Good evening, everybody. Welcome to the June 16 president order verification meeting. We always start a meeting with the budget, Lucas. With business item, which is a review of the twenty twenty six twenty twenty seven proposed project. District code out. Please take it away. Thank you, miss Henit. Good evening, board of education, the community. Tonight, we'll kick off with our public hearing. This is something we do every year, for the public. So the purpose of this hearing is to really go over the 2627 budget as well as the millage rates that are being proposed,
and pending board approval later this evening. So, excuse the owl up here to the tech in the back there. It was not acting up, in the right way, so we had to make sure we go to plan b with the outlook here. So we'll make sure that this is still recorded, like we do with our workshops. So jumping again, we'll go through the public hearing portion. First, truth and taxation, we'll establish some village rates, go over what those are for the upcoming year, and then we'll kinda go through all the the rest of the funds that are kind of high level and a continuation of the board workshop. And then at the end, we'll open up for questions from both the board and the community as well.
So just some reminders, taxable values. We have homestead. So this is your primary residences across the district, and then also noncommercial agricultural properties as well would be considered homestead properties. We have nonhomestead properties. Those are your business or rental properties, secondary homes, vacation homes, and then commercial agriculture. Those are more of our quote unquote business properties across the district. So in total, we combine those together, for total taxable value that we'll go over here in a minute. And then I do like to note that those taxable value increases are capped at either, the lesser of the rate of inflation or 5%.
So going through historically, from last year 2025, you can see there on the left the taxable values. So total taxable value in the pink coloring there on, for '25 was $5,610,000,000. For the '26 tax year, that's gonna go up to $5,865,000,000. And again, those as a reminder to the community, those are, figures that the county provides us through the l forty twenty eight form every year. We get that typically in April. This the county is establishing what those taxable values are, based on what they get from the cities.
Since, taxable value, so we have our state education tax. So that's a 6 mil levy on homestead and non homestead property. Everybody in the district pays that six mills, required by the state of Michigan, and then that is used to fund, the foundation allowance. We also have a operating millage or also known as the non homestead operating millage. So this is 18 mills that's levied on non homestead business properties across the district. And that amount is required for districts to levy in order to receive the full foundation allowance. So when we say we're getting $10,836
per student, about 20% of that is coming from that 18 mills. So districts that don't have that, unfortunately, don't get their full foundation. So another critical piece, to our school finance. And then looking at the hold harmless millage, so the Troy School District, along with an about another 50 or so districts across the state are considered hold harmless districts. Meaning, when we have proposal a passed in 1994, they looked at what were you collecting per pupil locally prior to proposal a, and then they looked at where the state was willing to fund you after proposal
a. And this millage in particular was a mechanism that, the state allowed districts like the Troy School District to levy to make sure they were made whole. So even though we may collect more money, locally through a hold harmless millage, that has been around for nearly forty years. So, that's again another critical piece. So you can see there the 2025 rate and then 2026, that rate is going down a little bit. So that's expected each year. When we calculate that rate, it is simply plugging in an estimated enrollment for the upcoming year. So with the declining enrollment, that number is gradually gonna go down.
A few years ago, it was almost three mils. So, again, each year, we're kinda seeing a a point one five or so decrease to that millage rate. So the proposed rate for whole farm looks for the upcoming year is two 0.4102 mils. And then we have our sinking fund and our debt fund. So those are both collected on the non homestead and homestead properties. So all taxable values in the district are levied those. And you can see the rates there in red for 2026 would be point nine four seven three mills for the sinking fund and then 6.1 mills for the debt fund. So as we look at,
these millage rates, you'll notice that some of them go down a little bit each year. Some of that's a byproduct of enrollment, or in particularly the whole farmer's village, but the sinking fund also goes down a little bit each year and that's because of the millage rollback. So when we look at inflation rates and increased costs, to taxable values, the state has the Headley amendment, which basically limits the growth of those tax rates on homeowners and businesses. So we have to roll each one of those rates back just a little bit each year just to ensure that the amount that we're levying on those homeowners and
businesses is not gonna exceed, that rate of inflation or 5%. So, we do that every year and that that applies to the operating millage and then also the sinking fund millage, and the hold harmless millage as well. So comparing on the homestead side, you'll see here over the last three years, you can see that the the six mills is steady. That's mandated by the state. That one does not get rolled back. And then the 6.1 mills for the debt millage, that one also does not get rolled back. That's 6.1 mills each year. And then you'll see the the two hold harmless and sinking funds, those ones do get rolled back each year.
