Okay. I think we're ready to get started. Good evening, everyone. And welcome to the Tuesday, January 20 Board of Education meeting. We have all trustees present, all of our student reps present. So if you would please stand and join me in the pledge of allegiance. I pledge allegiance to the path of The United States Of America, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Okay. Again, welcome and good evening. Because and first of all, happy New Year. This is our, first meeting of the new year.
One of the items of business that we as a board have to conduct, by state law, before we get into our regular meeting is something called an organizational meeting. And this is the opportunity for us as a board to elect our officers for the year and to actually conduct some business to make sure we have, you know, our financial, institutions, our legal staff and so on in place. So if you will bear with us, we are going to try to get through this as quickly as possible. Shouldn't take us more than fifteen minutes, but,
you'll all get a chance to kind of see, the Board do its operational work and organizational work in action. So with that, we are going to get started. Our first item of business is, the election of an acting chairperson, who will conduct the meeting until, at which point we have elected our officers. So, I would ask that, a nomination for an acting president or an acting chairperson be made, for this portion, of the board meeting until the organizational meeting is completed.
Ms. Zendler. Be it therefore resolved that Nancy Phillipart serve as acting chairperson to preside over the organizational meeting until it has been completed. Support. We have a resolution by Ms. Endler supported by Ms. Alish. Any comment or questions on that? Okay. All those in favor of the resolution, please say yes. Yes. Opposed, say no. Okay. Thank you. I will act in that capacity until we get through, the rest of the organizational meeting. As the acting chairperson, I am going to suggest that we appoint Judy Holmes to act as the temporary secretary until such time as the secretary to the Board of Education has been elected.
Any objections to that? Okay. Thank you, Ms. Holmes. Okay. Our first order of business is to open nominations for our first officer position, that of president. So I am declaring, nominations are in order for the office of board president. If anyone has a nomination, please make it now. Miss Alish? So I, Amina, I'll each nominate Vital and A to serve as president of the Troy Board of Education until 12/31/2026. Okay. Are there any other nominations for president? Okay. Hearing none,
may I have a resolution to close nominations for the Board of President or the position of President? Mr. Hoppe. I move to close the nominations for President. I support. Okay. So we have a, then Ms. Leach, since you made the resolution, would you like to, propose the the president's resolution so that we can vote on it? Be it therefore resolved that Vitale and nays serve as president of the Troy Board of Education until 12/31/2026. Support. K. We have a resolution by miss Alesch supported by mister Hupp.
Missus Holmes, could you do the roll call, please? Missus Alesch. Yes. Mister Hupp. Yes. Doctor. Milton. Yes. Doctor. Pillipart. Yes. Missus Potts. Yes. Missus Zemler. Yes. Missus Alesch. Yes. Okay. Resolution passes. Congratulations, Ms. Anay. Okay. We'll now move on to the office of vice president. So I am now opening, nominations for the office of vice president. Ms. Seney? I will tell I may nominate Amina Alish to serve as the Vice President of the Troy Board of Education until 12/31/2026. Okay. Are there any other nominations for Vice President?
Okay. Hearing none, may I have a resolution to close nominations for vice president. Miss Potts. Be it therefore resolved that nominations for the office of vice president of Detroit Board of Education is closed. Support. We have a resolution by miss Potts supported by miss Henet. Let's vote on our vice president. So, miss if you would want to May the board resolve that Amina Alish serve as the vice president of the Troy Board of Education until 12/31/2026? I need a second. Somebody worked. Okay. So we have a resolution by miss Annie supported by mister Hap.
The roll call vote, please. Mister Hap. Yes. Doctor Milton. Yes. Doctor Philpott. Yes. Mrs. Potts. Yes. Mrs. Edler. Yes. Mrs. Alesch. Yes. And Mrs. Alesch. Yes. Okay, congratulations, Mrs. Alesch as the new vice president. We'll move on to the office of secretary. I, we will open the newly, elected, we will declare nominations open for the board, for excuse me, for the office of board secretary. Miss Alish. I, Amina Alish, nominate Matt Haupt to serve as secretary of the Troy Board of Education until 12/31/2026.
Okay. Are there any other nominations for secretary? Okay. Hearing none, may I have a resolution to close nominations? Miss Hannay. We therefore resolve that the nomination for the Office of Secretary of the Troy Board of Education be closed. Support. Okay. All those in favor of closing nominations, please say yes. Yes. Opposed, say no. Okay. May I have the resolution then to vote on? Be it therefore resolved and that ought to serve as secretary of the Troy Board of Education until 12/31/2026. Support. We have a resolution by Ms. Alish supported by Ms.
Anay. The roll call vote, please. Doctor. Milton. Yes. Doctor. Philpare. Yes. Mrs. Potts. Yes. Mrs. Zendler. Yes. Mrs. Alesch. Yes. Mrs. Alesch. Yes. And Mr. Hoss. Yes. Okay. Congratulations, Matt, for being our new secretary. And finally, we have a new office that, we are going to be installing on the board, and that is the office of treasurer. So, I am going to open nominations for the office of board treasurer. Ms. Zendler. I, Stephanie Zendler, nominate doctor Audra Melton to serve as the treasurer of the Detroit School Board of
Education until 12/31/2026. Are there any other nominations for treasurer? Okay. Hearing none, may I have a motion to close nominations for treasurer? Miss Alish. Be it therefore resolved that the nominations for the office of treasurer of the Troy Board of Education be closed. Support. Okay. Closing nominations by Miss Alish, supported by Mr. Hop. Okay. All those in favor of closing nominations, please say yes. Yes. Opposed say no. Okay. May I have the resolution to vote? Ms. Sendler. Be it therefore resolved that Doctor. Auger Mountain serve as treasurer of the Troy Board of Education until 12/31/2026.
So vote. We have a resolution by Ms. Sendler supported by Ms. Anais. The roll call vote, please. Doctor. Milton. Yes. Doctor. Pillipart. Yes. Mrs. Potts. Yes. Mrs. Enler. Yes. Mrs. Alesh. Yes. Mrs. Anais. Yes. Mr. Hock. Yes. Okay, congratulations. Motion carries. So, thank you and congratulations to our four new officers for, the twenty twenty six year school year, excuse me, twenty twenty six year. We have a few other items of business. We need to consider, establishment of our fund depositories and investments.
So may I have, a resolution, to establish, those institutions we will be working with. Miss Sendler. Be it therefore resolved that the Board of Education adopts the resolution on fund depositories and investments for the period January through December 2026, and that a copy of the attached resolution in its entirety be incorporated as part of the official minutes of the Board of Education. Support. We have a resolution by Mrs. Zendler supported by Ms. Alish. Any comments or discussion? Okay. All those in favor of the resolution, please say yes. Yes. Opposed say no.
Okay. Motion carries. And again, the details of that will be posted in the board minutes. Our next item of business is designation of Board and District Legal Counsel. May I have a resolution on that please, Ms. Anay? We therefore resolve to continue the designation of Clark Hill, PLC, Collins and Blaha, PC, Miller Johnson, Thorne Law Firm, PC, and Miller Canfield as legal counsel to advise and or represent the Troy School District and the Board of Education as necessary for the 2026 calendar year.
