Good evening, everyone, and welcome back to school year 2526. Yay. 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, Ashanti Bland, board president. Good evening. Yvette Wardevall, vice president. Good evening.
Leslie Lovesmith Thomas, board secretary. Good evening. Felicia Belt, board treasurer. Good evening. Imani Johnson, trustee. Jillian Holloway, trustee. Good evening. Nicole Denson, trustee. Good evening, Shidi Naji, student representative. Hello. Paris Whitman, Southwood A and T student representative. May we all stand for the pledge of allegiance. 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. You yeah. Okay.
Doctor Green, would you like to, tell everyone who you are? Thank you. Jennifer Green, superintendent. Taking minutes this evening is miss Carolyn Foster, and our technical support is being provided by m one studios. Thank you, doctor Green. No problem. Board matters. I just like to say welcome to our two new senior student board representatives. We are so happy to have you both. We look forward to hearing your presentations, and welcome to the board table. And that is all I have. I'm gonna yield to the rest of the board.
Through the chair? Yes, ma'am. The first thing I just wanna, discuss, and I'm a make it real quick, is I attend a GRC, meeting, which is government relations through MASB, Michigan Association Board of, Education or something along those lines. A couple points. The OSCBA government relations committee met on Wednesday, September 3. Our guest speaker and representative were two or three individuals from, Invest in My Kids, and they are looking for a ballot initiative. They shared their concerns with stability in school funding, went through some budgetary, issues and
concerns. And I'm not gonna go too far into the tax pieces. I will yield the floor at a later time to our treasurer. The group is at its early stages acquiring necessary, signatures as well as trying to get it on the November 2026 ballot. They need to submit 700. They are currently at about 200,000. Also heard from our, government senate representative, Lisa. There are many ongoing concerns at the state level, as it relates to budget and the strains that are facing all of our districts in the state.
She shared the latest advocacy toolkits, by one of our, legal counsels, Dave Randels, on MASB. And there's also some resolutions that we can take a look at as a board at a later time. And I believe, Doctor. Green is also abreast of some of the, resolutions that we'll be able to take a look at. So, with that said, she did also discuss several bills that were passed, by legislation. And, the committee discussed, the importance of advocating with our reps as well as asking
our superintendent to reach out to all stakeholders and inform them of these circumstances that are encouraged and they are encouraged to advocate as well. The last piece of, information that I want to deliver is our twenty twenty five delegate assembly. We have, as I mentioned, MASB, we go to different locations and we, get together as different districts within Michigan. Again, it's Michigan Association of School Boards. So this year, we have been invited to, represent Southfield.
There are three delegates that are needed. Unfortunately, during our last meeting in earlier this year, I believe, or earlier, in September. In August. In August. Thank you. I did respond that I wanted to represent. However, there are three delegates that are needed, and we will need to cast a vote. From what I understand, our trustee Holloway will be working with us as a, a delegate, as well as trustee Denson will be working with us and representing the delegate, 2025 District. With that said, president, we need to and and I'm not sure if anyone would
like to be an alternate. There is an option, for an alternate as well. But with that said It's an action item. Okay. I will leave that for the vote of action. I will leave that for action items at a later time. Okay. Thank you. I just had a couple, that I wanted to lift. One would be our communication. I'm sure we'll hear something about it today regarding, count day, which is very important to our district. So I'm sure we'll hear some of that today, but I just wanted to lift that as well as the communication, with some of our building leaderships with any moves
that may be taking place that that has been communicated. And our favorite subject to talk about, is our website development. I wanted to keep that lifted so that we can be brought abreast of what's happening with our website. And the last thing is a follow-up with, Plant Moran, the follow-up that they were gonna have with us regarding our processes and all of those things. There's yes. I just wanted to, lift those things and hear what you guys have. And that's it. Understood. Through the chair? Yes, sir. I wanted to share a report from the sustainability committee meeting we had most recently.
We discussed several key initiatives and things that are in the works. From first is recycling pilot launch. The Kennedy Learning Center was selected as the first official pilot site for a district wide recycling program. Doctor George, the site leader enthusiastically stepped up, to lead implementation, and we're pursuing grants to support, that school as well as all of the other schools as well. Eco rewards program, we're exploring an innovative vendor called eco rewards, which is currently active at Thompson and Eisenhower. The company provides on-site recycling pickup and shares a portion of the proceeds with the
participating schools. And if successful, this program could help off help offset program costs for our recycling program district wide. In terms of energy efficiency rebates, we received a $14,000 rebate from DTE, for recent LED lighting upgrades at Vandenberg and, at the district office. These upgrades, along with new energy efficient, infrastructure at Adler, have contributed to a 35% reduction in utility costs at that site. And I've seen other emails about more rebates we've received and haven't had time to
include them in this report. We're on track to receive 10 new electric school buses by November with 10 more expected by next summer. Charging infrastructure is being installed in the bus yard and, the program is supported by both grant funding and a cost share agreement with First Student. And then we discussed our sustainable design policy. The committee completed a final review of our proposed sustainable design standards for new construction and major renovations as we continue through our bond construction. And it outlines energy efficiency, water conservation, recycling infrastructure, green building goals, and the policy
will be brought forward at our next study session. We're excited to see this momentum building and excited to bring you more updates later on. Does anyone else have anything for board matters? Hearing none, I would just like to, bring attention to the fact that in, 2021, trustee Johnson, myself, and trustee word of all went to our first conference, and it was there that, trustee Johnson said, I wanna see about electric school buses. So when people talk about the board doing the work, he's actually followed this path for the last four years and is seeing it come to fruition.
So I just wanted to highlight that because you've stayed diligent with it, and I I think it's really good work. So kudos to you and this committee, and thank you to Joe Kouras for sitting in and helping out where needed. So thank you so much for that. Thank you. For sure. So next, with no other board matters, we have our first report of our student board representative, and I will allow ladies to go first. So Paris Whitman representing Southfield High School For The Arts And Technology. Good evening. Good evening. My name is Paris, and I'm so excited to be here.
In honor of Hispanic Heritage Month, I'd like to begin by recognizing the importance of celebrating the the diverse cultures and communities that strengthen our warrior family. For September, here are the past and current highlights for Southwood High School for the art and technology. I'll first begin with a report on the sports at Southwood A and T. During the summer, autumn sports tryouts brought excitement and energy as students filled the fields, courts, and sidelines to earn their spots. We are proud of the dedication each athlete showed to represent our warrior pride. Here's how the season's going so far. With the season underway for the football warriors, it's noticeable of the strong energy from
both the team and the sidelines. Special recognition to our cheerleaders who are supporting the football team this year. We also want to thank our football coaches, team managers, and team moms for continuing to support them this season. The boys tennis team is working hard to improve with each practice and competition done. The players are continuing to sharpen their skills and satisfaction for a strong season. Our girl golfers played their second match on September 4 and continue to improve with with every practice. Their con their commitment to precision and focus shines through every practice and match played. The boys' soccer team has been playing with passion and power.
They are hardworking and they're hardworking, and they plan to dominate their upcoming matches. The girl volleyball team has been putting in the hours and using teamwork on the court. While they haven't had their first game yet, excitement is growing throughout the school for their debut this season. Our cross country runners have been giving it their all during their races. They continue to represent Warrior Pride one mile at a time and show their endurance, grit, and determination for the game. The girls' swimming and diving team has made a splash this season. Using teamwork and lots of commitment, they've showcased their talent in the pool and steady improvement with each dive.
