, vice president. Good evening. Nicole Denson, treasurer. Good evening. Amani Johnson, trustee. Good evening, Julian Holloway, trustee. Good evening, Chiyi and Angie, student board rep. Good evening. Paris Whitman student representative. Good evening. Jennifer Green, superintendent. Taking minutes this evening, we have miss Carolyn Foster. Technical support is being provided by m one studios and all members of the executive district network team are present in the audience. May we all stand for the pledge of allegiance, please. I pledge allegiance to the flag of The United States Of America and to the
Republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. At this time, we will have board matters. And now we're ready to welcome our newest trustee, Janay Anderson. Swearing her end this evening will be the honorable judge God. Amen. I said, I'm sorry. I got to church. Can you see that? Mhmm. That's gonna happen a lot. Miss Foster's gonna get the money. We're gonna get a mic. Good evening, everybody. And, I apologize for having my back to you, but good evening to everybody that's
here. Southfield, public schools board members, doctor. Green, members of the public, elected officials, mister Anderson, and, miss Anderson. My name is Kamisha Gantt, and I'm an Oakland County Circuit Court judge, and I serve in the family division at the Circuit Court. And it is my pleasure to be here with you tonight. It is very special for me to be here tonight, to swear in missus Anderson as the newest member of the Southfield, school board.
Tonight is special not only because I I know missus Anderson personally, but missus Anderson is my former staff attorney at the circuit court. And so my staff and I are so excited and so proud to be here tonight. Lisa Denard, the judicial assistant, and, I would say missus Anderson's old partner in crime, I should say, is here to support you. What I wanna say is this, is that from what I know about missus Anderson is that the appointment, to the Southfield school board was an excellent choice.
Missus Anderson has, had the welfare of children, which would include their education for many, many years. So far before she was appointed to this position, far before her kids attended the Southfield Public Schools, far before she was my staff attorney, before she even became a mother, she was interested in the welfare of children, and she served in capacities that allowed her to do such. So she served in that capacity in Wayne County with the friend of the court.
She also, served on many organizations that supported that goal as well. So I feel like the, board of education for Southfield Public Schools will be very lucky to have missus Anderson. Missus Anderson is someone who has innovative ideas. She has a compassionate heart, and she has a work ethic like no other. And I was sad to see her go. So I know she'll she'll do a great job. She'll take it seriously, and, you'll be an asset.
Missus Anderson has a nature of kinda standing off and being quiet and unassuming. She doesn't like the limelight. And for many, many years, she's supported me and my career, my endeavors, my staff members and their endeavors. She's watched attorneys come through our courtroom, and she's been proud and supportive while they were sworn into the bar. Children have come through our courtroom where she has supported them and cheered them on. Families have come to adopt children.
And I can go on forever. And she's sat quietly, And she's never wanted to take any credit for the, I would say, the great work that she did while she was my staff attorney at the circuit court. We together helped and assisted thousands of families in Oakland County. And together, we implemented actions that would safeguard the welfare of children from harm. And so I appreciate that. So now is your time to shine.
Be in the limelight, and show these people the great talents that you have. And I am so proud of you. So now if you're ready, please raise your right hand and repeat after me. I, Janay Anderson. I, Janay Anderson. Do you solemnly swear. Do solemnly swear. To support the constitution of The United States. To support the constitution of The United States. And the constitution of the state States and the constitution of the state of Michigan and the constitution of the state of Michigan and to perform my duties and to perform my duties faithfully faithfully as a member of the board of education for the Southfield Public Schools.
I know it's a mouthful. Board of education for the South Southwood Public Schools. And to always, faithfully do my duties to the best of my ability. And to always faithfully do my duties to the best of my abilities. Congratulations. Hey. We have some we have some things for you because we love you. Alright. Alright. Forever team to way go out and make me proud. Alright. Thank you everybody. Thank you so much Judge Kent. We are so happy to welcome our newest member, the school board. Thank you. Before your before your Before your family leave, would you like to take a family
photo really quick? Okay. Hi. Hi. Hi. Thank you. Much family. At this time, we're gonna have a proclamation presentation by our county commissioner, Yolanda Smith Charles. Thank you, madam board president. Thank you so much for that warm welcome and, welcome to the board, your new newest trustee, through the appointment process, which is no small feat. So congratulations to you, miss Anderson. As I hasten to, my proclamation because I know you've got a lot of, matters
in front of you for voting and discussing, I wanted to recognize this amazing board of education, having served right where you have served, some time ago. And so I jotted down a couple notes that I just really wanted to share, as I get to the proclamation. So as was stated, I'm Yolanda Smith Charles. I'm the Oakland County commissioner representing half of Southfield, Olive Oak Park, Lafer Lafer Village and Royal Oak Township. And then, of course, there's Lenny Taylor who I share the wonderful city of Southville with who couldn't be here this evening.
But as I mentioned, we are recognizing school board trustees across the state of Michigan. As some of you know, January is school board recognition month. And so having walked this walk many, many years, I just know how difficult and challenging and sometimes super thankless this job can be. There was a joke. I know this don't apply to y'all, but they just pay us with, like, a rubber chicken, like a cold chicken dinner. And, but we have, you know, futures in our hands. So I wanna recognize you all. Of course, I heard, miss Leslie Smith Thomas, achieved what was the status again, if
you don't mind? Master Diamond. Master Diamond. Yes. Congratulations on that, which is also worthy of recognition. We pride ourselves in Southfield Public Schools on excellence. Our our honor board status, I hope you guys are fulfilling. Reminding myself that the success of a school district is based on the success of the board of education. If you rise, the district rises. You fail, the district fails, and we are counting on you guys. And so as I mentioned, it's the hardest, probably most important public service role available to us as residents, as citizens here in this wonderful country.