The superintendent is authorized to consult additional counsel as needed with prior notification to the board. Support. We have a resolution by Ms. Eine supported by Ms. Alish. All those in favor of the resolution please say yes. Yes. Opposed say no. Okay, thank you, motion carries. We have our legal teams in place. Our next item of business is to designate the superintendent as the deputy secretary of the Board. May I have a resolution please? Miss Potts. Be it therefore resolved to continue the designation of a superintendent of schools to be
deputy secretary of the Board with authority to ask for the secretary for the 2026 calendar year. Support. We have a resolution by Ms. Potts supported by Mr. Hopp. All those in favor of the resolution, please say yes. Yes. Opposed say no. Okay, motion carries. Doctor. McChesdie will continue as our Deputy Secretary. And now we have the designation of the person for posting meeting notices. May I have a resolution please? Miss Alish. Be it therefore resolved that the designation of a person for posting notices of meetings
for the 2026 calendar year shall be Judy Holmes, secretary to the superintendent of schools. Support. We have a res- resolution by Miss Alish, supported by Miss Zendler. All those in favor of appointing Judy as our posting person, please say yes. Yes. Opposed say no. Thank you, Mrs. Holmes. Now we want to, approve the Board of Education meeting schedule for the 2026 calendar year. May I have a resolution please? Mr. Hall. Be it therefore resolved that the Troy Board of Education hereby adopts the schedule of
meetings for the 2026 calendar year as indicated on the attached calendar. Support. We have a resolution by Mr. Hopps supported by Ms. Alish. All those in favor of adopting the calendar, please say yes. Yes. Opposed say no. Okay. The calendar is adopted. And again, that will be also posted in the meeting minutes and on the website. And our final organizational meeting, item is to approve board committee membership assignments for 2026. There are a whole host of, committees, both at the county level and within the district and within the community,
that the board participates in. So may I have a resolution, to approve committee memberships, please? Ms. Elish. Be it therefore resolved that the Troy Board of Education hereby adopts the Board committee memberships for the 2026 school year as attached. Support. We have a resolution by Ms. Alish supported by Ms. Sane. Any discussion? Okay. All those in favor of adopting the committee assignments, please say yes. Yes. Oh, I'm sorry. Go ahead. Is it school year or calendar year? You know what? It's it's calendar year. Okay. Yeah. So we will amend that for 2026 calendar
year. Okay. Thank you for that clarification. Okay. All those, in favor of adopting the, committee assignments by calendar year, please say yes. Yes. Opposed, say no. Okay. Thank you. Committee assignments adopted, and those will also be posted so that concludes our organizational meeting. Gives you a view again, as we said, this is something that, we need to do every January and it is prescribed by State law. So I want to say thank you and congratulations to, those of you who will be officers for this coming year.
And I am going to now ceremonially pass the gavel to miss Annie, who will continue, to run the rest of the meeting. So it's all yours. Thank you, doctor Filippo. Thank you so much. Happy New Year, everybody. Thank you, doctor Philippart, for doing an amazing job over the last year and leading us. And, I'm grateful to, to preside over this amazing board, and thank you so much for putting your trust in me. And I will do my best to work with everybody collaboratively and make sure this
district becomes the world class district for everybody that serves in this commute that is in this community. And congratulations to all of you for your new roles. So the next item on our agenda are recognitions. Yes, miss Annie. We have two items of recognition this evening. I'm actually gonna start with b because, we do have some members of our student advisory board that are may make it here. They have some events that they're participating in tonight, and they're working their way over attempting to be here. So, we're gonna start with b first, and then if they're here, we're gonna be able to work them in, following.
So, item our second item of recognition, which is board of, education recognition month. Each January, the, Detroit School Detroit School District honors and celebrates the trustees of our board of education. School Board Appreciation Month is a time to recognize the critical role that board members play in reinforcing the mission of the Troy School District, ensuring learning for all. We stand before you today with a profound sense of gratitude and appreciation as we celebrate this month. We'd like to express our heartfelt thanks for the unwavering dedication and tireless service that
you provide to our students and staff. The roles that you play are pivotal in shaping policies, fiscal stewardship, and support of world class teaching and learning. Your commitment to fostering a nurturing and con and conducive learning environment has not only positively impacted the lives of our students, but has also created a foundation for success that extends far beyond the classroom. Your strategic vision, leadership, and decision making have played a crucial role in guiding our educational institutions towards excellence. Through our collective efforts, we have witnessed advancements in curriculum, infrastructure improvements,
and a steadfast commitment to the holistic development of every student under your care. In addition to the countless hours spent in board meetings and deliberations, you have demonstrated a genuine concern for the well-being of our students and the growth of our educational institution. Your passion for education is truly inspiring and is reflected in the positive outcomes we we see in the achievements of our students. As we express our gratitude during Board of Education Appreciation Month, let's acknowledge the impact of your selfless service. On behalf of the entire community, we extend our sincere thanks to each member of the board.
Your commitment to education is a beacon of light, guiding our students toward a brighter and more promising future. May this month of appreciation be a reminder of the significant and lasting impact you continue to make on the lives of those you serve. Thank you for everything that you do. Thank you. You have a boss. There are a couple items, for the board. One in particular, that I think you'll you'll like most, is a book of thank you cards that was made, by students from Barnard Elementary. Yeah. So they are, They are amazing. Really quite something. So when you have a a moment,
please feel free to to look through those. Okay. And we thank missus Bush for the, for helping, to prepare those, for us. And then also, at your seat at your feet that you've already noticed, again, another token of our appreciation, for you to represent the Troy School District in your many, in your many events that you attend across, throughout the year. They're all the same. So alright. So we want to, tell again, thank you for all your service. I, this this, this over this past year, this board has struck me not only, leaning into education,
catching up very quickly, taking classes, doing all the things necessary to to, to make yourself, a, invaluable members of this board, but also within our community. I I don't I think through this year, I've seen more board members at more events representing the board and and leaning into the work of this community, whether it be in our classrooms, whether it be, in our in our fine arts, extracurricular activities, whatever they are. You demonstrate, what it means to be, board members, and what it means to give back to your community. And I I am deeply grateful for you, working alongside our team,
to to do the best work we can on behalf of children. So thank you very much. Thank you. Thank you so much. Thank you. Alright. And some WASC students made some cards too. Yes, ma'am. They wanna read those students. There you go. Yes. Alright. Thank you, miss Holmes. Okay. With that, I'm going to move on to our second item of recognition. I'm not sure if we've had any of our students come in, but, we are we are represented by at least a couple of our, student advisory board, executive committee members. This evening, we'd like to recognize a very special group of students who made, who make up our student superintendent student advisory board executive committee.
These students lead the 56 members SSAB meetings by planning, setting agendas, running meetings, and orchestrating activities and events. They orchestrated they organized and executed our very successful MLK citywide celebration and day of service just yesterday. Hundreds of families attended the event, and we received overwhelmingly positive feedback. If you are not able to attend the event, we hope you enjoy some of the photos, that have been shared on our Facebook page, and will also be shared in our Friday newsletter. There's a video as well that will be that will be shared.
I encourage you to to take a look at that. It was really a terrific event. Most people have no idea how much time, effort, and organization goes into planning an event of this magnitude, but the six individuals that make up our executive board did a wonderful job leading, the charge. Could the following members of the executive board please come forward to receive recognition and a small token of our appreciation, albeit I know not all six of you are here. I'm gonna read all six names. Nicholas Dillas. Nicholas is here. Angelo Matti. I know Angela is here. Come on up to the podium. Nicholas. And Vihan. Well, I know is here. Also on our executive board,
Everett Marshall, Riddhi Mannerini, and Eric Paracas are also members of our executive board. We want to thank all of the those individuals on the work that they do on behalf of the, student advisory board. So two of our members are at a swim meet versing each other this evening and all of us got injured. Oh. And so the swim meet is delayed because of him. So he just texted me. He said the trainer's checking me out. He's like, I'm so sorry If you couldn't be here, he apologized. That's Everett. And Nicholas his event or not Nicholas. Excuse me. Eric's event got pushed back because of his.