So as we went over the rates there, on the far right for the upcoming school year. And then likewise on the, non homestead side, the 18 mills, we roll that one back each year. We did we have not gone below 18 mills fortunately. And then we have our six mill state education tax, the 6.1 debt fund millage, and then the sinking fund millage as well. And then just to give a comparison, the blue reflects the homestead properties and then the orange reflects the non homestead property. So, businesses typically pay about double what, in terms of a rate with what homeowners typically pay.
And then this is the l forty twenty nine. So this is the form officially that we load these rates into and then we send that off to the city of Troy and then they generate tax bills based on the rates that have been proposed, and then off to the county after that. So all of the rates that we just went over have been put into this slide here. Any questions on millage, rates before I jump in? We'll open up to the community as well after we go through some of these here. So on the general fund side, we go through every year. This is our third amendment of the year. We go through again. We make sure all of our grants are balanced. All of our costs are accounted for.
Salaries updated. Any staff that may have left the district midyear, we try to catch, those costs into this amendment. But you can see here, we're looking at, $5,480,000 deficit for the year. Our last amendment too was about 5,600,000, so a little bit ahead. Obviously, the goal being that we come in ahead of that 5,480,000, for the year. But, again, we have to budget conservatively, with our costs. So that'll leave us with a fund balance of just over 13 and a half percent for the year. And then looking at next year, we went over in detail at the board workshop kind of where our cost structures
are at. So I think it's a good reminder that even though, we have a post cuts in terms of cost, that 12,000,000 is really what you're doing tonight. We will amend that later on in the fall once the board has had more time over the summer to really dive into where those proposed reductions are at. Our buyout window closes on Friday, so we're gonna get more information in terms of how many, employees across the district have elected that buyout. And then from there, we'll be able to total up the actual savings from the buyout and then go back to our proposed reduction list and really kinda work from the bottom to see,
what items we can keep for the upcoming school year. So, just as a reminder though, I that's important to note that $12,000,000 of cost reductions were baked into this budget, but that doesn't mean by line item that we're you're approving. We're just approving in totality at this point. So 12,000,000, though, was a targeted number based on our our projected forecast. We have to put $12,000,000 of cost to keep our fund balance where it's at. If we don't do that, then we're gonna go below 10%. And then at that point, we're borrowing money to meet payroll in the fall. And then there's a whole slew of other things that we have to take into
consideration. So, the proposed budget here does show, conservatively when we go through on the revenue side. We have three proposals from the the house, the senate, and the governor right now. We take by categorical line item the lowest amount from each of those proposals. So it's the most conservative budget on the revenue side that we can have. So even though we show about a $2,200,000, use of fund balance next year, we're hopeful that, again, we can come in above that, once the final budget is passed. So we'll see if the state can get their act together and and get something passed here by July 1.
But, you know, again, we have to play the conservative game, just to make sure that we're protected. On the ancillary side, so we have our 2019 capital project fund. So, the goal is that those dollars will be fully spent as of June 30. If if there's any remaining after June 30, it's really just an accounting entry. At that point, we'll bring a proposed amendment to the board. But those funds are fully spent, essentially, as of the end of this summer. And then the twenty third 2023 capital project fund, so that's our series one out of three series for the new bond program that we have. So you can see here amendment three has us at about $70,000,000
in total expenditures thus far. And then that would leave us with about a 127 or I'm sorry. That with $61,700,000 left of that $190,000,000 issue, for the upcoming school year. So that money will be the majority of which will be spent down by the end of next school year, which is strategic. So, again, you'll see some purchases that are on the board agenda later this evening. Those are all funded through this fund here. So we have a very rigid schedule that we have to follow. You typically have to spend these dollars within a three year period, to a certain level.
So we have a a very tight schedule of purchases, whether that's iPads or buses, printers, furniture across the district, and then in addition to all the construction that's going on. So, those those items on tonight's agenda will be coming out of this fund specifically. And then the debt fund, so this is the 6.1 mills that we levy on all properties that goes towards paying off the principal and interest payments on the bonds that we've issued to generate cash for these projects, that we just went over on the capital projects one. So you'll also have the resolution on the consent agenda to consolidate those more formally
on our end and on our financial statements to one common debt fund. Going forward, that'll just streamline how we, present these various debt funds, on our statements and on our accounting system. So, you can see here, there was a proposed amendment, a slight increase that was the refinance that we had. So we've received some monies into that fund to pay off and refinance some debt. So amendment three does reflect a little bit of an increase, but typically, we're in that 30 to $37,000,000 range of money each year that we're collecting and paying off towards little bond payments.