And so the proclamation reads, in part, Southfield Public Schools proclamation honoring you. Whereas, it is an honor to recognize the dedicated public servants who ensure that Oakland County Schools maintains standard of excellence in education and continues to nurture the minds and spirits of our students. Whereas, Oakland County is home to 28 local school districts and administers educational opportunities to more than 175,000 students. Whereas, school board members represent the views and priorities of the community they serve and
they reinforce the principle of local control over public education, setting a vision and a structure for their districts. Board members visit their schools and attend community events. They listen to parent voices. They make sure that they are advancing student achievement and well-being in the ways most desired by each unique community. Whereas, under the guidance of its seven member board, Southfield Public Schools serves the vibrant communities of Southfield and Lathrop Village. The district offers a diverse range of educational programs from specialized academies focused on arts,
STEM, and world languages to gifted and talented initiatives in early childhood education. With a focus on student achievement, community engagement, and continuous improvement, the Board's oversight opens pathways for every learner to thrive and reach their fullest potential. Now, therefore, be it resolved, David t Woodward, chair of the Oakland County Board of Commissioners, commissioner Yolanda Smith Charles, and the entire Oakland County Board of Commissioners do hereby proclaim January as school board recognition month in Oakland County, and we thank you for your dedication to our children and to public education.
So I'd like to present this to you, president Belk, and then maybe you could stand and we could get a little photo. Take a moment of privilege while they gather and recognize my dear, dear buddy. She went to Lathrop. We can't all be Blue Jays. But, her name is Ashanti Bland. I know you know who she is, and, I just wanna recognize her and tell her I love her. Thank you so much. Because you set in the seat, I'm a let you steal my shine, but my next item was to recognize our councilwoman that's in the building, Ashanti Bland.
I want to publicly state how we appreciate you, how we are excited to have you still support us even though you're in another role doing amazing things. We love you. We love you. This board still supports you, and thank you for continuing to support us. Are there any additional board matters? Trustees. Happy New Year, everyone. So we have hit the ground running, of course. We had the task of filling our, appointment, which we did that throughout December and
then quickly moved into, our board retreat, or our organizational meeting and then our board retreat. So we had the pleasure to the pleasure of, spending last Saturday at the beautiful plant Moran, where we engaged in workshop, regarding board consensus, and continuing to grow and develop our leadership skills. We at that time, we also had an opportunity to set our board goals as
well as our superintendent goals. And so we do want to invite you all to continue to stay abreast of how we are developing, in those goals and meeting those goals and those benchmarks. Really just a real quick overview, our board goals, involve our midyear review. So in June, that is so if you've heard that we do not evaluate, the superintendent, that is not true. She knows that that is not true. And so we also have put on our, agenda, our mid year review, which happens
in June, policy review and updates, which we are constantly keeping abreast of, our policies and making sure that they are meeting the needs of our, of our district and our stakeholders, our board operating procedures. So just tightening up how we operate as a board, how we govern, that is also one of our top priorities, and also our trustee education and readiness. As you mentioned, when, county commissioner asked about my award level status, a master diamond
is actually the six out of seven levels, award levels that you can achieve through the Michigan Association, of the education oh, Michigan Michigan. School Board Association. I have so many associations. I was about to name a whole different one. But m a MASB, which is the association that we as a school board, is a that we are a member of and we obtain our ongoing development and education credits and, experiences, conference experiences through. And so there are seven levels and I have achieved six of the seven, and
I do believe that this board is committed to continuing to grow. We have long time been an honor board, which means that we've all achieved a certain merit level or certification level, and we have made that one of our goals this year to, to return to that and maintain that status. That's all I wanna share. Alright. Thank you. Anyone else? Good evening. Happy New Year, everyone. Good evening. I just wanted to acknowledge, two amazing women that are in the audience. That's principal Baldwin and principal Pritchett.
I think that they have done an amazing job with the Bernie move. We have moved to SRAC in Vanderburgh. I'm a proud Bernie mother. And I just wanna say I've watched it. I've been on parent, meetings. I wanna give a shout out to our chief of staff, Jackson. Chief Jackson, superintendent. Just just an amazing job. I've been out watching this the the social workers, the teachers, everybody has hands on deck, and it really shows that we are a family here in Southfield. And I just wanna say thank you so much for everything you've done to make
that move a successful move. So thank you. Any other trustees? Hearing none, we're gonna move, into our agenda with, the report of the student board representatives. And we're gonna start per usual with ladies first with miss Paris from Southfield A and T. Happy New Year. Happy New Year. I'm Paris. I'm one of your Southfield board representatives, and I'll be reporting out for Southfield A and T today. The start of a new year brings fresh opportunities, new experiences, renewed motivation across our school. January has already been a busy and successful month for our students, and I'm excited
to share a few highlights. For January, here are the past and current highlights for Southwood High School for the arts and technology. Our first report for our sports highlights. Our board's basketball team is on the road today headed to Waterford to compete, and on Friday, will defend their court against Berkeley. Our girls' basketball team is hosting home games today against Bloomfield Hills and Thursday against Troy as they continue their winning streak. Wrestling has been on fire, finishing second at the Bishop Volley tournament and earning eight medals, including a first place finish by Kenneth Brooks. We're also proud of our girls' wrestlers presented Warrior Pride at the first ever Tri
County female co only competition. The boys' bowling team remains undefeated with Aidan Mason bowling a game high 279 against Harper Woods. Jaysay Taylor placed second in the OAA singles. Aidan Mason finished fifth, and the team earned third place at the early bird tournament. Our cheer team hosted the annual beach blast competition with over 20 schools in attendance. Our cheerleaders delivered a strong performance. The team also competed at Troy on Monday, re earning a third place finish. The Warrior Band stayed busy this winter.