So they both could not be here. Riddie is on her way, so maybe she'll be here shortly. Angela, would either would you and or Bihan or Nick, any of you would like to say a few words? You're more than welcome. Yeah. I would just like to take a moment to thank the administration for helping us week by week to plan and host these events. And, as a student who attended events like MLK Day as a kid, it's very rewarding to be able to now be a part of this board that's now planning and hosting these events.
And I'm very excited to be in this position to work with like minded students who are engaged and committed to giving back to the community. So, yeah, I would just like to thank everyone, and I look forward to continuing to work with SSAB. Thank you. Echoing Bi Han's words, thank you so much for the opportunity that you've given us to be student leaders within the Troy School District and create such amazing opportunities for our community. Getting to see so many different individuals form new friendships from across our city is
incredible. And getting to work with such an amazing administration consisting of doctor McCheskey, missus Holmes, miss Hendry, miss Montante, miss Dipalado, and so many more is just incredible to me. I never would have imagined being able to make such an impact on my community. But you've enabled me and the whole executive board as well as our amazing SSAB team and so many volunteers from across the district to make such a grand impact. So thank you so much for giving us that opportunity. I would like to thank the rest of the executive board,
the local officials of our school district, and our local politicians and our community, of course, who have supported us so much for our day of service at Athens for MLK Day. And, of course, I couldn't have done it without miss Montante, doctor Machesky, miss Henry, and the rest of my executive board. Thank you. We do have some we do have some certificates for you all. Parents, please feel free. Grab a picture. It's like you're already out. Yeah. You go. Yeah. He's the friend s. He's one of the s's.
Okay, miss Annie. That is recognition for this evening. Okay. Do you wanna take a five minute break or do we wanna keep it? What does everybody think? Now maybe you wanna see what people wanna be. Okay. Well, we can we can take a couple of minutes break while people can, take off. And, if you have other things to do, you're welcome to stay for the rest of the meeting if you feel like or, feel free to leave. This is your chance to get your other things taken care of. Thanks. And if there are any additional goldenrod sheets that anyone would like to drop off, now would be the time to do that. We're going to go ahead with the rest of our meeting.
Thank you, everybody. Okay. The next item on our agenda are additions and deletions. There are none this evening. Okay. And the next item is public communication on agenda items. We have one, public communication on the agenda item, mister Walter Cook. Good evening. I just wanted to give a presumptive thank you for, reconsidering 31 a a. It's an important, piece of, funding, and I realize it's a calculated risk piece of the, unthinkable were to have in Troy. But, besides instructional, direct instruction and instructional support, there's no greater mission of this district than the physical safety and mental,
behavioral support of of our students. So thank you for taking that risk and, thank you for bringing the needs of our students first. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Okay. Next, we have our general consent agenda. So we are considering the minutes of the 12/09/2025 Board of Education workshop, minutes of the 12/16/2025 Board of Education meeting, the treasurer's proposed in November 2025, budget amendment number one, the second course secondary course description book.
May I have a resolution, please? Mister Hart. Be it therefore resolved that the Troy Board of Education takes action to approve items a, b, c, d, and e of the consent agenda. Support. Moved by mister Hart, supported miss by miss Aliz. Any questions or comments on this, miss Aliz? Seeing that there is none, everybody in favor, please say yes. Yes. Anyone opposed? Please say no. Resolution passes. Thank you. Alright. Next items on our agenda are personal. Mister Pagle. Good evening, everyone. Good evening. For your consideration this evening,
I have two, collectively bargained contract extensions, for your consideration. As I mentioned, at our workshop last week, prior to the, winter break, the district entered into some exploratory, bargaining conversations with both our secretaries and our private care educator groups, regarding the possibility of contract extending their current collective bargaining agreements. The, the meetings were extremely collaborative and very productive, and they resulted in, two separate, tentative agreements, one with each of our groups, and that's what I have for your consideration this evening.
Under a consideration of extension of the TESSA contract, It is recommended that the Board of Education approves the extension of the Troy Educational Secretaries Association, TESSA, MEANEA contract through 06/30/2030. This is an extension of two years to the current TESSA collective bargaining agreement. K. Any questions? Oh, first, we would like to, well, we are asked to, pass a resolution on the approving the extension for the Tesla contract. May I have a resolution, please? Doctor, Melton?
We have therefore resolved that the Troy Board of Education approve the extension of the Troy Educational Secretaries Association, TESSA, MEANEA, contract through 06/30/2030. Support. Okay. Moved by doctor Melton, supported by miss Potts. Thank you. Any questions or comments on this topic? Anybody? No. No? Having none, everybody who supports the resolution, please say yes. Yes. Anybody who opposes, please say no. The resolution taxes. I wanna say a special thank you to the representatives of our Tesla bargaining team.
They did a wonderful job, and, I think a few of them are here in the in the back of us away. And and thank you both and your team for being a part of this process. Thank you. Under six b this evening, consideration for the extension of the TESPA contract. It is recommended that the board of education approves the extension of the Troy Educational Support Personnel Association, TESPA, MEANEA contract through 06/30/2030. This is an extension of two years to the current Tesla collective bargaining agreement. Okay. We're being asked to approve the extension for the TESPA,
MEANNEA contract. May I have a resolution, please, miss Zendler? Be it therefore resolved that the Troy Board of Education approve the extension of the Troy Educational Support Personnel Association, TESPA, MEANEA contract through 06/30/2030. Support moved by miss Sandler, supported by miss Ali. Any questions or comments? I do wanna ask a question for for both of them, but we can just, if you could just say really quickly what was the advantage of doing this now as a wait as opposed to waiting closer to expiration. And then,
the other question would be, let's call it, concerning the financial uncertainty, and some of the budget discussions that we've had, what are some of the things built into these two extensions to account for some of the various scenarios? I I think, both extensions, do a few things for us. One, they they provide, labor stability and labor positive labor relations all the way through 2030. There the contracts are very reasonable. They, provide a tiered, access to, health care benefits, that puts us in a wonderful position,
from a competitive standpoint, and for retention of our employees. And I think the most important thing given the finances is the ability for us to have, a known budget, for these contracts moving forward. I think those are all positives for all of us. And then my understanding is depending on whether we have some, millages that are renewed, that'll affect what the percentage of of annual rates are. So there's flexibility built in, based on revenue. Okay. Thank you. Okay. I really just do want to give a shout out to the bargaining team for both Tesla and Tesla.
I think this is a very, creative way to win win on both sides, because I think it, you know, in addition to the benefits that it gives the district, again, it gives, the members of these two bargaining teams, compensation, but the ability for their compensation to grow if there are some, you know, if the, if the countywide millage passes. And so I think this is really a model in a creative way, to do bargaining. And so I really just want to say how much, I've been watching labor relations in this district for a very long time.
So thank you. This is, I think, a very creative way to handle contracts, and I think it's a win win. Hopefully, it's a win win for, all parties involved. Thank you. I I echo your sentiment, doctor. But, it's always one more. No. One more. One more. Oh, one more. Okay. Justin, for the viewing audience, do you anticipate, looking at perhaps the TEA contract? We do have some exploratory meetings scheduled for, beginning in February, here coming forward. So, we're we're hopeful. K. Thank you. Wonderful. Any other comments or questions? Not yeah. I do want to echo doctor Philip.
It's always good to do labor negotiations when the contract is not due and when everybody has a very even mindset and looking forward to it and you're not worried about what's gonna happen. So thank you so much for your team as well as, the Chesa and Tesco teams as well for making this happen. Thank you. K. I guess we need to vote on the resolution. Yes. Yes. All those in favor of the resolution, please say yes. Yes. Yes. Okay. Anyone who opposes say no. The resolution passes. Thank you to both of our bargaining teams and, especially thank you to the board for your your continued support.