Then sinking fund, this one, we've strategically built it back up. We spent it down quite a bit a couple years ago, so we're trying to build it back up, with the goal that some of those dollars will go towards some, bond related projects that perhaps weren't, initially thought of, but we wanna make sure that we do, respond to those needs across the district. So, this fund, we do have a strategic build up there upon balance into the two, two and a half million dollar range, and obviously, it's a a very fluid budget. There's a lot of repairs inside of this fund specifically. So, again, this one cannot be used for salaries or benefits.
It is strictly for repairs and capital improvements across the district. So, this one, we typically will amend over time, based on the actual needs of the district. And our capital maintenance fund, so this one is a fund that the district set up about ten year ten or so years ago in 2015 just to reserve some dollars pre bond. So the district didn't have, the bond that we do currently. So the district set aside about $600,000, and that was just really to be used for various repair and and capital needs across the district. So, we we haven't touched it. We had some original monies from the Turtle Woods sale of of that land.
The state still has yet to appropriate those funds. So, we had to amend it back down to zero, but our goal is, hopefully by this December, that's what last we've been told that this December we would receive those funds. So, that's about $1,850,000 for the sale of that land, with the state of Michigan. So, and then from an expenditure standpoint, we do have, you approve the the operations truck that'll be funded through here. And then we also do have some funds set aside, with this fund for, a potential lease on a robotics facility as we look to try to find them
some space. So we wanted to do something where we could not put it into general fund at this point, but phase it in. And so we figured this was a good spot for that expenditure, and then we do have some transfers out to help offset some of our general fund costs as well. And then in the food service fund, you can see we had a for amendment three, about a $1,100,000 use of fund balance. That was part of our spend down plan for the excess fund balance. So the majority of that was the Troy High Kitchen servery, which was about $1,400,000. So you can see from there, we'll have about a million 5 left in fund balance.
And then going into next year, again, our our goal is to increase participation, so we hope that that number goes up, on the revenue side of things. But, again, we'll we'll have a very minimal amount of excess fund balance in this fund going forward, but the large majority of it was spent on the food service truck that was just approved and then also the Troy High, kitchen upgrades as well. And then TCC. So this is our Troy Career Center Fund. This is our partnership with Michigan Works. We're really just a subrecipient, through with, Oakland County. So we receive federal funds on their behalf, and we're kind of like a pass through entity essentially for them.
So that one is always revenue equals expenditures. There's never a fund balance. So, but that specifically is related to the Michigan Works program. On our community service fund, we have our care programming and then our enrichment programming as well. So you can see here for amendment three, their fund balance is building up quite a bit. They were at almost the $2,000,000 mark at the beginning of the year. So, again, we strategically built that up and then now we wanna transfer those dollars into the general fund, just to help soften us as we continue to push through these, little bit more turbulent times from the state of Michigan right now.
So, that is a plan transfer of about $800,000, and then they did have a little bit of a net loss this year, as we look to try to stabilize our our rates that we're charging families, as long as we could. So that'll leave them with a healthy, just under a million dollars of fund balance at the end of the year, and then we do have another plan transferred for next year as well to continue to spend those funds down, get it back to that 20 ish percent mark of of revenue. So and then on the preschool fund side, we did show a slight loss this year, but, again, that was some transfers. You can see that their fund balance was approaching $3,000,000.
So we wanted to make sure that we were pulling some of those dollars back in from our tuition program and transferring them over to the general fund just to, again, help soften, the the little bit of turbulence that we're experiencing right now. So, we do also have a plan to transfer for next year as well, to try to spend those ones down over a three year period. So we're trying to take some of these ancillary special revenue funds and and slowly spend those fund balances down over a period of three years, as we try to transition through our general fund. And then student activity fund, this is the last one.