They performed at university's concert band this on December 16, participating in the band jamboree on December 20 and taking part in the annual Canada parade in Essex. Between rehearsals, performances, and traveling across borders, the band has proven that music truly has no limits and that warriors can stay in formation no matter the weather. Now for the leadership and activities highlights. The senior board's annual lip sync show was a major success and continues to be a favorite school tradition. The performances were creative, high energy, and well received with a large crowd in attendance. A special thank you goes to class of twenty twenty six advisers, mister Green and
miss Crosby, along with Dance Company and Ms. Schinky for ensuring the event ran smoothly from start to finish. The National Honor Society Mittens for Kitties drive wrapped up in December. They collected winter gear for children in our district. On December 16, they went to Stevenson Elementary to donate all the collected items. To celebrate participation, a party was held for the top three seminar classes that collected the most donations, which combined community service with school spirit. Student Council successfully hosted their third blood drive of the year. The turnout was strong and many students and staff donated. This event once again demonstrated the compassion and leadership for our student body while contributing
to life saving efforts. Business Professionals of America students attended the Regional Leadership Conference on December 15. And it was an extremely successful and eventful day. Nine students qualified for states, showcasing their dedication and professionalism. Princess Tayo won first place for fundamental business fundamental desktop publishing. Uchen Auty came in second place for Human Resource Management. Small business team received second place with Armani Davis, Salaba, Corey Hickman, and Kendall Shortridge on the team. Administration support team placed second with Leila Arrington, Paris Whitman, Prentice Tayo, and Brooklyn Williams
on the team. Additionally, Leila Arrington and Paris Whitman were awarded the Diplomat Torch Award at Regionals, recognizing outstanding leadership and service. BPA's Cafe du Warrior is open every Friday during seminar and continues to be a success. BPA leaders run the cafe serving both students and staff. Those have been strong, and the experience has helped them build organization skills, teamwork, and time management, as well as real world business skills. The book club, on the same page, has completed their first novel, One of Us is Lying, and members are currently finishing their book reports. They've also started their second book with many choosing The Weight of Blood, a modern
retelling of Carrie. The club continues to encourage discussion, literacy, and student connection. Debate club, which originally consisted mostly of sophomores, has expanded to include students from multiple grade levels. Members focus on SAT prep, debate topics, and guide discussions to help improve literacy, communication, and critical thinking skills. Counselors Council, made up of students recommended by teachers and selected by the counseling department, is currently planning on a roll activities for the second quarter. Earlier this year, they successfully organized a movie night to award high achieving students from the first quarter. Let me now tell you about the academic highlights.
Students in science classes participated in the science fair, where they were guided through the entire scientific process. Students selected their own topics, completed the steps on the scientific method, created physical boards, and presented them to their judges. As the semester comes to a close, students are preparing for final assessments. January 14 is first and second midterms. January 15 is third and fourth hour midterms. January 16 is fifth and sixth hour midterms. Release is 10:30 for midterms on as those are half days. The next card marking begins after MLK and PT day on January 21, giving students
a fresh start for their academic new year. For the safety and security highlights, c two pipeline students participated in a ninety minute training and discussion session focused on safety, bullying awareness, and students' responsibility. Their participation reinforced the importance of creating a safe and respectful space. The addition of metal detectors has improved school safety and the tradition has gone smoothly. Students and staff have been well adjusted and the process has gone over efficiently and is well managed. The new year has started strong with students staying engaged in leadership, academics, and service
while continuing to prioritize safety and community. We look forward to all that 2026 has to offer. Thank you. Great job. Do any trustees have any questions for miss Perez? Comments? No questions, board president. I just want to, make sure the community heard that our, metal detectors are going well, smooth transition, and that the students feel safe. I think that, I know we mentioned that, chief Jackson isn't here, but chief Jackson,
the superintendent, and the entire team who made sure that operation, moves smoothly, I think, definitely deserves an applause for that. Thank you, VP. If we have no other trustees, we're gonna turn it over to mister Chidi. Bring us some energy in here. You ready? Okay. Wow. I haven't my fault. Wow. I haven't seen you all since last year. I'm sorry. But if I had to hear that joke, all of y'all gonna have to hear it. I'm happy that I recognize some new faces. I would like to give a round of applause to the woman right next to me, the esteemed miss Janae Anderson.
I also noticed that some of you have switched titles. So I'd like to give another round of applause to miss Alicia Belk, the new president, miss Leslie L Smith Thomas, the new vice president, miss Yvette Wedovoy, the new secretary, and miss Nicole Denson, the new treasurer. We may be looking forward to this year, but I want us to reminisce. I did during my school's alumni day.
Seeing all those faces made me smile so hard, I think a bracket got loose. We had over 50 alumni come back to share with our students to help them prepare for college and life. During that time, we also had a student versus staff versus alumni game. I know you can already tell think of how competitive that day was. As fun as my as an experience that was, I believe one of the greatest experiences I have had was during the winter concert. The concert featured middle school and high school dance, band, choir, drama, and art art gallery. Just Just so you know, I can draw, but those art pieces were amazing. The ability to see my good friend Jalen came coming to our own and really
shine as empty really made me smile. Last month, the sixth and seventh grade attended the beat the streets homecoming. Learned by the struggles that kids face, sadly face today, like the harmful effects of vaping. It also gave them a much needed lesson. Be true to yourself no matter what. We at university were also given several copies of New York Times bestseller, We Beat the Streets, How Friendship Back Led to Success by Doctor Simpson Davis, Joel Jenkins, and Ramek Hunt with Sharon m Draper. If you would like to read the book, please see miss Bivens or miss Rankin
upstairs in the Sea Wing. Our a graders visited the historical Franchemont and has some interactive learning experiences and did some shopping too. The middle school house party was a huge success. The crew leaders did a phenomenal job with planning and planning on the first house party. Planning such a big event had to be a struggle. At least it would have been it for me. They were given a fun challenge of coming up with new dances and chants for the houses of the next party next house party. Speaking of some of speaking of, yeah, speaking of house party, speaking of last month's, I hope you still have some of that jelly.