Appreciate it. Thank you. Appreciate it. Thank you so much. Our next item on our agenda is curriculum, and it looks like we don't have any Yeah. There is none this evening. Okay. We don't have any item. Then moving on to our business, items, mister Trudeau. Good evening, board. Tonight we have two business items and then a resolution after that, that we'll go over. But first item under consideration, relates to our Athens High School and Troy High, main and aux gym remodels. So as we went over at the workshop, the work taking place will be over at Athens.
We will remove and replace the bleachers inside the main gym and the aux gym, and then, all new safety railing, sand repaint ceiling of the gym floors, installing, a walker flooring at the entries, and then painting the lower walls, throughout the entire gym as well. And then over at Troy High, we do have a refinishing. So there are sanding, repainting, and sealing of the oxygen floor as well. Total bids came in at $662,277. We do have a 6% contingency on this one, which is slightly lower than some site work projects that we have. So total requested amount is $702,014,
and then this will be, split funded like many of our projects between the bond funds and the sinking fund. K. Thank you. We are being asked, to approve, Athens High School and Troy High School Main and Arc Gym Remodeling. May I have a resolution, please? I'll do it. Oh, you did. Sorry. Doctor. Malcolm? We have therefore resolved that the bid for the gym renovations project for for Troy High in Athens be awarded as follows, and that this be approved as an expenditure from the Capital Projects Fund and the Building Site and Sinking Fund. Dac welding and custom work, miscellaneous iron work, $39,600.
RNC Paint Systems for painting, $15,000. Floor care concepts for gym flooring, $67,314. Intercal LLC for bleachers, 528,363. Trist Creek Flooring Incorporated for flooring at $12,000 Subtotal is $662,000.277. Contingency is 6% at $39,737 for a total of $702,014.
Support moved by doctor Malcolm, supported by miss. Any questions or comments regarding this topic? I answered at the workshop, but, with the any work that's being done at Athens will not be affected by the future renovation. Correct? Yes. Okay. Any other questions or comments? If not, everybody in support of the resolution, please say yes. Yes. Anybody who oppose, say no. Resolution passes. K. Thank you. Next item. Next item relates to elementary bathroom renovations. So, as we discussed at the workshop, we're looking to do all 12 elementaries, all the bathrooms within those buildings.
We're splitting it into four buildings per summer. We'll assess after this summer how we think things went with those four bathrooms. We felt that was a good balance of getting it done as quickly as possible, but also making sure that we can complete by the start of school. So, the the four buildings for this project or this phase of bathrooms is Castello, Martell, Schroeder, and Troy Union Elementaries. So this renovation will include ADA compliance upgrades to our bathrooms. It'll also have lighting, flooring, painting, all new plumbing fixtures, and partitions, throughout the building. And then we walked each building, pretty in detail.
There was a full day of walks per building to make sure that we're addressing everything. So, the total bids came in at $1,275,299. We do have an 8% contingency for this when we do plumbing work. Sometimes there's some surprises under the ground. So, we have that one set at 8%. So the total requested amount is $1,377,323, and this will come from both the bond fund and the sinking fund. Thank you. We are considering the elementary bathroom renovations for four of our elementary schools.
May I have a resolution, please? Doctor. Philipard? Be it therefore resolved that the bid for elementary bathroom renovations be awarded as follows And that this be approved as an expenditure from the capital projects and the building site and sinking funds. Great Lakes Construction for demolition, dollars $143,440 Culver Development for concrete work, dollars 48,000. Seven Brothers Painting Inc. For painting, dollars 43,650. Continental Interiors for flooring, dollars 93,315. Omega floors for hard tile,
dollars 149,500, mid thumb contracting for general trades, dollars 312,424, CSM mechanical for mechanical work, dollars $306,970 Max Electric LLC for the electrical work, dollars 178,000 for a subtotal of 1,275,299, Contingency of 8% at $102,024 for a grand total of $1,377,323
Support. Okay. Moved by Doctor. Philipard. Supported by Mr. Hart. Any questions or comments regarding this consideration? Will these restroom renovations include restrooms that might be used by the public? Yeah. The public would have access to some of the ones upfront. So, yes, they would have access to those ones. Yeah. Great. Especially with their ADA. Thank you. Alright. Thank you. Any other questions or comments? Not all those in support of this resolution, please say yes. Yes. All who oppose, say no. Resolution passes. That concludes. Thank you so much.
We're happy to have the bathrooms and the and the gym floors, I guess. Well, thank you. So the next item on our agenda is public communication. We're gonna do that. Oh, we have another consideration. So sorry. Yes. Yeah. Yeah. We have a resolution regarding, receiving the 31 AAA pumps. So for your consideration this evening, we do have a formal resolution, that's available on board docs. It'll be inserted. The full resolution will be inserted into, the meeting minutes. But for your consideration, so the school aid act of 2526 school year was signed into law on October
7 year. And then districts were required to opt in to receive the 31 double a funding this year. So for the Troy School District, that's $1,960,000 of, health mental health and safety and security funding. So in order to receive those funds, districts did have to agree as part of that opt in to, a comprehensive investigation, in the event of a mass casualty event. So part of this resolution just lays out essentially the details of this legislation, the requirements that were set forth by that legislation. And then it also inserts in some,
support for the the board in wanting to accept those funds, but also acknowledging that they don't believe that that language is constitutional. There is ongoing litigation. There's they're in the appeal process right now. So we'll see what comes with that, but this waiver only applies to the funding for the 2526 school year. So that's what this resolution dictates. Right. Thank you. We are asked to consider a resolution to opt in to receiving the section 31 a funds. May I have a resolution, please? Miss Bender? Now therefore be it resolved, the board declares its interest to opt in to receive section 31 AA funds.
The board recognizes that the superintendent has already acted in the board's best interest and conditionally opting in to receive the section 31 AA funds. To the extent allowed by law, any waiver or consent required to opt in to receive section 31 AA funds shall be limited to only if a mass casualty event as defined in section 31 AA takes place after the district receives section 31 double a funds through the end of the 2526 fiscal year. Support. Moved by miss Sanders, supported by miss Potts.
Any questions or comments regarding this topic? I see. Doctor. Fulopart? Yes. I have a couple comments. First of all, I wanted to say that I think it was rather mean spirited on the part of the state legislator to legislature to require a decision to opt in on this funding by December 31 when districts and school boards were on their holiday break. I actually doubt that any of our other legislators were using their holiday time to consult with lawyers and trying to understand the implications of a vague and pretty poorly,
worded piece of legislation. I have some fundamental issues with the legislation that, I just want to make known to the public. Number one is that it forces educators and school personnel to waive their fundamental leader legal rights that all US citizens have in order to receive funding that, you know, as Mr. Cook pointed out, we desperately need to ensure the safety of our students. And in my view, this is unconstitutional. The language of the legislation is vague in what constitutes a mass casualty event and
exactly what rights personnel are waiving. And finally, the law has the potential to create conflicts with federal privacy laws that, school personnel are obligated, to, adhere to in order to protect student, and employee, data. But unfortunately, again, as was pointed out by our speaker, school funding in Michigan is such that it's difficult to turn down money, even money that has so many strings attached. You're probably aware that Michigan ranks thirty second out of 50 states in our prepo
funding. This amount of money meant $2,000,000 to the Troy School District, if we did not opt in. And frankly, that's a significant amount of money that can be used for our students. So for this reason, I reluctantly supported the opt in, despite the fact that, again, I think this is bad legislation. I hope that this law does not discourage good people who care about kids from becoming educators and school board members for fear of the legal liability.
In society today, we know that waiving your liability does give unscrupulous parties a lot of leeway to assign blame and seek revenge from people who may not deserve it. So this I sincerely hope again, you know, this is a trade off we had to make for the money. I sincerely hope that this legislation is not used to punish people who are doing their best to help kids learn and to keep kids safe. Thank you, Doctor.