So this one is really just a fiduciary fund. We house money for student clubs and other staff, initiatives that we may have across the district. So those dollars, it's it's really, you know, the $3,400,000 just to guess that typically comes in just under that. But those are monies that we're just essentially holding for those specific uses. So, again, we just budget, a rough increase going into next year, but it typically falls right around that $3,000,000 mark. Any questions from the board before we open up? Any questions? I have a question, Dan. So the transfers that you're doing from the preschool fund,
the community services fund, and you said food service fund? The capital maintenance fund. Capital maintenance. Do you know do you have a number of how much was transferred to the general fund to help us with the general fund? Yeah. So for this year alone let's see. So we have 2,000,000 transferred in for the current school year. Okay. Yeah. And we still had a 2,300,000 deficit with even after that transfer. So if we didn't transfer that, it would be over 5,000,000 deficit this year alone. Yeah. And, you know, obviously, you don't wanna be too reliant on this.
So we're trying to build it so that we're phasing those transfers out. So, really, this upcoming school year will be the last last large transfer of monies. And then after that, you know, tentatively, we have it set to zero right now, because we can't be overly reliant on it, but it does help us get it. Like, a buyout is something we're not gonna do again for a twenty ish year period. So Right. We're trying to leverage those dollars strategically to help us kind of work through this time over a two year period, and then we'll scale back the volume there. Okay. Yep. Just to piggy off that, so what is the,
the transfers for for next year's budget? What is what is the total amount? That's a 2 and a half million right now. And that's already built into the budget for Yep. Next year. Correct. Okay. Yep. So if we didn't transfer this, it would have been and if we didn't do the $12,000,000 cut, it would have been over My $2,016,000,000 dollar deficit. Over $16,000,000 deficit. Okay. Okay. No. You can't predict this, but I wanna just put it into the air when we saw that slide that talked about next year's budget still puts us below that 15% fund balance.
Yeah? So can you talk to us about, like, your the administration's intended path to get us back to the 15? Like, so we we're cutting 12 for next year, and then what comes Mhmm. Honestly after that? Yep. So the board policy specifically says that we'll endeavor for 15%. So I think as as long as we have a plan to try to kinda slow it down right now. Mhmm. Obviously, we've spent down our fund balance over the last few years because we were pushing over 20% fund balance like many districts across the state. But our goal is that we wanted to stabilize $12,000,000,
for close reductions as significant. So for us, you know, to try to net any profit, so to speak, for the year to build up that fund balance, it would have just required even more. So I think for us, our plan as we look at $12,000,000 and and to see the how wide ranging those cuts had to be to get to that point, I think we felt as though let's try to stabilize for a year and then we'll circle back in the fall and then really assess, like, how can we work early back up, to get into that point. So and there's other mechanisms I think that we can look at in terms of revenue generation to try to avoid,
some of the the potential cuts that we would have to make. So those are conversations that I think are kind of that next step after approving this initial $12,000,000 in reductions. So it's fair to say we're not out of the woods yet? Yeah. This is gonna be about three years then. Gotcha. Okay. When we look at the because we're talking about the fund balance. When we look at it, you mentioned that if it goes below 10%, that kind of triggers something. So, right at that point, we have to start borrowing money to make payroll Mhmm. With the current interest rates. If you could just talk about, you know, what the effect of that is and how much of a further drain on the
fund balance, essentially, it would be because Yeah. So for those that may not know in the community, the state of Michigan provides us with with monthly payments, but they do not provide one in the month of September. So the month of September, most districts are essentially floating themselves in terms of their operational needs, with savings. So in our case, when you have 15 to 20% fund balance, you have enough cash on hand to meet payroll needs and and other bills. So we we extend upwards of 14,000,000 a month. And so when we're looking at a $15,000,000 state aid payment,
you know, that's really covering our cost per month. So when you're in the position where you have 10% or so, even 9%, it really depends on the size of the district. But once you approach that 10% in in fund balance, you're starting to look at a point where you don't have enough cash to physically make payroll. And so there's a lot of districts across the state, and I've been in districts that had to borrow. So that's something that, you know, if we're in that position, then I've gotta do a cash flow analysis all the way through next year. And And then I have to look at, okay, do I need to borrow money to meet payroll next September? And if I do,
then what the state does is they're they're in essence giving you a cash advance on your future state aid payments. So they're giving you the money early and then you pay them back to the interest. Right. And so if I have to borrow, you know, $1,015,000,000 dollars to meet the payroll needs and other needs across the district, you're looking at probably half $1,000,000 of interest that you're gonna pay the state. So it's it's like a 9% interest rate. So, Mhmm. That that's why it's imperative to make sure that you're staying above that 10% mark. So 15 is ideal. You know, thirteen, thirteen and a half, you're okay, but you need to be strategic and thoughtful over a three year period.