I know I do. Who couldn't? After working tirelessly to make the hallway look amazing and the deck the host contest. While the seniors may not have won, sadly, I know. I'm crying too. In my belief, we won in spirit. We congratulate the juniors who were the winners of the deck the halls contest. The elementary student council also sponsored the Santa's workshop where students were able to purchase holiday gifts for their loved ones. Mister Grinch presented fond memories and photos of the scholars. We had two great weeks for spirit weeks with holiday wears and teams. Unfortunately, you guys didn't see me in my full holiday.
Yeah? I know. You're crying. While we may be talking about the I'm sorry. While we may be talking about the past, I think we should talk about the future, the future of AI, that is. All of you have probably heard about it more times than like it counts. I have. I know for the kids my age, it has been a great consideration before we decided what we wanted to do. My school will be instead of running away from things that scare us, we should find a way to make it benefit us. We are participating in the hour of AI event. In miss Green's elementary class, students have been learning how computers learn, make decisions, and
report to us through chatbots. They have been learning and understanding more of the limits than most peep people in the most people in this room know. In other words, you should ask them what beepoop means. I'll see how these are learning different instructions through the classroom proper eye contact, handshaking, exhibiting positive behavior, standing when speaking with the class and teacher. They're practically ready for an interview. Yet that is not all we are learning under you. Kids are truly grasping how to play ball and showing that understanding of the core. The fifth slash sixth grade team is undefeated with a record of three o, while the seventh slash eighth grade has an impressive record of two one.
Last Thursday, the fifth slash sixth grade beat the Thompson Tigers 31 to 29, and the seventh and eighth grade won 41 to 12. The middle school cheerleaders won first place at a Royal Oak High cheerleading competition. As you all know, we are currently right in the middle of exam season. If if you need help, you can join the tutoring club founded by Reagan s, miss Reagan. Tutor U is open for both for middle and high school students. However, if you believe your high school student is a good fit to be a tutor, you should call that same as that group me here. Reagan is also organizing high school volunteers to assist in elementary lunches.
Elementary school are are preparing for their I Ready media assessments beginning on 01/13/2026. Speaking of exams, we'll be having a half day for each exam each of the exam days after today for high school only. Sadly, you don't get to see me when you pick up your kids. I know it's terrible. You can take pictures of you can take a picture of the schedule if you want. It has gone out to the youth school for the past few weeks. I hope you all have a great time studying. I know I'm not. There are some people I know who wouldn't struggle with exams. While she may not be in high school yet, she has shown a great deal of knowledge.
The third place winner of the district might be Skyla. As you all know, there are things other than books. There's community. Knows that. In just seven grades, she's already proven to be an important part of the community, would have been pivotal in the planning and implementation of a successful house party. There's only one scene that can bring people together no matter where they come from, music. Before the winter, Mark was in the opening act of a national Canada parade welcoming Santa Claus. We as Chargers believe in charging right into the future, but as you know, charging into things is dangerous with our plan. Our current plan starts with, lucky for you, you can spend so much time with
your kids on board the MLK Day on January 19 and reckon day on the twentieth. Report cards are scheduled to come out on January 26, so make sure to actually check for that. The university science fair is on the twenty eighth. I scream. You scream. We all scream for double good popcorn. Make sure to look out for it in the parents' car. Thank you very much. Thank you for representing university k twelve academy. Trustees, do you have any questions or comments for Ginny? Good job. And as usual, you said you guys were in the middle of exams. So you are you can excuse yourselves if you want to leave, at this time.
Did you wanna announce this? Yeah. Mhmm. Okay. So, there were a few things mentioned about the band that I just want to, reinforce. So the band, just announced actually today, they are participating in the pregame show for the Pistons on February 5 at Little Caesar Caesar's Arena. This is, a fundraiser for them, so please do follow-up with how you can support them. They are they've been invited, to participate in the Mardi Gras in New Orleans, I
believe, two different three through two different parades, during that is midwinter break. Yep. And so, all fundraisers, sponsorships, and that type of support will go to support them in their travels and their endeavors. And as you know, they have been, really, blowing this this band season out, of the water. They are really doing a great job of exposing the scholars to different opportunities to help them, currently in their band experience as well as to expose them for their
collegiate experiences. So please do look for ways you can support them. Thank you. Paris, that black box on your desk is a gift for you from SFE. Don't leave it. And also, if I may, board president, the event on the fifth at Little Caesars Arena is also the HBCU night and the National Pan Hellenic Council night. We will have a Q R code. Once Mr Geary provides us with that Q R code, we will have it posted on social media as well. The band has committed to selling at least 100 tickets. So please help us toward our goal of, selling those 100 tickets.
Thank you. Thank you. At this time, we're gonna have the report of the superintendent. Yes. And thank you, treasurer Denson for leading in with our two employees of the month. You noticed we skipped having one in December because we wanted to do a December and a January together, and we would be remissed if we selected anyone other than miss Baldwin and miss Pritchett for our employees of the month. We're gonna watch two quick snippets of the ladies, and then we'll invite them up
to speak. Oh, you started with partner. They're all together. Okay. Hi. I'm Sherry Dougherty, director of fiscal services for Southfield Public Schools. On behalf of the whole finance team, we would like to nominate mister Tyner as partner of the month. He's partner. Mister Tyner is so kind and helpful, and we truly appreciate him greeting us at the door every single day. It brings a smile to our face when he opens the door and says a kind word. Mister Tyner is extremely helpful and will help out in any situation. He will help carry bags if your hands are full.