The marching warriors are showing why they're one of the pride points at Southwood A and T. They've delivered outstanding performances at football games, and their field show was a huge hit. On top of that, they wowed the crowd while performing in the Detroit Labor Day Parade and represented our school in front of thousands of people. Now I'll begin with the leadership and activities highlights. Firstly, our September 4 senior sunrise was a memorable event. Music was played, pictures were taken, and memories were made. It brought together about one third of the senior class. GEAR UP, a college readiness organization, which has been helping our seniors prepare for college
success since they were middle schoolers, joined in support. And seniors enjoyed a beautiful yet cloudy sunrise, which marked the beginning of the start of their final year of high school. The first of many blood drives for the school year was hosted on September 5 and was this and was a success. Many students stepped up to make a difference in the community and help save a life. Senior packages, which is also referred to as senior dues, have been released. There are three tiers for these packages. The first package is the basic package, which includes the cap and gown and the diploma cover for $80 The second pack the second package is the full package which
includes the same items as the first and all of the senior merchandise like the senior shirt, yard sign, and senior blanket, and much more for $180 The final package is the early bird package which includes the same items as the last two packages, but also includes one prom ticket and a VIP parking pass if purchased early enough, and goes for $280 Package two and three can be purchased until October 31 with the first package still being purchasable after that date. All packages can be purchased on Go Fan. Let me now tell you about the academic highlights.
Grade level meetings took place on September 3. Freshmen met first hour, sophomores was during second, juniors was during third, and seniors during fifth. Each group was updated on important dates to guide them through the semester. On the same day, parent meeting the parent meeting for senior parents occurred at 5PM, during which the PTSA and ANT staff updated parents on the things they need to look forward to this year. The MAP testing window is open from September 2 to the nineteenth. So far, students are showing focus and resilience to track their growth in reading and math. On the same note, PSAT testing will take place in October.
Picture day took place September 8. Students came dressed to impress for their yearbook and ID photos. The Southwell Public Schools open house will welcome families and give them a chance to connect with teachers, explore classrooms and extracurricular activities, and feel the warrior pride we all know and love firsthand. The date for that is 09/16/2025. I've had the chance to reflect on the lasting impact I want to leave behind while witnessing all the promising opportunities at Southwood A and T. My goal is to encourage a sense of school spirit that uplifts students and strengthens our community. I hope that the culture we create this year will continue to inspire future classes
even after I graduate. Two groups I especially aim to impact are, one, our underclassmen. I want to ensure they feel welcomed, involved, and proud of our school. And, two, our seniors. I want to make their final year memorable and meaningful. By focusing on these groups and uniting all students through school spirit, I believe we can build stronger bonds, increase participation, and create memories that will last a lifetime. In support of my mission, I also work to strengthen school spirit by promoting more social events, traditions, and activities that bring us closer together as one Warrior family.
I'm determined to make our school a place where every student feels included, connected, and proud to be a Warrior. In addition, I'm committed to creating open and supportive relationships with my peers to make everyone feel comfortable sharing their thoughts and concerns with me. This will allow me to truly listen, understand, and take action on what matters most to our school community. I will dedicate myself to supporting every student to the best of my ability. Thank you for listening, and welcome back to a school year filled with energy and success. Thank you. Trustees, does anyone have any questions or comments for Paris?
Good job. Please. The BMX Oh, the BMX Oh, the Crowl no violence tour that happened today at Southwood a and t. Did you care to speak to that? Yes. I would love to. We had a we had a school assembly today during fifth period. It was really fun and entertaining. The BMX, which is a military, like, initiative, to promote no hate at our school, came and entertained us, which was really fun. There were a lot of bikers, and they were very talented.
They showed us what three thousand thirty thousand hours of hard work can look like. And they were, like, moving around, and they even jumped over and flipped over principal Reese. It was really fun to see. I just wanted to, add to that that it really showed physics in real world application. The BMX bikers, were the professional team that toured the country to demonstrate their skills, but to also show, what physics and science can do in the real world, and it was sponsored by the marine corps.
So thank you to those organizations for coming out today. And to the gentleman from, we have Sheedy. Pronounce your last name for me. Inaje. Inaje. Thank you. From university k twelve academy. Take it away. Well, I think we should give it a one more time for my sister's school from universe from from SACCO one team. As as it was said, my name is Chidi and Adji, and then good evening to all of you. I'm I am happy to have the opportunity to be your board representative for university
creative academy this school year. I want to share with you highlights of university or as we call it, the u. Starting with a key belief in our school, believe that we are nurturing tomorrow's leaders today. So what does it mean to be a leader at the u? It means charging headfirst into things like we did on August on August 13, a day in which we held jump start, an event in which students have the ability to get the necessary things to start their school year off successfully. Students were able to participate in fun activities like choosing their house, decorating lockers.
They also got school supplies, picked up schedules, and learned what would best fit their future careers. Jumpstart day was a success as the university k twelve staff start solved our elementary parents and students. There were over 500 parents present who engaged in our exciting event. Seniors understand charger mentality. They never failed to put their prints on the world. They are doing it even now at their school at our school. At the start of the school year, our scholars was greeted by parents, sorority, and fraternity members, clapping them into the new school year.
On August 29, the class of '26 2026 saw the beautiful sunrise together, a true start for the school year for any senior. As mentioned previously, we at the U have a house system in place. This is a system that was studied at Ronkart Academy in Atlanta that will be used to shape students' character and school culture. Each house represents core values like kindness kindness, courage, success, uplifting, wisdom dreaming, and unity, all of which portray the the true portrait of a youth student. Last Friday, we held our house party where students learn more about each house and
each house chants. I would now like to spotlight some students at you who have shown true charges spirit. Caitlin, an eighth grader, scored our first hole in one. She's a member of the girls' golf team. Kaelin, a senior, owns a lawn mowing business where he makes a staggering $840 a month. So if you never need your hands one, you need you know who to call. Johnny, a third grader, is already purse is already pursuing a modeling career where she balance where she just where she knows and she where where she has gotten actual
professional gigs and is have got and has gotten into actual musical videos. She is doing this while in elementary school and still pursuing school. Chargers believe the best way to lead is to plan for success. We have five upcoming plans, professional development for teachers on September 17 where there will be no school for students, Meet the teacher night on September 18 where you get to understand who you're who's actually empowering your future scholar.
Charge's teeth will shine bright on September 26 with picture day. The FAFSA opens on October 1, so make sure those old old horses fill them out. Cap and gown photos will be on November 6. This conclude this concludes my report for University Career twelve Academy. Can I get a big you, you, you? You, you, you. Thank you. Does anyone have anything for Chidi this evening? Go Chargers. I think you did a great job. Thank you so much. As is our tradition, we know the school year has started, and so you have the opportunity to leave and do your homework or get whatever studying you need to
do now, or you're welcome to stay for the rest of the board meeting. It's always your choice, but we do encourage you if you have have work to do that you can go. And thank you. Great job. Oh, are your families here? Are either one of your moms or families here this evening? Okay. Just wanted to make sure we recognize them if they were. Great job, guys. Next, we will have, the report of the super superintendent. I do wanna call attention to something that, both students mentioned about athletics. And as we kick off our athletic year, we just wanna remind our students and
our parents that even when we're at away games, you're still representing Softville Public Schools. So we like to ensure that all of our students are still on scholarly behavior no matter where we go. Healthy competition is great. We love a good rivalry, but we always wanna make sure that we're we're showing excellence wherever we go. So parents, please remind your children as they get in the car or they Uber to another district that we're still representing Southfield Public Schools. So thank you for that. Doctor Green?