Klima. So I I agree with with with what Nancy just said, except that I'm a no on this one. We are being asked to waive fundamental rights that every organization has. By taking this money, we have now waived our attorney client privilege. And not only have we waived it for ourselves, we've potentially waived it for others within our organization. So under under this, individuals do retain their own right to attorney client privilege, but those could be abridged in certain circumstances.
And I do understand that this is a significant amount of money. I am you know, I've been doing this for long enough on this board, and and I understand what the finances look like. But this is a first, and my guess, it's not gonna be the last. I think that we as a district and I I think we as a collective, have opened ourselves up to more and more, asks of this nature. We are also the only ones of whom this is being asked. City councils are not being asked to waive their fundamental rights to receive monies,
and other, you know, other organizations within the state to my knowledge or not either. So to me, this is a direct attack on public education. And while I understand the significance of the money, I think at some point some red lines have to be drawn. I think more and more is gonna be asked of us the more and more that we are willing to to, accept. I also, think that there there are likely some unintended consequences, that will be felt by our staff and our students. And I think there's gonna be some financial consequences,
as well to these laws that we may not yet fully understand. And I think it's also important for the public to know that, this may be this may be being sold as an issue of safety, but, the court decisions that have come down so far have confirmed that this is not limited to gun related violence. If there's a tornado and a roof collapses, it applies to that. If it's a bus accident, it applies to that. And so money is for safety, and for most of us, that now means gun related safety that we are receiving for that is now being
used to open the door for everything and anything. So I you know, and I will support the you know, as always, I will support the decision of the board, but I have to let it be known where I stand and how I look at things. All of that now said, I also wanna make the statement that the board takes the safety of our students seriously. And since my time on the board, the board has and will continue to make all the necessary resources available to the district administration for the safety and security of our students.
Thank you, miss Samish. Any other comments or questions? I do wanna say a couple of things before, we go forward. Just for the sake of the public, 31 double a, is a section of the Michigan School Aid Act, which actually funds students for, like, mental health issue, overall safety, and also covers costs for psych psychologists, school workers, and safety and general in general safety, like cameras and door locks and so on. So definitely very important amount of money,
and it is not cheap. It is definitely $2,000,000 or something. And I completely agree that, what they're asking us to do is waive our fundamental rights, like attorney client privileges or or any any of our schools, personnel's constitutional rights, like fifth amendment rights can can also be, against self incrimination can also be waived. So it's definitely not a good legislation. The only thing that makes me reluctantly support this is that it is for a
short period of time, I'm hoping. It is only until the end of the school year, so probably about the next six months, while I completely disagree with it. And, hopefully, the Michigan State legislature, when next year they pass the budget, they will not include such requirements that are going to be harmful for us and our teachers and our administration. So I am a reluctant yes as well on this one for, the safety of the kids, but I completely agree with miss Alish that it is definitely taking away the rights and chipping away it.
So any other comments, questions? If not, I guess we'll have to vote on the resolution. All those who are in favor of the resolution, please say yes. Yes. Those who are against it, please say no. No. Resolution passes. Six one. K. Thank you so much. Thank you. You're welcome. Okay. Alright. Next item on our agenda is public communication on non agenda items. And each of the speakers, I we have six speakers. Five, six speakers. I will call their names.
Please come in. You have three minutes to speak. This I I do wanna clarify that this is a meeting of the board in public. So the we will listen to the public, but we do not engage in any conversations or discussions. Please keep it to three minutes, and please be civil in your engagement. The first person is Isabella Doss. Good evening, Board of Education. My name is Isabella Doss. I'm a senior at Troy High School, and I'll be speaking on behalf of the Black student union at Troy High School reading a prepared statement by them. To the Troy community and the Troy board of education,
touted for its diversity, community, and educational output, the Troy School District stands as one of the best districts in the state of Michigan. But recently, an event at Troy Athens High School has left feeling hate, fear, and divisionness. In any case whatsoever, physical or digital violence is never acceptable. But the lack of communication from the district is what the Troy High Black Student Union is concerned with. The lack of communication has made the black community at Troy High feel ignored and uncared for. What we're asking for going forward is for a more proactive and prompt communication about awareness regarding issues of hate speech and harassment.
Even though the incident happened at Troy Athens, the effects still were felt at Troy High. We feel neglected as to the student body at Troy High had to hear of the incident from their own peers in Fox two instead of administrators. It would have been reassuring to hear from administrators of the incident and a recommitment to the cultivation of a positive environment. Additionally, the Troy High Black Student Union feels that the teacher body does not reflect that of the majority minority student body. Diversity is hailed as one of the hallmarks of the Troy School District, and yet that is not the case when it comes to teachers.
We understand that hiring teachers is tedious, but all students should see themselves in in that in that sorry, in the teacher teachers that teach them as it is a reflection of the cultural background and respective identities, and that is not the case at the Troy School District. Ultimately, we feel that the minorities in the district are often overlooked and unheard. We write to you in hopes of providing guidance in future actions that ensure a diverse, vibrant, and care caring learning environment. Thank you, Troy High Black Student Union. Thank you for your time. Thank you. Thank you. Uh-huh. Please refrain from applause.
Thank you. Missus Keisha Garrett, please. Good evening. Good evening. Members of the Troy School District, board administrators, education educators, parents, and students alike. My name is Keisha Garrett. I am speaking tonight as the co leader of the Troy African American Parent Network and also as a parent of two African American children. One, a proud graduate and another currently eleventh grader at Troy High. I am speaking today on the treatment of black or black American students. This issue is both personal and urgent for me as it is for many families
in our communities. Our mission as a district must be to guarantee an environment where every student feels respected, safe, and able to realize their full potential. Yet our school district mirrors our wider community, and unfortunately, persistent bias and prejudice still affect our students. These attitudes sometimes surface in our schools, shaping the experiences Black children and other marginalized groups. The most recent incident at Troy Athens, which has attracted news coverage across state lines, serves as a painful reminder that our efforts to create a safe,
inclusive environment has fallen short. This situation could have been prevented if the training provided to teachers and administrators on handling such issues have been truly applied in practice. Troy School District has invested a considerable amount of resources in preparing staff to address and resolve racially charged situations. It is time for the Troy district to cash in on that investment. Not simply by providing training, but by holding teachers and administrators accountable for implementing what they have learned. A zero tolerance stance must be enforced,
and those entrusted with the safety of our children and their well-being must take decisive, responsible actions when these types of incidents occur. As a parent and advocate, I have seen harm caused by racial slurs and hostile behavior. From the n word being used, from the word monkey being used, from comments saying, oh, you're one of the good ones. You're not gonna get shot. Not just offensive. They are deeply damaging to students, their sense of belonging, and their psychological safety.
No child should ever feel threatened or excluded because of their race. This is not an isolated incident, and their impact has impact our entire community. But yet, this is an opportunity, an opportunity for you all. Thank you. Thank you. Okay. Our next speaker is miss Parker Wilson. She wants to test. Oh, she wants to test. Alright. Thank you. Next speaker is miss Nadia Bazzi. Good evening to the board. I wanna begin by stating clearly and unequivocally that I do not condone violence. Violence has no place in our schools,
in our community, or in our society. But clarity matters, and so does honesty. Racial slurs are violent. They are not just words. They are tools of intimidation. They are meant to demean, dehumanize, and threaten. Historically and presently, racial slurs have been used to signal danger, to tell someone they are not safe, that they do not belong, and that harm against them is not only acceptable, but imminent. I have spent years fighting for my children and defending my black children in this district. So have many of these other parents in this room. But tonight, I wanna speak about my child's best friend because we are all his village.