He moves furniture. He's always willing to lend a helping hand, and you can tell that he genuinely cares. On behalf of the team, we would like to say thank you to mister Tyner. You you think we should recommend Well, there's mister Tyner in real time. I apologize for having those, in the opposite order, but if you know earlier today, I was tracking down the two ladies because they were so busy in their schools, so we actually had to find them at their locations. So now please, the employees of the month. I'm James Jackson. I'm chief of staff for Southwood Public Schools, and I am honored to nominate principal
Tierra Baldwin as our employee of the month. Tierra is a phenomenal leader and we have just gone through one of the district's largest and and most complex moves to this date of moving, relocating students from the Boerne's home campus to two remote campuses. And principal Baldwin played a pivotal role in the success of that move. So with her hard work, her dedication, her leadership skills, it was an easy choice,
for me to nominate her as our employee of the month. Congratulations, Tiara, and and thank you. Congratulations. Yes. You are the employee of the month. Really? Yes. I do such an amazing job. You and Kimball on the transition from Bernie to the swing spaces. Thank you so much. That we did not acknowledge and appreciate. So the next individual is actually a partner of the month who is not present this evening, but I want you to hear because this individual is one of our EL employees, and we actually did hers in her native language.
Hi. My name is James Jackson. I'm chief of staff for Southwood Public Schools, and I am honored today to nominate Lulu as our partner of the month. Lulu has not been with the district very long, and not been, working at the Administration Building that long, but since she started, she has done a phenomenal job. We are, incredibly impressed with her work ethic, and the way that she really just, gets everything done. Every morning when I come in, the the building looks amazing, and it is a
testament to to her hard work throughout the day. We really appreciate her being here, and, again, I'm I'm honored to nominate her. I am honored to nominate assistant principal, Kimberly Pritchett as our Until he did the move management. Everyone he nominated was move management. Very hard with the leadership at Boerne. Assistant principal Pritchett has been a is an amazing leader and has been, a crucial piece of the planning for the move from Boerne to two remote locations.
And over the last several months, we have been working very hard to get these plans together. And because of of her leadership and her professionalism, we've been able to make this successful transition. And now that she is running one of the remote locations, her leadership, just continues. So we are extremely impressed, and and I just absolutely think that she is worthy of, of this nomination. So thank you, assistant principal Pritchard, for your hard work, and congratulations.
Hi. My name is James Jackson, the chief of staff for senior leadership, and I am honored to nominate principal Tierra Baldwin as our employee of the month. Tierra is a phenomenal leader, and we have just gone through one of the district's largest and and most complex moves to this day of moving, relocating students from Boerne's home campus to two remote campuses. And principal Baldwin played a pivotal role in the success of that move.
So with her hard work, her dedication, her leadership skills, it was an easy choice, for me to nominate her as our employee of the month. Congratulations, Tiara, and and thank you. Hi, miss Pritchard. Oh, my gosh. Oh. What is that for? It was your hand. Oh, my gosh. Oh. Well, thank you. For being an amazing administrator, employee of the month. I'm employee of the month or it's for opening the building. You're employee. For opening the building. Okay. That too.
I'm taking a great job. So, actually, you are for December, and we're gonna have, miss Baldwin for January because you both did such an amazing job navigating all of this. No. Thank you. You so much. And, also, I told her I wanted to surprise you. I told her about the concert, and she you were gonna be her plus one, but you don't have to have a plus one because I also have a set of tickets for you to go to the concert as well. Oh my god. I'm so sorry. Thank you so much, doctor.
Oh my god. So, yes, I thought they cropped that out of the video, but both of the ladies will have an group. K. Not sure why we have that echo. But I I also hope that it, is affirming to our you parents because there is a lot of transition that will be happening there as well with move management, and I want to assure you that the team is actively engaged in the planning
for your move as well. You will have opportunities to see all three campuses, where your children will be, for the next three years as we go through the move management process and the new build, of the University K 12 campus. I have heard that there have been a number of conversations that haven't been sanctioned relative to transportation and some other things. If it is not an official district document or the district spokesperson speaking to that, please know that that information will be forthcoming.
Okay? Thank you. Okay. Board president, as we move along the agenda, we do have a staffing update as we have committed to every month. If miss Foster could pull that up, we do have some good news to share with our community and with you trustees. Miss Foster, you can move forward. We still have a few vacancies at Adler, one ASD teacher. We have that being filled by an ISSN team member and one speech pathologist being filled by a partner. The point five gym position at McIntyre, of course, that is still being filled by the long term substitute for the request of the building leader and, with us phasing
out that campus. Stevenson, oh, no typo. There are no vacancies at Stevenson. Yay. That deserves a round of applause. At Boerne, which is now divided into two buildings, we do still have, one ASD teacher vacancy being filled by a substitute teacher, one EI vacancy being filled by an ISSN team member, one kindergarten teacher being filled by a substitute teacher. And I believe they have someone, lined up to take that position. So I know that they were interviewing for that, vacancy. And vice president Smith Thomas, before you ask about the alternate pathway programs, I just
received a text message before the meeting start asking me to speak on the stage at the midwinter conference with the Talent Together program for our increased participation in that. So wanted to acknowledge that. Wonderful. Thank you. And it looks like you're a mind reader too. I'm trying to get better. Okay. Next slide, please. You went the opposite direction. Okay. Stevenson is Thompson, two ASD, teacher vacancies, one science teacher. That position is still posted. I continue to ask all of of our viewing audience if you know anyone that
is certified or retired that held holds a Spanish or a science certificate and wishes to come back. Please extend the opportunity for them to join Southwood Public Schools. One Spanish teacher, as you know, trustees, we are using the MEG Languages partner platform to, fill that gap for our scholars. Next slide, please. Levy, no typo. No vacancies. Congratulations, Levy. Southfield High School for the Arts and Technology, one ASD teacher vacancy. And for those in the audience, and I know Paris asked last time, ASD is,
autism spectrum disorder. Next slide. University k twelve. No typo. No vacancies. Yay. Oh, I see my babies in the audience clapping. Yay. At KLC, which is Kennedy Learning Center, we have one SXI teacher, vacancy. That candidate has been identified. It's currently being filled by substitute teacher, and we have one social worker vacancy, and that is being filled by one of our partners. BUSI, two speech pathologists, both being filled by our partner organization, two ECSE teachers, again, being filled by a retiree, and one EIV, early intervention teacher, is in need there
at Bussey. District wide positions, we have filled three positions here. I believe we have miss Asia Mercer here in the audience this evening. She's our new communications coordinator. Asia, please stand and be recognized. And yesterday was her first day on the job. So congratulations to Asia. We do have someone identified for director of career focused education. She will be starting with us on the twenty sixth, and you had an opportunity to meet mister Devon Stevens at the last meeting, and I believe he's here in the audience as well. So mister Stevens, you came back.