Thank you, board president and trustees. Before I I would request that I go just a little bit out of order because we have one of our scholars here from the class of 2025 who recently, was awarded first place for the City of Southfield Wildlife Commission logo contest. So if miss Pilar, pronounce your last name for me. Pilar. Casten. Casten could please stand and be recognized. Congratulations. Good job. And if I could ask doctor Freeman to come up as doctor Freeman is one of the commissioners from the wildlife commission to present her with her certificate as well
as her gift from and her winning logo. Oh, that's funny. Oh, that's nice. Congratulations. Yeah. Let me put it up. Oh, that's beautiful. Oh, good job. Arts and technology. Amen. For sure. Okay. Just recognizing that she too may have some other plans for this evening, so moved her up on the agenda. Again, very proud of the work. Please continue pursuing your dreams and representing the city and the school district with great pride. Thank you. Next, continuing with the pride of Southfield, I'd like to acknowledge the partner of the
month. Now this young lady has been absolutely amazing. Everyone knows this young lady, and it goes without saying that miss Sandy Robinson Miss Sandy. Does it all. She is the pride of Stevenson and and it's so important to note that we were opening a new building. So we had the construction, we had to clean the regular cleaning, we had everything to get in place, and miss Sandy was determined that her building would be immaculate on the first day for the scholars. So, miss Sandy, if you would come up to the podium as they play your
video, we're so proud of you. Miss Sandy. Miss Ann, you know, who are you, ma'am? Put it. Put it. Put it. I'm tired with the young lady. Okay. It's a lot Before you go outside, miss Nancy, I have to tell you something. What happened? Nothing happened bad. Something happened good. Really? Stevenson has you as their lead custodian, and I came to congratulate you as the Congratulations. Alright. We are so grateful for you and your services. We know you love these babies here at our building, and you take such good care of it, miss Sandy.
Oh, thank you. She will. Thank you. I hope that was you. She's the partner of the month. Oh my goodness. And and well deserved. Good. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Hi. I'm Joe Chorus, chief operating officer of Southfield Public Schools. I nominated Sandy Robinson, this month, because on the Sunday before school opened as I was doing my rounds to check the to make sure the buildings were ready for students the following day, Sandy was working eagerly at their her Stevenson campus location to
make sure the kids had a clean building to walk into on Monday morning. Sandy has been tied to that campus and is a beloved grandmother, on that particular campus. She's been with the district well over ten years and has done a great job for us, day in and day out. And I'm glad that she's with us and a part of Southfield Public Schools. Is there no one Mike, can you check and see? Oh, Mike Heskope flipped the switch. And I appreciated the honor. What can I say? I'm Stevenson. It says she is Stevenson.
Alright, miss Sandy. The board would like to take some photos with you if you don't mind. You have a gift and a certificate of all kinds of good And I'd also
like to recognize miss Sandy's family who's in the audience this afternoon. So if you could stand, the next person who is also representing Stevenson is our employee of the month. It goes without saying. When you think of Stevenson, the face that you see second to that of principal Hickman is that of their community coordinator, miss Melanie Land. Come on down, miss Land.
Hey, miss Lynn. Surprise. Melanie Lynn, you are the employee of the month. No. The official nomination was made by principal Hickman, but let me tell you, I've expressed my Yeah. Since your appreciation for you each and every day this summer. You've had accolades from Plant Moran Realpoint, Kevin, Laura, TJ, Tivo, CK from Barton. Everyone speaks so highly of you. No. Thank you for all that you do.
We know that this is your baby, and everyone here takes such good care of the children. You take good care of the staff. You're a team player. And no matter what time I am Lanisa Freeman. I'm the deputy superintendent here in Southfield Public Schools, and on behalf of Mrs. Tanya Higman, principal of Stevenson Elementary, it is my pleasure to congratulate Mrs.
Melanie Land on receiving this honor. Mrs. Land, you are the epitome of excellence. You have just held on and just held out by providing unwavering support to our scholars, our staff, and our entire community. So I am so grateful and so honored to be a part of this celebration as we take a moment to thank you for your support to the school district of Southfield. Thank you, Mrs. Land, and congratulations. Good evening.
Thank you so much for this amazing honor, and I just wanna say that community is everything, especially at Stevenson, and we bring community in everything we do. And this was a very, very special year for us, because we are honoring missus Hickman and everything that I did. Everything that we did was to honor her. I drug my family in to help, and, we worked hard because we know that,
this was what she would expect. So we did it all to honor her and to make sure that our scholars had the very best returning back home. So we're very excited to be back home at our campus, on Lassar. So thank you so much for this honor. So I do wanna say something, just quickly about Melanie Lynn. I knew you were gonna get up there and say a bunch of we's. And one thing that I respect about you is you never take anything for yourself.
It's always about the collective, and I think it speaks volumes to why this staff is so one minded about being one team. And and you've done a great job. All of you have done a great job in upholding that legacy that Tanya Hickman has started at, Stevenson, and and we're so proud of you. You treat those kids like they're your own, and you guys are an amazing, amazing team. And miss Sandy, I saw you on Sunday too because I was up there checking
out, but I didn't wanna go in and say nothing. But we we do. We appreciate you guys. I've gotten a lot of calls about just how hard you guys have worked, so So thank you. And and we appreciate you, Melanie Land. You are a a very important piece of the puzzle. Thanks. You're welcome. So if we can get a photo with miss Land and the board and then get a photo of all of Stevenson. Yes. Southwood Public Schools, a place filled with amazing scholars, staff, and supports. Agreed. Very, very proud of them. Transitioning to a subject that is not as joyful, that being the legislative update, you
already heard from vice president Werdival regarding the challenges that we are facing in Lansing. You will hear more from our treasurer later. I did want to lift the fact that I will be in Lansing tomorrow with a number of other superintendents working toward supporting and providing any necessary information to help the legislators make, an informed decision and get a budget passed. I would lift that if we don't get a budget passed by September 30, the state will shut down. However, schools cannot and will not shut down.
We always have to figure out a way to get it done for our scholars with or without the support of those above us at the state and or federal level. So I did wanna put that on the radar, because it is extremely critical that we understand, and, I do have an email prepared to go out to our families tonight explaining in a little more detail, what this could mean for us as a school district in the event that the state does shut down. I will have an update after that. Moving on to the staffing update.
Before we start the presentation, I do want to lift to those, team members, family members. We are one big family. And anytime we have an impact that impacts any of our family members, it is uncomfortable. It's not always the what we do, but the how we do. And I'm quoting our board president when I say that. And and I wanna apologize for the nature in which some of the in information was communicated and the timing in which it was communicated. It was done because we were hoping to avoid it completely.
Thus, we waited to the August time frame to do so to keep people whole as as long as we could without impacting their their household. Was it the best decision? Some could say yes. Some could say no. But what we do know is this. We are grateful that we were able to keep everyone whole and bring everyone back. And for that, we're grateful for the team that worked until, the wee hours of the morning to make that a reality. So I am pleased to say that on the first day of school, just about every one of our classes were filled. And I say just about everyone because we had some resignations that occurred on the
night before and on the day of. And while I understand that people have to make decisions that are best for them, I do think it's a bit selfish to wait till the first day of school to let a school district know that you are not going to be in front of the scholars that you are committed to serve. So that having been said, I am pleased to share this most recent update with you as of this evening. Miss Foster? At Adler, we have one ASD teacher vacancy, but this is currently being filled by an ISSN team member. So what does that mean? That means that this a person that's on an alternative pathway to certification, filling that
class. The speech pathologist, while that is a vacancy, we do have that being filled by one of our partner organizations, so our students are still receiving their services on time. The art teacher position, currently covered by a substitute teacher, but that is one of the positions where a teacher vacated on the first day of school. So that having been said, that is currently posted and we are looking to get that filled. McIntyre has a point five gym teacher vacancy. This is currently being filled by long term substitute that has been in that position from last year, giving them some continuity of services.