When a group of students surrounds another student, cornering them after current and historical instances of hurling racial slurs with anger and intent, some of those instances followed by physical violence. That is not harmless speech. That is violence. It creates fear. It creates a credible threat, and it creates a situation where someone, especially a child, reasonably believes they are about to be harmed. In that moment, when a person acts to protect themselves, that is not violence. That is self defense. That is self preservation.
We need to be very careful not to invert responsibility, especially in our schools. If we treat the person who was targeted, cornered, and threatened as the aggressor while minimizing or excusing the behavior of the mob, we send a dangerous message. We tell students that they are if they are verbally attacked with hate, they are expected to endure it silently. We tell them that their safety matters less than the appearance, than the optics. Schools should be places where students are protected from harassment, including racial harassment, verbal harassment, discrimination of all types.
They should be places where hateful language are taken seriously, not dismissed as just words in relation to physical harm. And they should be places where context matters, where adults are willing to look honestly at who initiated harm and who was trying to escape it. Condemning racial slurs while recognizing the right to self defense is not contradictory. It is consistency. It is ethical, and it is necessary if we want our policies to reflect both safety and equity. I urge this board to remember silencing hate is prevention.
Recognizing self defense is justice, and protecting students, especially those targeted by racism, Islamophobia, homophobia, and any any other ism must always come first. And I wanna add, black students are not being treated justly. I wanna just say that very blatantly. Thank you so much. Thanks for your time. Appreciate it. Our next speaker is miss Julie Sullivan. Hello. I, did not have a prepared speech. Wasn't gonna speak. I just felt the need to say that I have two children,
one who has already graduated in this district, but over fifteen years. And, they have both been victim of being called racial slurs. And I don't feel like enough is done in the schools to stop this behavior. There are repeat offenders, and they may get a couple days suspension. And then they're back, and they're doing the same thing again. And it I feel like something needs to be done and reviewed as to repeat offenders when this is a constant thing. My son is a victim of one of the people in that video and more
than once. And it's it's not fair to the kids that have to continue to go to school in these conditions where they're being dealt with, being called out of their name, and all they're trying to do is get a good education because their parents brought them here. So I just beg that someone review how these are handled within the schools and find a better way to do it. Thank you. Thank you. Missus Tolia Gordy. I'm sorry if I said the name incorrectly. Tilia Gordy. Thank you. Good evening. Good evening.
Members of the board and superintendent. My name is Talia Musangore, and I'm a parent of children at the elementary school of Oneness District. I'm speaking it tonight in alignment with the board stated goal and around equity, transparency, student well-being, and meaningful family engagement. At the elementary level and across all school levels, leadership culture plays a critical role in whether those goals are realized in practice. Unfortunately, my experiences at Wattles Elementary, particularly during and after school care situation, revealed inconsistent application of policies on professional communication and implicit biases that run counter to
the board's stated commitment. The aftercare debacle was not merely a logistical issue. It exposed how discretionary power, tone, and assumptions can be applied unevenly to families. Instead of transparency, clarity, and partnership, the response created discomfort and concern significant that I now limit my presence and direct contact within the building, not out of disengagement, but out of concern for psychological safety and escalation. No parent should feel the need to reduce communication with their child's school in order to protect themselves or their children from bias treatment.
That outcome directly conflicts with the board's commitment to family partnership, trust, and inclusive school environments. Equity requires more than policies just on paper. It requires consistent respectful behavior, transparent decision making, and accountability when staff conduct undermines that trust. In alignment with the board's goals, I am asking that the board review leadership culture and staff conduct at the elementary level and beyond, address implicit bias in professional communication standards, and ensure that after school and auxiliary programs operate with clear,
equitable, and transparent processes. I wanna be clear that I'm raising these systemic concerns not out of personal grievances, but this is about culture, accountability, and fairness and not just on an individual basis. Equity is not just aspirational. It's operational. When leadership practices aligns with the stated goals, families feel included, students thrive, trust is strengthened, and the village continues. Thank you so much for your time, and I just wanna leave you with this one African proverb, which is called. So when you have time, please look that up.
Thank you for your time. Thank you. Thank you so much. That, that completes our public communications. Now we're gonna address the other. I might talk. Alright. So let's go to the others, and we will hear from our students next. I guess we could start from this end. Isabella, do you wanna go first? Yes. Good evening, everyone. As we end our first semester, January has been an energetic and impactful month at Troy High School. Students have returned from winter break and are focused, across academics, athletics,
service, and the arts as well. Troy High School is preparing for one of our most meaningful traditions, which is charity week. We call it activist week at Troy High. And it will take place from Sunday, February 1 through Friday, February 6. The event will kick off with a new paddle for a post pickleball tournament, where student government is partnering with LEAP to host that event. And throughout the week, students and staff will have the opportunity to participate in school wide events including a culture fair, Troy has got talent, stuff for a buck, power puff, splash bash, ticket to skip it, pep assembly, spirit days, and, an event we're calling CBR an ice cream bar.
This year's charity holds really special significance. As many of you know, last year, we lost a very beloved member of our community, Bilal Ahmed. So our activist week will honor his legacy and the funds will be donated to children heart checks and scholarships within the choice of the district community. We're incredibly excited to come together, not just as a school, but also as a community. And I look forward to reporting back on the impact that we made. On Monday, January 12, we posted Cocos and Cram, which is an event designed to support freshmen as they prepare for their first high school finals. So LEAP leaders,
provided academic support while serving them hot chocolate. We wish our freshmen a lot of success as they navigate this first exams starting tomorrow. Choe Hai's model UN program has also had a very active month. On Saturday, January 10, students attended med mon, which is a one day academic conference. We had several students. I believe it was about five or six, that won the individual honor, which is called the consummate delegate award. Will also be going to the University of Chicago, which is an international conference later this month as well. In athletics, the boys hockey team won the OAA White League championship.
So if they win the game on the thirty first, they will finish the season undefeated in league play. And Unified Bowling has also had a very strong showing. Varsity bowler Payton Huron, which is also the girls' captain, recorded the highest qualifying game and was the top female qualifier. Moving on to the arts, the TCMB drumline performed alongside the Detroit wet Red Wings during the game. So the performance was directed by Jacob Greenwood, which is Troy High's head percussion director. And he also serves as the Detroit Waver drum line director. So it was just really cool experience for the TCMB drum line to highlight their talent. And then Troy's winter play,
Peter and the star star catcher, will run from January 30 through the through February 1. So students and staff are really excited for an outstanding production. Obviously, we encourage the community to come out and support our amazing actors. Alongside that, we do have a very special senior. Her name is Sruthika Pelapathu. So she designed an innovative AI powered nanobot model intended for medical use and removing plaque from arteries. So her project involves extensive programming, analysis of CT heart scans, and repeated testing. Her work demonstrates the exciting feature of STEM and also AI,
in the Troy School District. And you guys can watch her full interview, on Fox two news on YouTube. Overall, January has been just an amazing month, of leadership, service, innovation, and school pride at Troy High. Thank you for your continued support, and I can't wait to update you guys next month. Wow. Oh, wow. Yeah. A lot of things. Thank you, Isabelle. Appreciate it. Sarah, how are things at Athens? Good. I hope you all had a restful and relaxing holiday break. We are currently in the thick of midterm week here at Athens. In fact, as soon as I get home, I will resume studying for tomorrow's tests. Despite the busy schedule,
we are working hard as we kick off the second semester. Looking back to right before break, we celebrated our last day of school with the highly anticipated student versus staff basketball game. The game ended in a hard fought tie, a a result mister Burton attributes to an Achilles injury from the last student versus staff basketball game, though the student body remains skeptical of that excuse. In more official basketball news, a huge congratulations to our boys' varsity team for their thrilling 58 to 55 victory over Troy High. Every time. Looking ahead, our calendar is packed. This Saturday, we are hosting our annual powerlifting meet.