Welcome. Alright. We also have a candidate identified for the intense student support network, Medicaid billing supervisor, and that rounds out all of our district wide positions. So this is probably the best report that we have had in a very long time, due to all of the hard work of our team. So thank you to all of you for interviewing and recruiting and building the team at Southfield Public Schools. Any questions? No? Alright. Alright. Thank you. Next, we have our, director of Bussey Early Childhood Center, doctor Ursula Kelly Walsh.
Well, good evening, everyone. My name is Ursula Kelly Wash, and I'm happy to present the report the January report for BUSSE Center for Early Childhood Education. So, many of you or some of you might know that BUSI, our motto is college begins at BUSI. And so we're happy to and sometimes I will, refer to the teachers there as preschool professors. It's really important to know as we begin the new year that early childhood education is the foundation for all Things wonderful and great.
And so the benefits of early childhood education is just always good to reiterate that it, supports families, it supports language development, social emotional development, enhanced skills. And as we are preparing for our kindergarten signing day, it's just a great reminder about the power of early childhood education. Okay. So the director's report, we're going to talk about enrollment, our average daily attendance, how we monitor children so that they are successful in elementary school and beyond.
We're gonna talk about our education report, health and safety, and family engagement. So, our enrollment report is not quite accurate, which is great because we had some new students enrolled this week. So, actually, and with our, baby rooms, our in the toddler room, baby dyno and, our tadpole room, it's always a revolving door because the students age out based on their birthdays. So we actually had one in, yesterday was her first day. So, really, for EHS, it's 14.
For Head Start, we have 58 students. And for GSRP, we have 72. So, we're constantly doing orientations, and so our numbers are rising, which is great. For our average daily attendance, despite, our triple threat and the numbers being high. We do always focus on health and safety at BUSI. But as you can see, our average daily attendance is, still pretty high. Early head start, 84%, head start, 83%, and our, our blend classroom, which is head
start GSRP, 83% and GSRP, 84%. But we always focus on, like I said, you know, washing. As soon as kids enter the classrooms, they have to wash their hands and just really focused on, health and safety and well-being. And, also, we focus on nutrition. So our CACFP report, it's a little low, for December because we were out, for, a few days. But for, breakfast and, I'm sorry. For breakfast, our students, we were able to feed over a thousand students.
For adults, 275. For our AM snack, students, 198. For adults, 58. Lunch, we had, for students, 1,038. For adults, 278. And for our PM snack, for students, 903. For adults, 272. And we just really we not only during our, c a CHCFP time, we always focus on engaging students in conversations too because eating is about community.
It's about celebrating, with language, and so it's just more than just eating. For a monitoring report, we are focused on identifying what students need on a within a timely, fashion. So this number is also not accurate. Today, we were able to submit another child find report based on a teacher's, observations. And, actually, another one will be submitted today too I mean, tomorrow. So, we always, encourage, teachers to observe, to provide strategies.
And if the strategies are not working, then, of course, we do a child find report, and we submit that to our child find coordinator where we always work together as a team to provide the interventions that students need to be successful. And last month, we had a FA one review where we had a team of, guests from out of town come in and, do a head start focus area review, and that consisted of, a data review, a human resources review, ERCA team data review,
a program management. And, of course, thank you to the board members because I know that they spoke with you even on the day off. We still met virtually. And to the policy council members, thank you to our team as well because the lead reviewer was very thankful for the conversations that she had with you. And, based on some of the feedback that we received, although the report is forthcoming, we do know that there, that we at Busy, we are we are in need to do something so that we can really be successful with our FA two review,
which is the big review. And so as a result, missus Rogers and doctor Freeman and I, we will be having biweekly meetings so that we can make sure that some of the things that they touched upon, they weren't really supposed to tell us much, but we can get a head start on what we need to do to be successful. And, also, I know mister Stevens, we talked today too. We're going to have a HR meeting so that we can make sure that, our staffing, the needs and the requirements are accurate and based on what the head start
standards are. Our child observation record, which is core, which is how we, assess and review at BUSI, we're in period two, which ends on March 1. And so teachers are always taking in adult notes, taking pictures, making sure that the observations, align with our KDIs, which are our key developmental indicators to make sure that our kids are or our scholars at Busy are progressing well. And then, also, we're now focused on our home learning packet. So at at at any time, we have to maybe, do some learning or that's
virtual or, students are maybe out due to illness, we can refer to a packet so that they can, always have continuous learning at. And so as many of you know, we do our educators empowering educators each week. And, the last meeting that we had, the teacher presentation was based on the milestones for literacy development. So it was great to just get a overview of what we're doing in the baby room up in, for early head start to GSRP.
And, also, we have a weekly teacher staff newsletter, which I send out every Sunday, and it gives, just updates and, tips for what we can use in the classroom. And so our family engagement will take place, this Thursday. We're having our kindergarten signing day as we welcome the class of twenty thirty nine to kindergarten. It will be at Bussey from 5PM to 7PM. We're excited about that. And, just as many of our scholars our parents can see all of the wonderful
kindergarten learning opportunities that Southfield has to offer. So and we've been getting a lot of, RSVPs from external people as well. So we're excited about that. And, well, we'll also have registration there, transportation, and, each representatives from all of our elementary schools in Southfield as well. Okay. And once again, congratulations to all of our wonderful board members who have transitioned into some new positions and titles.