And given that it's a point five position, meaning a part time position, it is more difficult to fill a point five position, there at McIntyre. But the principal is very pleased with the services that that individual is providing to the scholars. Stevenson has one secretary vacancy. This was due to a retirement that occurred over the summer, and I'm pleased to share that due to class size, we are creating a new second grade classroom to, keep the classes at a lower class size for that second grade. So that position is posted, and we look forward to the team making a selection
there soon. At Boerne, we have one ASD vacancy. Of course, similarly to the other school, this is currently being filled by a substitute teacher, and this individual is also on a track for certification and an, an additional degree. We have one e I vacancy. This is currently being filled by an Isis and team member again on an alternative path to certification. Thompson one E. C. D. D. Resource room teacher again being filled by a substitute teacher, two ASD. Vacancies currently being filled by substitute teachers. We do have one science vacancy, and I will say that principal Eubanks and her
team have interviewed all the candidates that were in the pool and unfortunately did not find one that fit the culture and or qualifications needed there at our IB school. So that position remains posted, and if anyone knows someone that's science certified, we strongly encourage them to seek application to the school district. The Spanish position is still posted, but we are using MEG Languages, a a partner platform to support that, and, principal Eubanks is pleased with the work that they have been providing thus far. At Levy, we have an ASD vacancy.
This is a newly created position. There are a couple other positions that I discussed with HR today that we may consider to add to Levy in the very near future, so I do want to acknowledge that there are at least two additional that may be added to this slide in the future, but this one is a newly created position. And at Southfield High School for the Arts and Technology, they have been busy interviewing. As you see, the resource room teacher candidate has been recommended. The ASD vacancy candidate has been recommended. The secondary transition coordinator, that is still a vacancy. Therefore, if you know someone, please encourage them to apply.
The music teacher vacancy, we have extended an offer, and the bookkeeper candidate has been recommended. So kudos to the Southfield a and t team for their diligence. As of this evening, the Spanish teacher vacancy at south at university k twelve, an offer has been extended, so I am pleased to report that as well. KLC, we have one SXI teacher vacancy, again, being filled by a substitute teacher, and the social work position is being filled by one of our partner organizations. BUSI to speech pathologists, again, they are working with our partner organization to ensure that
we are providing the services necessary for our scholars, and the ECSC position is being filled by a substitute who is a retiree. So we're very proud of that. I am proud to announce that the executive director of talent management interviews are underway. The team has been working very hard there, and we also have one ISSN supervisor position because we have one that will be retiring at the end of this month. Trustees, I think this is one of the best reports that I have been able to provide you relative to staffing in a very long time.
Do you have any questions? Through the chair? Doctor Breen, you had listed that there were, quite a few that were posted, but there were also some that were being filled by building leaders. What does that look like on a long term? So I didn't state building leaders. I stated that they were filled by substitutes. So there are some that are filled by substitutes that are on alternative paths to certification, and then there are some that are long term subs that will be here for the duration of the school year. They can be on one of a variety of substitute permits granted by the state
of Michigan. So I can't speak to each individual that, whose position was shown this e this evening, but there are some that are on daily permits. There are some that are on long term permits where the state determines based on their credentials how long they will be with us. But this route provides us with stability for our scholars. Okay. And you'll keep us updated as Absolutely. Every month. Every month, you will receive this report. Thank you. Thank you, board president. Moving right along to move management and I was happy to hear that, that was something you were interested in learning about this evening, treasurer belt.
So move management, we have a lot of moves happening this school year. Actually, this is probably the most move management that will occur in our district. I will start with the one that is coming first. That is Boerne k eight. Boerne k eight will leave their current location on Evergreen in January and divide into two campuses for the spring semester. We've done a lot of work on the Boerne campus, therefore it doesn't require them to leave the building for an entire year, so they will be in two separate
locations for just the spring semester. That being the lower grades will be at Vandenberg and the upper grades will be at Southfield Regional's campus on Evergreen. We are working diligently with the team to ensure that we have all of the communications out. We're scheduling a number of meetings with the families. I must give credit to principal Baldwin. She is taking credit. I mean, not taking credit, taking charge of communicating with her family. She wants the message to come from her, and I commend her for that, initiative. The events team is working with us to ensure that we get both written and
oral communication out in a timely manner and we are also working with, the staff. One of the concerns that we've heard from a number of families is if they have scholars in both locations and the timing for arrival and dismissal. I don't have an answer for that tonight. We are working through that process. But this starting now gives us an opportunity to hear their questions and come up with frequently asked questions for those those individual families. Trustee Smith Thomas. Yes. Has Vandenberg acquired the appropriate licensing for champions?
They had someone walk through, is it this week or in the coming weeks? We'll double check and get that answer back to you because I know that they did have some licensure, site visits happening this month. So I'll get that information back to you. And we also need to find out if their license for Vandenberg had expired because it may still be valid. But that's something an excellent lift that we will get that information to you. Yeah. I know that's something the families that I've heard personally from the families are concerned
about being able to continue those services there. Okay. We will have that for you in writing, and we will report that out at the next meeting as well. So the families will hear it in real time. Thank you. Thank you for that lift. Next is so they will go to those respective locations for six months, and then they will return back to their home campus in the 2026 for Boerne. So a couple of things when as it pertains to Boerne because this is taking place in what month? So this is taking place we are going to be moving them out over the
December break. So from December to January when everyone is home celebrating the holidays, we will be here with the move management team moving everyone to the new location. So I think my only ask from this perspective is that time before the break is a busy one. Right? Holiday parties, celebrations, Christmas pageant, Christmas parade, all the things. So I think what is also important is that the staff really understands what their buy in is as far as packing up their classrooms and when they'll have that
time to do it, what that looks like. So my hope is that since this will be happening in December and December is crazy, that by our next board meeting that we would have some communication to the staff and a couple of forums with them just so they can get, you know, all the jitters out regarding this. Absolutely. I actually saw today a confirmed date from Laura who represents Plan Maran Real Point and the move management team and principal Baldwin. So they already have meetings scheduled with the staff. I know from Joe that we've already started delivering boxes.
My biggest ask, and I'm making it publicly, is that of purging what we don't need. We as classroom teachers continue to collect items that we plan to use in our classrooms over the years, and we end up with a lot of materials. Let me express this in a matter of dollars and cents. When we pack up the boxes, place them on trailers, move the trailers off-site, we are paying approximately $10,000 a month to store these items in the trailers. Then we bring them back to the school.
The staff goes through the items and generally say, I really didn't need it. Can you throw it out anyway? So we've wasted the $10,000 per month for storage space. So our ask is, that Joe and Phil, and they've done a great job with getting dumpsters over to the school, if it's something you've not utilized for a lesson in the last five years, dispose of it. It's okay. It can you can let it go. And it will be less for our our storage charges. So that's Boerne.
Levy is currently housed in Eisenhower, and Levy will be returning home to their nine mile campus in the 2026. So that is a big move management piece of which we are working on a time. For them as well. Then you have university k twelve academy. They will be leaving and going to three respective locations in the 2026.
The elementary school scholars will go to Vandenberg, the middle school scholars will go to Eisenhower, and the high school scholars will go to the 0 House at Southfield A and T. All three of those locations are currently being worked on for readiness to receive the scholars in the near future. Actually, later in the, report, you have, for consideration, repairs for both Vandenberg and Southfield Regional to ensure that these buildings are, a good Airbnb, as I call them, away
from their campus while their new campus is being built. And then we have the final year for that of McIntyre and we will be closing out McIntyre as well. So those scholars that exit McIntyre in the 2026 will be welcomed into the Boerne Building which will be a new newly renovated building in the spring. So we will be move management crazy this summer. However, we are planning with multiple communications, multiple forums, and we do plan to inundate our stakeholders with as much information as possible.