To get back to the fifth. How does that impact our rating for getting bonds and the debt fund as well? Mhmm. Could you explain? Yeah. So I I spent forty five minutes getting grilled by, standards and force on our bond rating about this fund balance amount because they they weigh heavily in terms of what that fund balance percentage is and what is your strategic plan of trying to get it back to where you want it to be. And so they're they're really looking to make sure that they see signs that there is a plan in place and that you are actually acting on that plan. So in a case where you get too low,
they could potentially downgrade you. And at that point, when you go out to the market to see the bonds, you potentially could, get a a little bit higher interest rate essentially. And when you're talking a $200,000,000 issue, you know, a tenth of a basis point on on a a bond sold is is substantial. So, for us, it does weigh into our bond funds as well, which means if if we're paying more in interest, that's less than principal and that's less I can put into projects across the district. So Mhmm. And there's also, and I know we kinda had to deal with this at the beginning of of this school year.
So when we're looking about having to to float money to make payroll, We're not guaranteed to even have a budget in place that will even guarantee, a payment arrives October 1 or at some point in October. So, if that were to happen, then we would go in a position where we would have to float not one month, but potentially two months. Mhmm. And so, that's the Yeah. That was And that's a reality. Right? That was very real last fall when the state you know, July 1 is their their statutory deadline to pass the school aid budget. They blew past that.
October 1 is the constitutional deadline. They blew past that by a week. So, there was districts that were working with banks to say, okay. I can cover a month, but I can't cover two. You know, I think for us, we could have covered two and a half maybe, and then we would have had to start borrowing at that point. So, those were real conversations that haven't happened to that extent, but, you know, anything is possible. And this year, it's Getting there. 16. And we're I mean, I assume that we're not gonna have a budget in place at the state level by the the state. Yep. I'm not anticipating Yeah.
It's unfortunate. They require us to have a budget for the next year before June, but then they would never work on the budget until whenever it is. Which is why I think it's important as we as we look at these budgets, even though you'll be approving a budget of 12,000,000, like, there's a lot of work that's gonna happen over the summer. You know, as we finalize our buyout, we really dive into which positions do we really need to refill and or backfill and then which positions can we maintain because of the buyout. You know, those conversations are gonna happen all summer long up until the first day of school.
Okay. I do want to make one comment. So the discussions that we are having here about this budget and what we are proving here is purely saying $12,000,000 in reductions. It does not say where the reductions are coming from. Correct. And over the summer and as we go further is when we're gonna decide where exactly these numbers are gonna come from. Yeah. So the actual board resolution is by puncturing code, so it's very high high level. So it's gonna list, you know, tens of million dollars in an instructional function code or a supporting service function code,
but it doesn't get so granular that it's this specific position at this building under this program. So again, we're gonna amend it in the fall like we do, especially once we get a state budget. So we have room to reiterate and modify and change based on what we get. Okay. Yeah. Okay. Thanks. If if I could just add, it it's really important for, and I know the board knows this, but it's really important for the community to recognize that Mr. Trudeau mentioned that it's not often that boards, authorize administration to, allow for or to plan for a severance
separation, program, to call it multiple different things. It's really only it's typically done when you have a scenario where you have more staff than you have enrollment, which is revenue to support that staffing. So when that happens, you have an opportunity to take advantage of, reducing FTE, full time equivalent or staff across the district through attrition, through those individuals that are taking, whether it be a retirement or whether a voluntary separation with the district, that is an opportunity to get to structural balance.
It's it's by not replacing positions, taking advantage of positions that are that are leaving, that are open that allows you to get to structural balance. The if you don't take the advantage or the opportunity to do that, you run the risk of having to lay off into future years. So thank the board for giving the administration the the opportunity to investigate that plan. I'm pleased to say that we we have to date, and as mister Trudeau mentioned, we have several days yet,
until the, until the the program closes. We have well over 80 individuals thus far that have elected to take advantage of the program, which is allowing us the opportunity to identify areas that we don't have to replace or can make adjustments that allow us to get to that structural balance moving forward. It is this is really, it's a it's it's a unique opportunity, but it's also one that, we have to take complete advantage of if we're gonna get to structural balance moving forward. And I I would add to that too.