Looking forward to working with everyone, and congratulations. Any questions? Trustees, do we have any questions? Yes, ma'am. Good evening, Doctor. Walsh. I wanted to ask a question about the, federal government. They have changed their pie chart, the health and human services. So now are we gonna be using his pie chart, or are we gonna stick with the pie chart we have? It's really interesting that you asked that because that was one of my questions too. I know doctor Freeman, we were talking about that. We want to basically continue to do what we're doing based on science and based
on what we know is correct for children. That can be one of the questions that we will pose to our, the program management for Head Start. But until we receive something that is, confirmed, we're going to stick with, our immunization chart, what students need to be enrolled in Head Start. Mhmm. Thank you. Thank you. So first of all, I just wanna say I love that you, refer to the teachers as the educators as preschool professors. When I started my career, I started my career in early childhood as I've shared
with you and I have one of my first professors said to us, people will treat you like glorified babysitters, but it's up to you to show them differently. And I always held that, and I always held myself to that standard. And so it sounds to me that you are creating a culture there where the educators there can truly see themselves, as educators of our youngest population. So I just wanna applaud you for that. Well, thank you. So thank you. Also, I do want to ask through the chair, superintendent, if we can make sure
that the in kind is also represented on the updated reports. And then, as the team moves forward with the upcoming review that we get any and all policies that will support the work happening at BUSI, that we can get those, you know, as they come up for any revisions or anything that we can do to support you to make sure that the policies are not a hindrance to the work that needs to continue. Come on. Thank you.
We'll take care of it. Thank you. Thank you. Any other questions? I just wanted to say thank you for your hard work and seeing class of 2039 made me blink my eyes a couple times. Yes. But it looks like we're planning for the future. So thank you for your hard work. And seeing these numbers rise, is very exciting to see. So thank you. Okay. Well, thank you. It's my pleasure. Day, Jason. Okay. Thanks. Alright. We are going to move into public participation. If you wish to address the board regarding a school related issue that has not yet been resolved by school administration, please submit a comment card immediately.
Comments are limited to three minutes per individual. As a matter of fairness, speakers with complaints against individuals are asked not to mention any persons by name. Complaints concerning employees pursuant to board policy 9130 should be brought to the attention of the school principals or other administrators before coming to the board of education. Your cooperation is appreciated. We have one this evening, miss Marie Banks. Good evening, everyone. Happy New Year. As usual, I'm here to bring tidings great tidings about university.
And I know we're getting our new communication person, but the community needs to know and reiterate that the caps AP Capstone results came out. And not only were replatinum last year, but we were platinum not in the same fashion as last year, but we even improved upon our platinum status for this year. So I would I just got off our middle school call today right before I came here, and there were parents saying, you know, you all are always saying that
our numbers are better than Cass or Renaissance and West Bloom, but show us where because they still don't know. So to our communication people, to our board of education, just like we hear the same commercial every 30 minutes, we gotta run this greatness all the time because people don't get it. They think we're talking out the side of our mouth. So I had to put The US News award reports on there where we still are ranked higher than a lot of our capacity than our competitors. And these parents are making decisions.
So I applaud, the teachers and the staff. I have a PTSA meeting, a general board meeting, with our president, next week, but I also have a high school call. And one of our focuses are going to be on how can we affect the culture for this move? I don't wanna talk logistics. I don't wanna talk academics. I wanna talk about parent culture and how we can shift it to a positive note about this move, and it has to start now.
The starting point is our academic success. That's the starting point, and we need to keep hearing it and keep hearing it. We need to keep hearing the programs at Southfield A and T. We need to keep hearing the programs at university. We gotta keep sometimes it might sound like we're bragging or it's a broken record. I stand up here every month, and I talk about it. My daughter just completed her first semester at Case Western. She's playing basketball, actually getting in the game now. She was on the dean's list, but she came back to alumni day at university
and got great advice about how she could proceed with her premed studies just from other medical students already graduated from university. The last thing is I want y'all to please do consider hurry up and finishing O House before three years, and maybe we can move there a year and a half. That's another thing. And the thing that was on our call, parents still are very concerned about transportation. That did come up, and it was brought up by our administration that they don't
have control of that. That we it's a wait and see, but I they do want to know. They're really concerned, especially with families with multiple sites, with children at multiple sites. Thank you. Thank you, miss Inc. As this time, we're gonna move to our consent agenda for action items. Is there a motion? The motion have been moved in support. Any questions? Any discussion? Hearing none, board secretary, will you please call for the vote? Trustee Anderson? Yes. Trustee Belk? Motion approved. Motion carries. At this time, we have report sixty four forty, personnel action report.
Is there a motion to open and approve? To move. Support. Motion has been moved in support. Are there any discussion? Is there any discussion? Trustees, you have received this in your package. If there is no discussions, board secretary, will you please call for the vote? Trustees McTominus? Yes. Trustee Johnson? Yes. Trustee Johnson? Yes. Trustee Johnson? Yes. Trustee Johnson? Yes. Trustee Johnson? Yes. Trustee Johnson? Yes. Trustee Johnson? Yes. Trustee Johnson? Yes. Yes. We do, poor president. The first is report 6441, the University Auditorium elevator renovation. This is a retrofit for one of the elevators at on the, university campus.
As discussed in our board meetings, our, owners, architects, and construction meetings. We did have two companies investigate this matter. The only two elevator companies in our local area, that being, Kone and Otis. KONE has the parts in their inventory, and they were able to provide us with a quote to get the work done in a timely manner, which aligns with the bond work happening in our district. The key to note here is while we're building, the majority of that, campus being
a new building to have to build a new elevator shaft would be four to five times the amount of what it would be to retrofit the current elevator shaft that we have there on the campus. So this proposal is to move forward. It's less than $200,000 to retrofit this elevator, and it would be funded out of bond dollars. Board president, it is for information, but given the time sensitivity and lead time on some of these items, if it is the pleasure of the board, we would ask that these bond items be considered for action if it is the pleasure of the
board. Is there a motion to open and approve report sixty four forty one? Well, president, before moving forward, if we can understand which of the items I do see a few of the items listed as, bond funds. So if you're asking that several of the items. If it's the pleasure of the board, yes. We we do have, two others. So if you would like me to bundle those or to present all and then we come back and do the bond items and general fund. Yes, sir. You can present all. Okay. So that it are there any questions, trustees, relative to the retrofitting of the elevator?