But as you hear of things, please lift it to our attention because we wanna make sure that our internal and external stakeholders have a voice in the conversation. Does it share? Doctor Green, you may have mentioned, and I don't see where it could be an issue, but transportation, will that change in any way as Boerne is moving to a different location? I I get It will. It will. We are working through some current transportation pieces and and mister Johnson is here this evening to speak to that. Once we solidify our current, plan, then we will immediately move into what that plan
looks like for scholars at those new campuses. So as we're working through the transportation plans and what that will look like for pickup and bus transportation, can we also make sure that parents understand arrival and dismissal? Where they go, where they drop off, who will be there, what does that look like, and what the traffic flow to the best of our ability. I know we always got a little hiccups here and there, but they We will work on that to the best of our ability. Unfortunately, we we've had some experiences, and I'm looking at the Stevenson team because they've mentioned to some parents, you can't park there and they park there anyway, and they
wanna drop off the children late and pick them up early trying to avoid the line. And, unfortunately, scholars are entitled to so many instructional minutes per year. So when you take them out early or bring them late, you are impacting their learning, be it social learning, academic learning, time for engagement, their breakfast, their end of the day snack, that's nutritional. Every minute counts, and I cannot impress upon families enough. We have a start time and end time for a reason. You also mentioned count day, trustee Belk.
Count day is coming on October 1. And in my legislative update, I mentioned the fact that the state may be shutting down on October 1. What's the irony of that happening? It is important to have scholars here when we are audited for count day. Scholars that come late, we are deducted a portion of their pupil allowance because they are not present for all of their classes. So that impacts us as well. So all of this works as a big piece of the puzzle to make things,
whole for our scholars and for our staff. Certainly not to be in the weeds of anything, but just thinking, from my teacher's lens and then also, mother lens and mother of a child with special needs. Has there been consideration for the smallest babies at Boerne to perhaps go to Bussey or a different space where there won't be so much in and out flowing, just for thought? We will take that into account and have it for discussion at our next session. And then also, board president, I'd like to, the board to entertain or consider, a
motion, not today, but once we have more information, on voting on a storage restriction. I think that we have to be Financially responsible. We have to be financially responsible. And I'm a teacher. I get it. I I pay for a separate storage unit myself. My district doesn't pay for storage for me. But it has forced me to, you know yes. Absolutely, not carry so much stuff. So I think that in being, you know, as you lift it, you know, we
pay for the storage and then they end up moving into the new space and they trash it anyway. It's money wasted. If you think about, storage for an entire year, that's a $120,000 that we can't pay someone's salary from bond dollars, but that could go toward a major project. Mhmm. Absolutely. So, board president, I'd like to ask that we be provided some figures, some facts and figures on what it might look like if we were to, vote on a storage restriction per building, per Class.
Class. Two six square feet. However Yeah. And we make that official inofficial. Well, we'll get some additional information from the move management team. Thank you. Any other questions regarding move management? Okay. I will keep you up to date on all the moving pieces. Next is our back to school report out. I must state that this was the absolute best first day of school that I have experienced in Southfield Public Schools. Very proud of every building leadership team and department for the work that they put into ensuring that this opening of school was the best.
Thank you to all of our divine nine partners who came out to support our scholars. Thank you to all of the media outlets that came out. Our trustees were out and about. It was actually an amazing experience to witness this opening day of school. Unfortunately, from the first day of school, we had a few hiccups, and we're going to address those, momentarily, but if I could ask miss Foster to pull up the curriculum night, slide that we have because we want to continue the excitement, and we want to continue making our work visible to our stakeholders by inviting them out to
the various curriculum nights. So we'll just go through a quick overview of the curriculum nights as we know them at this moment. So the Bussey Educational Center curriculum night, and we'll provide this to you, trustees, so you don't have to make note of this, will be on September 24. It's in your binder, miss Foster stated. September 24, that evening, you also have KLC's open house. Adler's is the sixteenth from six to seven. McIntyre's is the eighteenth at 6PM. And I will go back and reiterate that while we see Adler's is on the
sixteenth, we also have Stevenson's ribbon cutting ceremony on the sixteenth. You can advance the slide at 5PM. So that is why theirs is longer. So trustees, you will be asked to be at the ribbon cutting ceremony for the newly renovated campus at 5PM at Stevenson Elementary. And then for those of you that wish to go over to the Adler, open house or curriculum night afterwards, please feel free to do so. Bernie k eight is going to divide into two sessions, very smart. They are going to have the elementary portion on the tenth, and they're going to have the middle school portion on the eleventh.
Thompson k eight is going to have theirs on the eleventh from five to seventh. Levy Middle School is going to be on September 18 at 5PM. University k twelve is going to be on the twenty third. That is a different date that we October 20 that is a different date that was posted in the U scoop, so I am going to get clarification on that piece. Southfield A and T is going to be on the sixteenth at 5PM. So, I ask everyone to pause on that UK 12 piece until I have further
clarification on that matter because that is not what we publish to our community. K? Alright. Thank you. Next, we will hear from mister Maurice relative to our transportation. Please take the mic. And I just wanna pause and, you know, thank doctor Green. So that whole curriculum night blurb, I've had a couple of parents call me and say, can y'all just put everything on the screen so we we can just take screenshots? And so, I called doctor Green. I said, can we just get a a cumulative list? And so thank you for that colorful, presentation.
Hopefully, parents that are watching that helps to know all those nights in one space. And, trustees breaking news, the university Spanish teacher officially accepted the position at 07:19. Good evening, everyone. It's always a pleasure to come before you guys and present. Like doctor Green said, we did have an excellent first day of start up. This year, we're moving approximately 3,126 scholars per day to the respective schools around Southfield Public Schools.
In addition to that, of course, we have other routes outside of Southfield Public Schools. We do some routing for, Catholic Central, and we also do some routing for, Phelan. Some people some of you guys may know them as formative. So approximately, we run 67 routes per day, 53 of which is for Southfield Public Schools. You guys are our biggest customer. You guys are our number one customer. Unfortunately, like I said, the first day went really well.
The first week went pretty well. The second week, not so good. Like you guys, we did have a lot of resignations at the beginning of the school year. Over the summer, all of my drivers came back. They went to kickoff. They went to reset, exception of two. We call those two. They decided not to come back. That first week of school, we had some additional resignations. That first week, we made it through the week okay. The second week, we had additional resignations. And some of the people who had resigned but agreed to work with us through
Friday of that week, once they resigned, they never came back. So that left me short of drivers, basically, and it caused a lot of late buses the second week of school. Bus is number one, bus is number nine, bus is number 22. We were struggling to really cover those routes. Short term, here's what we did. We reached out to our surrounding Michigan locations, and we have approximately 15 locations. There's not a whole lot to choose from. I did the inventory at the, 15 Michigan locations that we have.
And bottom line, looking at the totals in terms of overages and shortages of drivers, we are plus one in the state of Michigan in terms of drivers overall. I was able to get some help out of Dearborn, some help out of South Redford. And what I'm also doing is I have people who work on my staff who have their CDLs. They're actually driving buses for Southfield Public Schools. My newly appointed assistant location manager, she's driving a bus daily for Southfield Public Schools.
One of my dispatchers, who is an internal guy who was promoted to dispatcher, he's driving a bus daily for Southfield Public Schools. It's been a little bit quieter this week than it was last week. Last week, the emails were fast. They were furious. They were coming through, doctor Green's administrative executive assistant. She was being copied on all of those, and we were trying to address those as quickly as we possibly could. We haven't had the issue with late buses this week, but we still have some
one offs on a daily basis in terms of kids who are not being picked up, and we're working on those feverishly. So we have a short term plan in place right now, to be able to cut down on the lates, and we have some, things that we need to work on. Long term, when the resignation started to come in and some of the people who couldn't pass their physicals medically, we opened up the pipeline to start hiring additional drivers to be able to cover our Southfield routes for Southfield Public Schools plus the other
routes that we have. We have opened up that, requisite again, that job requisite. And so far, we have some candidates in there who have, student transportation experience. These are licensed drivers, CDLs. Some of them has worked for us before. They went out. They left on good terms, so we're gonna bring them back. So we have both a short term resolution in place, and we're working on a long term resolution. We're doing everything that we can. So I'm sorry. That's I see a question.