I'm excited to be competing alongside my teammates in what is always a high energy event. On January 27, Athens will host its second parent university session featuring a roundtable discussion with mister Burden and other building administration. We also have Charity Week approaching quickly. We are proud to support the New Day Foundation. The New Day Foundation provides financial assistance and emotional support to Michigan families facing cancer. This year, student council is shaking things up with new activities, most notably our very own TEDx event featuring speakers from our student body, staff, and community members.
Whether it's through the grit shown during midterm week, the strength on display at our powerlifting meet, or the heart we show during charity week, the spirit of Athens is stronger than ever. We are more than just a school. We are a community that shows up for one another. I am personally looking forward to representing Athens this Saturday at the powerlifting meet, and I hope to see some of you there. Have a wonderful evening, and go Red Hawks. Thank you. Thank you, Sarah. So when is the Charity Week for you? It's in February. So it's not I don't think it's the same week as Try High. Okay. It's not the week before or after.
Yes. Okay. Alright. Thank you so much. Ying, how are things at IA East? Great. So back in December, we wrapped up our annual food drive for the Troy Food Pantry. And in total, we were able to fundraise around $4,000 worth of donations. And all contributions went directly to support Troy's school district families in need, and we're so grateful to everyone who participated and helped make a difference in our community. And this past weekend marked our fifth annual culture show at Athens High School where over a 150 IAE students share their culture and talent through music and dance.
Featuring performances ranging from Bollywood to Filipino, the show highlighted the talent and cultural pride that define our students as student body. And as a performer in the show myself, it was definitely a great experience. And if you didn't have the chance to come this year, you should definitely come next year as well. So on the extra extra curricular side of things, two of our students, Arnav Sharma and I participated in the Samsung solve for tomorrow competition. Samsung solve for tomorrow is an annual competition that tackles the tech education gap by equipping grade six to 12 classrooms with a technology training and mentorship mentorship needed to
apply STEM skills to real world real world issues in their communities. So IE East was selected as one of a 100 schools in The US to advance to semifinals and to receive a $10,000 prize from Samsung to spend on tech and other educational products. So our project proposed a generative AI framework that can simulate how a drug affects the body's metabolic profile over time and predict potential side effects before a drug is administered administered to patients. And so we're currently working on our innovation,
and we'll be presenting it next month to advance to a national as possible. And that's everything that's been going on in that. Thank you. Wonderful. Thank you. I did get a chance to go to the culture show. It was amazing. A lot of energy. The teacher's dance was amazing. Wow. They were they were amazing. Yes. Alright, Chloe. How are things at TCC? Pretty good. I want to start off my short but sweet report back by saying happy 2026, everybody. I hope you're all starting off this new year safe, strong, smart, and most importantly, healthy. Though my speech, this meeting won't be filled with fun field fun field trips and events like I
usually share given the lengthy yet needed holiday break. TCC closed and then reopened with a bang. Like I mentioned in this pre in previous meetings, the holidays are very important and prior prioritize to us. So you can probably already guess that Christmas at TCCHS was a blast, Jumping right into the festivities at lunchtime, where we all, staff and students, sat down together to eat at early Christmas dinner, all prepared by us students plus some staff.
Filled with snacks, desserts, and entrees like chips, dips, cookies, pizza, mashed potatoes, meats, pastas, mac and cheese, and all the fixins. After the early Christmas dinner, we followed up with a bunch of themed games prepared by miss gee and her student council. These games were competition based containing shake I've made these names up because we didn't actually have names for them. So bear with me. Shake the bells where we tied empty tissue boxes with jingle bells to our waist and had to shake them out.
Next game we played was candy cane in a bottle, where again we tied where again tied to our hips with string was a candy cane that we tried to fit into the top of an empty two liter pop bottle. And then another game was Knock the Snowball. This one was a really hard name. I couldn't I couldn't come up with one where students lined up in front of solo cups with cotton balls placed on top and try to blow them off with party blowouts. First one to succeed won, and all of these games were played to win all type of prizes.
Launching into the new year, last Tuesday, we had we held a Chick fil A fundraiser. Though I'm not totally sure how much we raise, the money will be going directly towards our school to help fund specific projects, student rewards, teacher and staff appreciate and teacher and staff appreciation, as well as overall school needs. And believe it or not, that was many of our many of our staff's first time even trying Chick fil A. The following day, our Woman of Tomorrow group got together for a meeting with Oakland County captain, Jen Miles, Jen Miles, to discuss self defense and the techniques and resources available to us.
This presentation was specifically unique because of the tips that were coming directly from a woman's perspective, focusing mainly on nonphysical yet effective ways to defend ourselves in the correct and official ways in the correct and, yeah, official ways to defend to use defense tools like pepper spray, kubotons, and tasers. How to be loud and assertive, use direct commandments, how, when, and where to defend ourselves and others. And even some other safety fun facts, like, did you know you could FaceTime 911?
Like, I didn't I didn't know you could FaceTime 911. I didn't know that either. I don't know. That still, like, kinda baffles me. I'm, like, sitting in the shower, and I'm like, I don't know. I I didn't know that. Anyways, lastly, to add to this short past month, our career students are participating in their final interviews with business owner Carl Schmidt and some of his team. Speaking of finals, good luck to all the students present now as well as the rest of our suit as well as the rest of my student representatives with this up and coming finals week. Thank you for your time, and happy and,
again, happy late new year. Alright. Thank you, Chloe. Thank you. Appreciate it. Any questions for the students? I do wanna thank you all. I heard that this is the fun this is your exam week, and you have, end of the semester exams. And here you are helping us out, learn everything. Thank you so much for your time and effort for coming here. Okay. That takes us to the next, others in the agenda. We We will go around the table and ask, what's going on. So we'll start with you, miss Zendler. I'm I'm gonna make it short and sweet. Here's to hoping that everyone had a great,
break and that we're all back in the swing, and, good luck to our high school students on your exams. And a special, thank you to those of you who spoke to us tonight. I heard you, and I know every single person up here did too. And I promise you, we're not as good as we can be, but we're always trying to be better. And your feedback can only help us to grow. So thank you, and please keep it coming. Alright. Thank you. Miss Potts? I'm gonna keep it short too. Happy New Year, everybody. Thank you, students. I'm looking forward to the powerlifting meet on Saturday. I'm going to be a loader,
so I'm going to be three hours in the morning, I think three or four hours in the afternoon. So You'll get your own workout in. That will be my workout. Oh, yes. Looking forward also to our trip to D. C, where we're going to advocate for more funding for IDEA. That's coming up also. We're going, as a few of us Board members and Doctor. Machesky. I was able to participate again at the MLK day at Athens, which was always such a fun thing to do. I think, that was a record completion,
I think. We were done really quick. I looked up. It was ten. It wasn't even 11:00. We were done doing all the blankets and care packages, so that's always a really fun thing to do. I just wanna address the community. I heard you, and, I was I unfortunately saw the video that happened at Athens, and I thought it was a really unfortunate situation. I too have children who are half black, and, we are not perfect. We are not a perfect district, not by any means. I know there's a lot of room for improvement. And, I just wanna let you know that this is very personal and that I hear
you, and we will do better for all of our kids. So thank you. Okay. Doctor. Melton. Yeah. I just, wanted to follow-up thinking, Isabella for, speaking with us tonight at the beginning, as well as our our guests here tonight. As a former building principal here in the district, you know, situations like this, you find boiling and then it boils over. And the hope is that it never has to come to that. And like we've talked about, I think
we definitely need to do better for our kids. And I appreciate the actionable ideas that were brought forth by our members here today. I think there's some good ideas here, that our administration will definitely follow-up with. So thank you so much for coming out. Please don't hesitate to reach out to not just a building administrator, but, our board. We have our collective e mail address as well as individual e mail addresses that you can access on the web.