You know, most districts offer the buyout or severance plan like this, to just teachers. And the goal is typically let's exit the the higher paid teachers and bring in lower paid teachers, and then we have some savings. We as a district and as a cabinet recommends the board to offer this to everybody. And so what that does is, obviously, majority of them, you know, 55 out of the 80 are teachers. But the rest are positions all across the district. And so for us, what that allows us to do is to say, okay. How can we rethink some of these other roles and supporting roles across the district?
So as we look at administrators and other non rep positions, you know, how how can we take advantage of some of those vacancies and rethink how we're doing those things? That way it's not falling all on just teachers. So we're in a unique position that, you know, we're gonna get eighty, eighty five people, potentially 90 that elect for this plan, and then it gives us things to consider over the summer. Okay. We weren't expecting these four individuals to leave, but how can we redo this? Or or maybe we can contract out a portion of that position as needed as opposed to having a dedicated individual.
So, you know, we our goal is looking at a reductions list. We we tie it to what is the percentage of a particular group relative to the total budget. You know, in essence, that should be very close to where the the proposed reduction levels are. So we're trying to make it as equitable over that 12,000,000 as possible. Thank you. Do you want to any questions from the public regarding the budget? Anyone? I guess no. Thank you. Ask a question. Thank you. Thank you, mister Trudeau. Thanks for the presentation. Appreciate it. Alright. That brings us to the recognition slash resolution section of our agenda.
Our next item is a resolution in support of gun safety and safe gun storage. May I have a resolution, please? Miss miss Zendler. Whereas the safety and well-being of our students, teachers, and staff is a top priority in the Terrace School District, whereas firearms are now the leading cause of death among US children and adolescents due to rising rates of homicide, suicide, and unintentional shootings compounded by social inequities, increased access to guns, and insufficient safety measures.
Whereas rates of death from firearms among ages 14 to 17 are higher than motor vehicle related death rates in The US, middle and high school age children are now more likely to die as the result of a firearm injury than from any other single cause of death. Whereas according to a report from the US Secret Service, an incidence of gun violence on school grounds, seventy six percent of attackers acquired a firearm from the home of a parent or another close relative. Whereas since 2025,
there have been over two 140 unintentional shootings by children, resulting in thirty nine deaths and seventy two injuries nationally. Children under the age 18 unintentionally shoot themselves or someone else. Whereas, more than twenty eight thousand Americans are are estimated to have died by suicide using firearms in 2025, whereas research indicates that close to five million US children live in a home with a loaded and unlocked firearm, Whereas, evidence strongly suggests that secure firearm storage is an essential component to any effective strategy
to keep our community safe. Whereas, keeping students, teachers, and staff safe from the threat of gun violence should be the responsibility of all adult stakeholders within our school district. Whereas, in order to continue with preventative measures to increase student and school safety, we must act now. Now therefore it be resolved that the board direct the superintendent to periodically communicate the importance of safe firearm storage and other firearm safety and violence prevention measures during gun violence awareness month and to disseminate material on an annual basis,
stressing the importance of secure storage of firearms by including this in our annual notification materials. Be it further resolved that the board and superintendent will continue to work with local law enforcement agencies, medical and mental health agencies, and nonprofit organizations to collaborate and increase efforts to inform district parents of their obligations regarding secure storage of firearms in their homes, as well as other gun violence prevention safety measure measures. Be it further resolved that this resolution shall not be construed to conflict with any
existing Michigan or federal law. Support. Okay. Resolution moved by miss Sanders, supported by missus Salish. Oh, yeah. All the any questions or comments regarding this resolution? Any topic? No? Not oh, do I need to read these? No. No. Okay. All those in favor of the resolution, please say yes. Yes. Those who oppose, say no. Resolution passes five o. Alright. So our next resolution is, very much in line with what we have just listened to, which is our budget. This is a resolution urging the governor and the Michigan State legislature to pass the
twenty twenty six twenty twenty seven school aid budget by July 1. May I have a resolution, please? Miss Elise? Whereas with only two weeks remaining in this fiscal year for our schools, the legislature has not yet passed the school aid budget. And whereas last year, the budget was not passed until after the constitutional October 1 deadline. The state's long delay last year forced districts to make critical staffing and programming decisions based on speculation rather than certainty. Without a budget, schools cannot responsibly plan for staffing,