Yep. I see a question. I appreciate Mhmm. You know, the work you did on the the back end, but I'm gonna say something that my mom used to tell me all the time. Mhmm. If you would tell me before I found out Mhmm. Mhmm. I could address the issue. Mhmm. Right? And so you were having these problems. And to my understanding Mhmm. The superintendent wasn't aware. If she was aware that you had all these resignations, she could contact her buildings. Therefore, they could send out communication to their families. Mhmm. Because just having one student left outside Agree.
For thirty to forty five minutes Agree. When their parent has already gone to work Agree. Is a safety hazard. I agree. And it's so unacceptable. I agree. I I respect you for coming here and addressing this. But when you find that you're gonna be in a pickle Mhmm. It would help us a lot if we knew. Mhmm. Because then we could try to do something to help you out, and we could let our families and our building leaders know. Agree. Agree. They did not have a clue until we were inundated with emails. And now it's past Joe.
It's past doc, and it's made it to the board. Mhmm. And parents are freaking out. I gotcha. And some of these were our our special students. Right? So it's even more of a calamity because some of them can't advocate for themselves. Gotcha. So my ask would be when you get yourself in a bind Mhmm. If you will let us know on the front end, then we can let our community know and we won't have to be retroactive. I agree. We can be proactive. I agree a 100%. That's on me. That's on me being able to think I can control things and keep things under
control. Unfortunately, they came at me so fast and furious. I was in the midst of trying to cover it and trying to do things up. Not trying to cover up anything. No. I understand. But just Trying to be Yeah. I was always trying to be I always try to be transparent, keep things above board, and always try to be a good partner. Sure. So going forward, I would definitely take that under consideration, and I will definitely follow your lead and your recommendation on that. Thank you. Because it's been a good partnership. I wanna make certain it stays a good partnership. And, because I'd like to be here a long time.
Just more recently, the spirit of transparency, why don't you address the union issue and the collective bargaining agreement with the status? Okay. Our drivers, of course, are, and monitors are all union. Their contract expired 08/26/2024. We've been working on it. We gave them a significant raise in my estimation. It was agreed to on the call. I was a part of the call. They wanted more. We told them that the pie was only so big, and, it didn't matter how
they sliced it in eight pieces, 16 pieces, whatever. Let me just stop you for a second because I don't want him to get hit with a ULP What happened? By discussing because you're still in negotiations, and so I don't I want you to be mindful of what you share publicly k. Because you could be you could be imposed a unfair labor labor practice. So I just wanna hold hold some of the comments. Alright. So it's still going on, and I'll just leave it at that. Through the air. Alright. I I forgot this probably is being recorded. My bad.
It's being streamed live and recorded, so just be mindful. My bad. Okay. I'll be mindful. Okay. So that's still ongoing. So, we're working our way through that as well. Okay? I do, I do have a question as it relates to pickup for our sports students at the end of the day, from university. Mhmm. I got an email about that yesterday. Okay. About the buses being overcrowded. Overcrowded and not being picked up. And picking up late, and then not picking up, overcrowded. Okay. And I saw that email yesterday. That was the first time it was personally brought to my attention that I had
actually seen it. Mhmm. I pushed it down to my staff and I told them they need to get that handled and get that fixed as quickly as possible. Okay. Again, as our board president said, communication is the key. Mhmm. Mhmm. And I know building leaders are in the building past the time of dismissal. Mhmm. So whoever needs to keep them in the building and keep them safe is vital. I do understand that it was on time today. Mhmm. But we we have to make sure that we stay ahead of that curve. Okay. Alright. Like I said, I saw that email. I put my staff on it. They took care of it. We'll be good on that front going forward.
I have a question. Shoot. Okay. I don't I'm sorry. What about, temporary staffing? Or is that some type of violation? You can't use temporary staffing? Well, I don't use temporary staffing. That's my temporary resolution. The people who are driving the buses, like my assistant location manager driving the buses for Southwood Public Schools. What I'm saying, if you don't have the staff available, who else can you reach out to? As a part of the temporary resolution, I'm reaching out to other Michigan locations. They don't have a whole lot for me to choose from, but they are providing
some assistance. They provided enough assistance for me to be able to make certain that the buses don't run late. We have not had the issue with the number of late buses this week. We still have some instances in which certain kids are absolutely. Absolutely. Absolutely. Absolutely. Absolutely. So just so the trustees are aware, this morning, miss Lacey assisted me, and we were meeting students at their stops and meeting them at their schools. And we are working from our offices to try to ensure that the scholars are
safe. But as you know, we can't be out at bus stops every morning either. And the board president already told me I couldn't get a CDL because I thought that might be another solution. She just told me that, we have to fix this problem, and that's the bottom line. One of the reasons that First Student and this is not to you, this is to your senior leadership. Mhmm. One of the reasons they have so many school districts in Michigan is because Southfield was the recommendation. Okay. Good. Because we were the Mhmm. Premier site Mhmm.
For First Student. So now that Mhmm. The office of the superintendent has given their endorsement to First Student Mhmm. I just ask that your superiors not forget for that recommendation. I will make certain that they do not. I have a call with my superior tomorrow, from 09:00 in the morning, and, of course, I'm gonna share all the detail with him. Thank you. Okay. Alright. This is an official call. He's aware of what's going on. We're gonna sit down and discuss status and, things we need to do going forward.
You guys are, of course, the biggest account in Michigan. When I got an opportunity to come to, First Student, I was offered either Pontiac or Southfield. I didn't know anything about either location, and I basically asked which one is the biggest. That's the one I want. And that's, of course, how I ended up at Southfield. Of course, doctor Green had to sign off on me, I believe. But we don't wanna make it the smallest because if our families can't get their children here, they will go elsewhere where they can get their children to school. And thus the district will be smaller.
Transportation may be eliminated. Not a threat. Just so we can No, no, no. And I understand that. Question. Wait a minute. This to me. They they go through the chair, Trustee Holloway. Oh, I'm sorry. Okay. Through the chair. Through the chair. Yes, sir. Yes, ma'am. What about, substitute substitution agencies? Are there any or is it some type of violation where they are already trained and able to come and and assist? Of course, I'd have to discuss that with my union. Yeah. That's what I They're probably gonna say no. They're gonna they're gonna definitely say no. I mean, I don't even have to ask them that.
They're gonna say no. Please just make sure. They're gonna tell me straight up no on that. Okay. Thank you, Stephanie. Thank you. Okay. Thank you so much. Alright. Thank you guys for having me. Good evening. I appreciate your accountability. I do. Oh, yeah. Thank you. Everything rests on my shoulders, and I appreciate that. Heavy is the head. Heavy is the head. 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 called 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 ninety one thirty should be brought to the attention of school principals or other administrators before coming to the board of education. Your cooperation is appreciated. You have one? Okay. She's filling it out. Yes. And you can finish filling it out afterwards. Oh. Okay. In the interest of time. You can step to the podium. I don't wanna measure for miss Sherry? Miss Sherry Evelson? Yes. Will you state your address for the record, please? For the record, is this live stream? I'm sorry? It's live streamed?
It is. Okay. I think I'm you emailed me earlier. Yes. Because of her profession, she'd prefer Understood. Okay. Okay. Thank you. You're welcome. But I am a resident of Southfield. I live down the street on Tim Al. I am here, as the mother of a new Southfield Public School student and as the graduate of a former well, graduate of Southfield Public Schools, Southfield High School, which the memories driving down the street. Okay. That was a lot. I am really excited to have my daughter be a part of the legacy that I was a part of. However, she is a two and a half year old attending, the elementary, I'm sorry,
the, the early childhood program. And it's set up where, children are not allowed to be in, certain classrooms until they turn three. So that's head start. There's a pre head start program. And my concern is that, there is a there's really it's interesting because to be very strict in saying there's a cutoff or there there's a starting point for students who are three, but at the same time allow children who are between the ages of zero to three to be in one room together is a little concerning.