None. Hearing none? Okay. The next item is a general fund item, that had to do with our move management and having additional buildings, in which we needed to provide timely hot lunches for our scholars. So we are asking to move forward with a leased vehicle, and that will come out of general fund dollars. If there are any questions, we do have our chief operating officer here with board. Trustees, I believe you have all those inform all of that information in your packet, and have asked, questions relative to that.
I'm pleased to share that the food has been delivered to both Vandenberg and South Regional in a timely manner, and the scholars are, happy with their lunch thus far. It's only a week and two days in, so we will continue to monitor that. Next is report sixty four forty three. That is our storm water board resolution that is required, by code to ensure that we are not polluting any of our natural water sources. We are adjacent to that of the Rouge River, and we are committed to ensuring that we follow proper protocol.
So this would be a board resolution confirming that the board is aware of this, requirement and that we are all moving forward in that direction. Report sixty four forty four, this one is bond funded. As mentioned, we do have several moves occurring in our district this summer, the 2026 already. Palmer has been our move company of record. They have handled everything that we've done to date. We've been able to negotiate with them to keep our rates down by approximately $434,000.
I'm looking for TJ in the back. Yep. That is confirmed. So we have kept our price down, but we recognize that we have really maxed out Palmer. So this will also bring on a secondary move company specifically to assist us with the university campus so that we have the appropriate number of semi trucks, the appropriate number of movers to move both Levy and Boerne back to their home locations. We We also have Thompson moving out for the summer, moving back in at the
end of the summer, and University moving to three respective locations. We have a lot of move management happening, this summer more than any other summer throughout this entire bond project. So that being stated, we are asking that we approve, one additional move company that is sixty four forty five and then, of course, continuing with Palmer for the moves for Levy and Boerne and Thompson. Premier would exclusively handle that of university. Last but definitely not least, that is droplet, but that is completely different.
That is our, internal system whereby we record people's request to go on field trips, to participate in professional development opportunities, to attend conferences, and it allows us to see the workflow of all of those individuals requesting those items, and it affords us an opportunity to provide the state and federal government with any supporting documentation as they request for audit. When does that expire? That ends in, I believe, June 30. Is that correct, ladies? Okay. So we have something there.
Yep. Okay. So we wanna get ahead so we have no interruption in service. Doctor Green, is it the wish of the superintendent's office to make all of these items? If it is the pleasure of the board. Is there a motion to open and approve report sixty four forty one through sixty four forty six? Support. The motion has been moved and supported. Any discussion? Hearing none, board secretary, will you please call for the vote? Trustee Johnson? Yes. Trustee Howell? Yes. Trustee Bell? Yes. Trustee Define?
Yes. Myself? Yes. Trustee Denson? Yes. Trustee Anderson? Yes. He doesn't. Motion carries. Thank you, trustees. At this time, we're going to move into our financial report and monthly bill disbursement by our treasurer, Nicole Denson. Thank you, board president. I am currently working with our former treasurer and board president, our superintendent, and the financial department, to ensure a smooth transition. So I appreciate your help and your assistance. I have reviewed the bill disbursements and monthly statements, and there are currently no risk.
The board will not put the district at risk by opting in to 31 a a, which we've discussed at prior meetings. This would eliminate eliminate attorney client privilege and create state oversight for certain educational activities. However, please note that funding for social, emotional supports is secure in Southfield Public Schools through 06/30/2026. And that is what I have for the financial report. Thank you. Trustees, do we have any questions for our treasurer?
Alright. Hearing none, we're gonna move down our agenda for the good of the order. Do we have anything, trustees? I have one thing. At one point, you brought up the, dress code. I would like to revisit that again at some point. Like early, not later, but I would like to, do that again. Revisit it. This is a great time to talk about uniforms. Is that what you're saying?
Yes. Get uniforms. Okay. We can revisit that. Doctor Green, can you please work on We'll put it on the agenda. Put it on the agenda. Mhmm. Anyone else? I just wanna take this time to thank our board. I think we have an amazing, board, full of collaborative, consensus, based off of our board retreat. I am looking forward to, working with each of you and serving our community. We have a I want our community to understand. We have a ton of servant leaders that's looking forward to serving this district.
We realize that we're in a battle, education, but what I love about this board is that all of our armor fits different. And I love that because you have to have your own armor to fight in the battle. So I just wanted to publicly say thank you. Thank you for your collaboration. Thank you for your consensus, and I look forward to continue to serve our community together. So thank you. Thank you. Any other discussions? Y'all gonna love me for getting us out of here. Right? Future meetings. Future meetings, Monday, January 19. It's Martin Luther King Day. There is no school parents.
There is no school parents, but there is a ton of things to do in the community. So, that's where I know our, chief operating officer is this evening. Chief of staff. Chief of staff, James Jackson is there today with the MLK to celebrate our youth and to hand out certificates. So there's a ton of things to do. Also, oh, the peace walk at Hope United Methodist Church at 09:30AM. Tuesday, January 20 is records day, no school. No students. No students. I was about to say we don't have school two days in a row. No. That's Yeah. Yeah. We do.
Yeah. No students. January 19 or twentieth. Staff, please report. Tuesday, January 27, special board meeting and study session will be here at 06:00PM. Wednesday, January 28 will be our capital facilities bond bond legislative briefing at Adler Elementary. That will begin at 05:30. And Tuesday, February 10 is our regular board meeting back here at 07:00PM. We have our hearing too. Still hearing. We do. We are rested. And that is an email agent. Yeah. That was. And we're adjourned at 08:20.