We would, we're open to hear from you at any point in time. But thank you for coming and sharing your ideas and thoughts. So I want to echo a lot of the same sentiments. Thank you for everybody for coming and thank you for Isabel also for sharing her thoughts and the statement from the community at Tre High. I'm hoping that we can continue the dialogue. Obviously, we don't want it to end here. We want to make sure the dialogue keeps continuing. And we know that I like the sentiment that we can't just be training people. We have to do stuff on the ground to make sure that things are improving
where we can. So I appreciate the dialogue. And I do have to go with the sentiments. Our emails are always open. If there's something that you would like to discuss with us personally, with it was an unfortunate incident. We're hoping we could do better for you. I also just wanted to take a moment to thank Nancy for her year of service being board president. And congratulations to the other people who are, you know, moving over into new roles. So thank you. Miss Felish. I had marked on here to to talk about I also attended Nanliqui event yesterday.
You know, and I think if if if anything, the work of of doctor King, and some of the comments made yesterday, unfortunately, the fight for justice and equality is never over. We we we as a society make progress, and then we backtrack. And we make progress and we backtrack. So, that is that is that is something that will continue. We as a district can always do better, and we should do better. And, like I think doctor Philip or doctor, Melton said, I think there were some actionable items tonight.
Isabella, I actually appreciate the fact that you said, that, that it was it was brought up that, the students were not informed. We did inform the community of what had occurred. So I think there are are both communication things that I'm sure we as a district can work on, as well as, as well as day to day. So I, you know, I think all that that we can say is that we are we are, as a district, always willing to do to do better. Thank you. You know, the discussion tonight reminds me, I read a very impactful,
letter to the editor in the Detroit Free Press a couple days ago, and it was apparent talking about, you know, the fact that it has become the norm today, particularly in politics, you know, for people to be disrespectful, to call names, to use slurs, to intentionally belittle people as a show of power. But this parent went on to say, you know, frankly, there's probably not a lot all of us can do about, you know, people, that, you know, are doing that publicly on social media and so on.
But his comment was, but we can model the behavior. We need to model the behavior that we need our kids to see. And we need to hold people accountable, because all the messaging that they're getting elsewhere is that this is fine. People with power can do that. So, you know, I appreciate the comments made tonight that really resonated with me. That that op ed caused me to start to think, again, we're not gonna solve the problems in the world, but we as a community can care, and really
model for our kids the behavior that we expect for them and the respect that we we respect for them. And, you know, I'm I'm very committed to do that as well. So I appreciate that. The only other thing that I wanna say is, it's, I'm very happy to to pass the leadership baton to to Vettel. I have full confidence you are going to do a great job. I'm here to help. I'm here to help any of you as the very senior and seasoned member of the board. But we, we have a great group of people here, and,
I look forward to, you know, continued leadership on these and many of the difficult issues that the district is facing. Thank you. Thank you, Nancy. And, yes, I'm gonna take your, help for most of the time and, go in your footsteps. Thank you so much. I appreciate it. Doctor, McChesky? Yes. Thank you, missus Nee. I board members share your comments, thoughtful comments this evening and and to our visitors, you your comments as well. We appreciate your your voice. What you say matters. Words matter in in multiple ways,
and we heard clearly what you said. And, I believe yesterday, we we took a step, forward and not just listening, but but openly acknowledging the challenges that we face as a as a school district, as a community. And for those of you that did not get a chance to attend our our Martin Luther King Day of service yesterday, we we started by sharing a statement, that we think is a step in the right direction of acknowledging the hurt, and committing to moving forward. So for those that were not able to be there, I'd like to, to just read what we we read.
There were several of us on stage. This was not just me. There were several of us who who read this, as a way of of starting off our our day, but it's it's brief, and I'll I'll share it with you. Before we get in this morning, as part of honoring the legacy of doctor Martin Luther King Junior, we must first speak our truths. This past week, our community experienced a moment that was painful, divisive, and deeply unsettling. A situation involving students amplified through social media and stripped full context ignited misinformation that spread quickly across the district the Internet. Excuse me. As a district, we stand here united united in our commitment to do what is right for children,
all children, united in our belief that schools must be places of learning, dignity, safe, and respect. Places of learning, dignity, safe, and respect. We do not tolerate racial and sensitive or harmful speech, threatening behavior, or dehumanizing language or actions. This agreement is part of a healthy democracy. Hate, threats and racism are not. Turmoil in our community ripples, disrupts learning, weakens trust and can leave students, families and staff carrying a sense of pain, fear and lack of belonging. We must and will do better together.
These moments undermine the professionalism, integrity, and leadership of our educators who work each day to support our students with care and fairness. It ignores the reality that concerns about racial issues are taken seriously, investigated thoroughly, and addressed promptly whenever they are raised. Our principals and administrators alike stand together with an absolute intolerance for hate in any form in our schools. Doctor King reminded us that darkness cannot drive out darkness. Only light can do that. This is a moment when our community must choose light over noise and humanity over
assumptions. If we are truly committed to honoring doctor King today and every day, we recognize that we still have work to do. Building belonging, building trust, and strengthening the culture we want across our schools is ongoing work. It requires us to remain steadfast, especially when situations are uncomfortable, emotional, or complex. We ask that you join us as partners in our shared commitment to justice, to building a district where each individual who enters our school feels a sense of belonging. We must hold ourselves and each other accountable to the most important work we do,
raising the generation of children who will lead our future. Thank you for your partnership in this ongoing work. Again, we shared that yesterday before Martin Luther King Day of celebration and, thought it was important to to share that as well. We hear, our community, and, when we know better, we can do better, and we must be committed to doing so. So I thank you for giving me that opportunity, miss Cindy. I just wanna mention a a couple of other things. Our school finance, engagement group will kick off tomorrow. That's five sessions, five to 06:30 in this room. Those individuals,
that have been invited, I have all, all but I think but one, plans on attending. So, again, you all are welcome to be there as well. Can doctor Yancey will hold her second continuing the conversation series tomorrow from six to 07:30 right here, at services. Thursday. Thursday. I'm sorry. Why didn't I say tomorrow? We have another meeting tomorrow. Thursday. Excuse me. And and she's gonna be focused on restorative practices, and and anyone interested in that conversation is welcome to attend this room, six to 07:30 on Thursday of this week. And then finally, our business roundtable has their,
quarterly meeting tomorrow at Smith. We're gonna try this one more time. We got we got, rained out or Three is a charm. Snowed out, I think, the last time. So, 08:00 08:00AM tomorrow. Any board member that has an interest in attending, you're more than welcome. Alright. Thank you, miss Sydney. Thank you so much. I well, I echo all of my colleagues' sentiments that, thank you so much for taking the time to come and speak to us and tell us what's happening. We hear you, and we know that there is work to be done. Still,
our district and our students and our families, like doctor Philip Atzak, is a microcosm of the community we live in. So they bring that community into our schools, but we all need to be the examples to all our students to tell them, as to how to behave, and how to treat each other with respect. We live in a world of overcommunication yet under communication. We communicate too much but do not communicate the right way or through the right
people. So I look forward to all of you also to teach our young ones to actually communicate to the right people as well. That will help sometimes solve some of these problems instead of trying for them to resolve themselves. And, you're right. We do us as district, us as board members, and other administrators can do better and will continue to do better. Thank you. Okay. Having said that, so our next workshop is on February 3, I believe.
And the next board meeting is February 24 right here. With that, I guess, can you join the meeting? The meeting is adjourned. Thank you. Thank you. Have a wonderful evening.