I think I'd like to understand the policy behind it and see if there's something that can be done maybe where zero to one and a half is in a room and then one and a half to three is in a room because to have my daughter with a child who cries every morning or who's one and a half and who's on the floor, who's crawling, who's being fed, spoon fed by another teacher whose diaper is being changed when she is fully potty trained, when she can count to 10 in Spanish, when she can count to 40, when she knows all
of her shapes, when she knows all of her number. I mean, she needs to be around her peers. My goal of putting her in school wasn't because, she had to go to school. I I could stay home with her another year, but I wanted her to be around children her age so that she could play with her peers. But if she's playing with babies, I don't feel that she's getting what she needs. And if the the babies are coming in and crying and she's picking up crying again and having tantrums and having separation anxiety which she didn't previously have, then I'm a little concerned.
Today while we were sitting at home on the phone she opened up her book and started tracing letters. So she's starting to practice writing. So I would hope that we could encourage, the scholastic aptitude and that she could follow along. She communicates incredibly well even at two. She someone said, oh, is that your truck? She said, no. It's an excavator. When we go to the doctor, she said, may I put on your stethoscope? And the doctor's like, oh, that's a really big word. And so I'm hoping we can put her in an environment that challenges that a little better versus her being with babies.
But that's, you know, of course how you guys handle it. I would just like to learn more about how and why and if we can stagger it differently or maybe, thank you. So, trustees, if you will allow, doctor Green to give, our parent the information on what is Head Start since it is a federal program. I I would like mom to understand that a little better. So Doctor. Green. Absolutely. Thank you. So, not to address public comment directly, but I would, would strongly encourage that you
look on the Head Start website. It is a federally funded program and the restrictions are very, specific as to what we can and cannot do. However, within every grade band or age band, we still have the ability to differentiate and we can put scholars with like peers based on their scholastic aptitude. There's nothing prohibiting that. I I will also state for the record that my great grandson is enrolled at BUSI, so I too share your expectations of excellence there at that campus, and doctor Kelly Walsh is doing a great job in getting us to that standard.
As I indicated to the trustees, you emailed me late this afternoon, and we were transitioning for this meeting. So I've not had a chance to speak with you directly, but we will be following up. But much of the information you're looking for can be found on the Head Start website. Okay. Thank you. Action items. Consent agenda. Approval of minutes. August 18. Special board meeting. Student hearing. Is there a motion on the floor to open and approve the consent agenda for August 18? A motion that we open to approve the consent agenda for August 18. It's been properly moved and supported. Is there any discussion surrounding the consent agenda for August 18?
Hearing none, board secretary, whenever you're ready, please call for the vote. Trustee Belk? Yes. Trustee Bland? Yes. Trustee Denfel? Yes. Trustee Halloway? Yes. Trustee Johnson? Yes. Myself? Yes. Trustee Word of Law? Yes. Unanimous. Motion carried. Thank you, board secretary. Action item MASB twenty twenty five delegate assembly, vice president. I motion that we nominate the following individuals for the MASB twenty twenty five delegate assembly. Trustee Holloway, trustee Denson, trustee Wehrdevall.
Before we, second that, is there a candidate for an alternate before we move on? Thank you. Is there any support? It's been properly moved and supported. Is there any discussion? Hearing none, Board Secretary, whenever you're ready, please call for the vote. Trustee Werdewald? Yes. Myself, yes. Trustee Johnson? Yes. Trustee Holloway? Yes. Trustee Denson? Yes. Trustee Bland? Yes. Trustee Belkau? Yes. Unanimous. Motion carried. Thank you. Report 6406, personnel action report.
Trustees, the action report was sent to you, and it is in your binder. Is there a motion to open and approve report sixty four zero six, the personnel action report? I motion that we open and approve report six four zero six, personnel action report. It's been properly moved and supported. Any discussion? A group chair. Yes, ma'am. Can I just I'm gonna see if there's one on the recording? You see the name mentioned twice. Is that So if you What's under their column? Yeah. It may be the, proposed position.
It may be the actual location of the individual. So it may be that they're leaving one area going to another. If you can give me the number, I could help guide you. I think we're just not here. Okay. I'm good. Okay. Okay. Okay. Yes. Any other discussion? Hearing none, board secretary, please call for the vote. Trustee Belk? Yes. Trustee Bland? Yes. Trustee Denton? Yes. Trustee Johnson? Yes. Myself. Yes. Trustee Redeball? Yes. Unanimous. Motion carried. I would like to take this moment because I think we take for granted that
our student board reps normally leave, and we have both of you hit sitting here and you do not have packets. So I like to apologize for that because this is a great way for you to understand and learn governance and policy. Moving forward, miss Foster, I would ask that we could supply them with a, student board rep packet, for this, exercise, and I'll be sure to forward you something that you can understand and follow along. I forget that we've gotten efficient in this process, and normally, we don't see you
all until October, but we've gotten so good that you're here. And I'm assuming you don't have as much work as you probably will have as the year goes on, but we'll make sure that you have package to review and so you can follow along with us. So please accept my apology for that. Okay? Alright. Just give them the agenda. Understood. For sure. And while she's giving them that Mhmm. 7. Okay. Thank you. Thank you. Trustees as we, I I believe that was unanimous. Correct? Did we take the vote? Yeah. Okay.
Thank you. I just wanted to make sure I didn't move on before, saying motion carry. We have information items a, b, c, d, and e. Correct. Trustees, as you recall, we had a preapproval amount. And when miss Foster sent this out in your package, she gave, special attention to ask everyone to kind of read through these because these are things that you already saw before we went on sabbatical. So, as a reminder, these information items are part of the $2,000,000 that was preapproved,
previously. Doctor Green, did you wanna speak to anything? Would my partners like to come up and join me, TJ? Where's Dan? TJ, are you alone? Where'd Dan go? Dan had a Dan had a day. I'm not sure where Dan is. Good evening, TJ. Good evening. Welcome back. Dan disappeared. Okay. Dan left you high and dry. Dan. Good evening. Does anyone have specific questions? Or I can just go over, and give the highlights of what was previously, brought before the board.
Yep. Not a problem. So what we have, sixty four zero seven, is Arch Environmental. It is an amendment for, environmental, consultation services and project coordinating. What that entails is air monitoring, and that's at Levy and Thompson. It's for the construction going on, in both locations. Sixty four zero eight and sixty four zero nine, excuse me, are French, associates additional,
amendments, that entails additional stormwater, investigations for all of these storm, requirements. Jay, if we can just pause right there for a moment, trustees. I think, you will hear more information relative to the storm drains in all of our schools. This was not foreseen. Southfield was built, at a time the school district was built at a time where the requirements were not the same as they are present day, and the stormwater issues are great in all of our locations.
That having been said, we are incurring additional costs to keep the stormwater, to adhere to the stormwater requirements that are present day, to the tune of several million dollars. So I don't want it to come as a surprise to anyone as we move through the bond projects with the additional expenses that people can't particularly see because much of this work is underground, and our community won't understand why initially, some will, some
won't, why we spent so much money on some of this underground work. So we will have a study session where we take a deep dive into the why behind some of these requests. K. $64.09 is an additional for French Associates, and this is in conjunction with the VWE Lab, grant that the district was afforded. Of course, that meant that we had go back and do addition have the architects do additional work. So there's some, modification there. And the last is, environmental maintenance engineers.
They are actually the abatement contractor who was doing work at Stevenson and some additional work, that needed to take place there. Yes. So 64, that's Bed Pack 40. We had to have additional asphalt work. I did email all the trustees this summer while you were on sabbatical, and had a FaceTime meeting with the board president, and I believe we called everyone to inform you that, unfortunately, we could not mail back that parking lot. We had to actually strip it down and provide a new parking lot in the
back of Stevenson, so that is what that big bid pack reflects. Right. And, unfortunately, again, you find these things as they're going through the construction. So But it was for stabilization. Stabilization of it. So then we didn't put down they so that they didn't put down a parking lot that within a couple years was gonna be Would collapse. Yeah. So, SRAC and Vandenberg Swing Space preparation. So, board president, I would ask that we look at that one completely separate because that will be funded out of capital improvements. We cannot fund this out of the bond project because it is not a replacement,
renovation, or what's my other r. Yeah. Oh, god. You were gonna ask me that tonight. Maybe rehabilitation. But it's essentially, if you have something that's a maintenance issue, it doesn't fall under the parameters parameters of the bond. Furthermore, because these schools are our swing spaces and not schools that will be in usage after this bond project, we would not want to put bond dollars into the schools and then potentially sell them and or, have to repay back that money. So I did wanna highlight that piece because I know that's important, that you know
that this will come out of capital projects, not that of the bond. Thank you. September 2025 dashboard, bond funds. That is your complete dashboard of how the dollars have been spent to date provided by Plan Marant RealPoint. We will have that uploaded on our website. We are also sharing that with the Yvonne's team to ensure that they get it out on a more global, scale for our community. BP, if it's the pleasure of the board, I would ask that based on timing, we, move forward the report sixty four twelve.
Yes, please. Thank you. You've heard, doctor Green's request. She is asking that we make report sixty four twelve, SRAC and Vandenberg building swing space preparations, actionable. I motion that we open and approve report sixty four twelve, SRAC and Vandenberg swim space preparations. And if, anyone does, have any questions, Vandenberg and SRAC's packet is starting at page
well, I'm not gonna give you a page number, but it's a total of $329,834.58 to get us up and running. Please note, Vandenberg and SRAC will be used for years. Right? University is a roughly four to five year project. It's a three year project and Bernie is at least so you've got your four years. Yeah, I got my I got my four years in with Bernie. I don't want to say three and then end up four and everybody be like, she said three with Bernie.
Yes. So trustees, is there a motion on the floor to open and approve support? Okay. Okay. Got it. It's open. Any any questions? Any discussion? Board president, I did wanna lift that that amount, does include contingency. Okay. It may come in a little bit less if we don't have to spend that that 10% contingency. Any further discussion? Hearing none. Board secretary, whenever you're ready. Trustee Word-of-mouth? Yes. Myself, yes. Trustee Johnson? Yes. Trustee Holloway? Yes. Trustee Ginson? Yes. Trustee Glam?
Yes. Trustee Belk? Yes. Unanimous. Motion carried. Thank you. Thank you, TJ. You're welcome. The only other thing that I, failed to mention is that as we're closing projects out and you do have outstanding contingency that has not been used that is being rolled back into the building. Okay. So perfect. Good to know. Thank you. Thank you. Financial report and monthly bill disbursement. Board Treasurer? Good evening. Good evening. I am so excited for this report today. I'm gonna just do highlights because it's our first one back for the beginning of the school year. And I also want to piggyback on what Doctor.
Green stated earlier, which is, the state budget not being finalized at this time. Also, one of the concerns that, we have as a district is the timing of the local tax revenues is still uncertain right now. Another one that I wanted to lift, is that these factors, they could create a temporary cash flow challenges for the district where our administration is monitoring closely and prepared to bring forth any recommendations if needed. And I'm excited because I thought that I really, like, caught them, and I had
some good issues with some things that I saw over the summer of some payments that were made. And I'm like, finally, let's get into the finance and get into the weeds. And I realized it was summer discovery, so thanks a lot for that. Our summer discovery program was amazing, and it was payments to our partners. So we are very fiscally responsible, and it may seem small to others, but it's amazing as a district that we're that way. So I did lift the issues that we all that we're, concerned with, but also that, we received $1,520,000 from Summit Discovery.
And since we saw all those payments going out, I found out that, due to the success of our, this year's program, they've been asked we've been asked as a district to apply early for 2026 for their summer program, to continue. A full report on that will be in our October board's meeting, and that concludes my financial report unless someone has any questions. Good evening, parents, grandparents, and all of those that support our children, aunts and uncles, and those that bring our children to class. Doctor Green mentioned how important it is for our kids to be on time.
That is vital instruction time. So I need parents to work really hard to get them there on time, to make sure that they've eaten breakfast. That is a time that they do socialize. Being on time is very important to the livelihood and the growth of our kids. Thank you. Board president? Trustee Belk at one time, I think it was, beginning of the year, you were talking about school, school uniforms, board president. And, are we gonna have the discussion again at some point, maybe in another study
session? So doctor Green and I had a very long conversation, and one thing that we did not lift about school safety that that we are I was gonna lift during for the good of the order. We've heard many parents talk about how are we keeping our kids safe. And one of the things that we did was we received, grant dollars and we were able to purchase metal detectors. It was announced at our August meeting. We will be rolling out certain things. Our chief of staff, security, Southfield PD, communications, building leaders, deputy superintendent, everybody is getting
involved in this and there will be more to come over the next couple of months. But what also will come about from this in the conversation with our building leaders is that we will revisit the idea of a uniformed dress code. Parents had approached us. As many of you remember, we move forward with gusto and then it crashed because it just caused an uproar. But we have some great ideas. We're talking to some vendors we've talked about, previously, we talked about fashion shows.
And so many of our ideas, we're gonna reintroduce as we talk about safety. Because one of the things that we found is we can't identify our kids. We can't identify our kids and that was one of the big safety issues. So as we introduce this, we will be revisiting the conversation starting with building leaders, parents, staff, students, and getting a full conversation going about what that would look like. Trustee Holloway. And, BP, if I may add, we are also meeting with the team to discuss
the, uniform ID system in our district, whereby every secondary scholar, particularly at the high schools, will have IDs for display, not only for, our viewing, but when they travel. As we know, they went to some football games over the weekend and it was mandatory. So we wanna make sure that we have that conversation as well. And, this was my for good of the order. I love that the nineteen ninety five, six, seven, eight, and 09/09 in February tennis
skirt has come back. Ladies, I love it. I I love it. But, as as Serena does, we must wear shorts. Our tennis skirts must follow the rules. They cannot be out of compliance. Parents, if your daughter's tennis skirt needs to be pulled down before they get out the car, it's too short. I have watched administrators argue with our young scholars about the length of their skirts.
We should not be arguing with students about dress code. It's a given. I think they're cute. I think they're great. Please buy them in a size that is conducive of a school dress code. They will be sent home. There is no if, and, and, but about it. If your skirt is too short, you're gonna be skinned home. Bottom line, you're welcome to wear shorts, leggings underneath, but these these little baby skirts that look like doilies, it's it's not gonna work.
We need full skirts, ladies. Please. Seriously. It's a distraction. And and I just want parents to know that building leaders, I have full authority to make you change or to send you home. So moms, dads, as we're buying these beautiful cute Lululemon, attire and all of the things, please try them on before you walk out the store to make sure that they they they can be worn in school. Thank you. I'm done. Future meetings. Tuesday. Oh, ribbon cutting. Again, Stevenson, sixteenth.
There is a QR code because I know that our ribbon cuttings are a fun affair. Please register for the ribbon cutting before you attend. We'd like to get a good count so we'll know seating, all of the things. Grandparents day was at the u. It was a great success. Great job to that team. My parents went. I think a few other people's parents went. I heard great things, so thank you for that. And, thank you for a good start to the school year. Future meetings, Tuesday, September 23, special board meeting study session at 6PM.
Wednesday, October 1 is count day. You cannot miss that. The first is count day. Mortgage is due is count day. State may shut down. Yeah. Right. State may shut down. Will be here. It's count day. We are we will be here. So please encourage your your families and parents. Bring your kids. We have some really fun events planned, and, we look forward to seeing you. Tuesday, October 14, regular board meeting at 7PM. We are adjourned at 08:43.
Oh, 08:41.