class sizes, transportation, or essential services. And whereas the Troy School District is legally obligated to complete our budget by the end of June. We will fulfill that obligation. But without certainty from Lansing on what funding we will see, we will be forced to once again consider freezing programs, delaying hires, and laying off staff. Families and staff deserve stability. State created budget delays cause unnecessary stress and financial concerns. And whereas the framework for a responsible school aid budget already exists within the within the three proposals under consideration,
there is no excuse to delay bringing these ideas together into a final agreement. And whereas we also urge focus to remain on passing a responsible balanced budget, This is not the time to begin discussions on major reforms. Significant property tax changes or other structural changes that are being brought up deserve a thorough debate separate from the budget, and whereas policymakers must complete a responsible school aid budget that meets the needs of Michigan students. This includes an inflationary increase to the foundation allowance, implementing weighted funding for at risk and ELL students,
stopping the diversion of k $12 away from the classroom, and fixing the school's safety and mental health funding. Now, therefore, be it resolved that Detroit School District calls on the legislature and the governor to pass the school a budget before July 1, and be it resolved that a copy of this resolution be forwarded to the district's representatives in the Michigan House of Representatives in the Michigan Senate as well as the governor's office. Support. Okay. Resolution moved by miss Alish, supported by missus Sandler. Any questions or comments regarding this? Yes, ma'am. Alish? I know I've talked about this
over the last couple of months, in but, you know, not only and I and I and I think our our parents in our community know needs to know. Not only are we not being adequately funded, and it's not just us. It's districts across the state. But, you know, one of the things that's that's being mentioned in here, is significant property tax changes. And so one of the things that's being proposed in the legislature is to cut the six mills that that, are part are part of our of the state tax. And so not only, not only is is monies in the school budget going to secondary or is going
to colleges and universities, that it is monies that that are meant for for k to 12 education. Not only is the the monies that we receive not keeping up with inflation, If we have been keeping up in with inflation for the last twenty years, we would be receiving about 4 and a half thousand dollars more per student, which would mean about $50,000,000 more in our budget. So not only are we not receiving those monies, but but there is a push to actively cut tax item line line items that would further erode public,
public education. So, you know, I I just we here at a district level are making really difficult decisions, But but the push is, the push is for less money in the future for school districts and for public education. And so unless there is a unless there is support from the public, you know, these these proposals of cutting additional funding for public education, they're not gonna go away. They will it it will be, a constant in the cuts that we will have to make and districts will have
to make in the future. It won't be to the tune of 12,000,000. It might be to the tune of 30 or 40,000,000. And and that might not be such a far away such a far away future. So we're dealing with a one year budget here, but this resolution goes to to me to something more. Yeah. We want them to adopt a budget for this year. But but the long term could look much worse than even the short term that we're dealing with with right now. So that's my goal. Thank you. Any other comments?
Okay. Alright. All those in favor of the resolution, please say yes. Yes. Those who oppose say no. Resolution passes five o. Motion adopted. Alright. That finishes our recognition slash resolution side of our agenda. Give me a second. What do you guys want? Do you want a five minute recess or continue on, press through? Alright. The next items on our agenda, additions and deletions. There are none this evening. Okay. Thank you. Next item is public comment communication on agenda items. So I have about five of them right here.
I am going to call your name. Please come up to the podium, say your name, and if you have children in the district, and then you have three minutes to address the board. This is not a, a dialogue. It's it's a time for you to address the board. We will listen and follow-up with you if we need to, after that. The first speaker is mister Walter Cook. Thank you. Good evening. I'm Olt Cook, a TSD parent. I'm a candidate for Troy School Board who has been endorsed by the Troy Education Association. There are so many issues with the cuts under consideration, but I only have a few minutes.
So I'm here tonight to propose to address the proposed cuts to attendant secretaries discussed on June 1. Reducing 12 full time attendants elementary secretaries to half time and eliminating two high school positions will save an estimated $386,000 326, $386,386,000 dollars, and 326. But the long term cost to our students is far greater. As I've shared before, the post COVID increase in chronic absenteeism is the primary driver of declining third grade reading scores on MSN.
Choice product absenteeism rates sat at about five percent pre pandemic, spiked to eighteen point seven percent in 2122, and remains elevated at thirteen point one percent in 2425, the latest year of bill. Recent research from professor Sarah Whitehall of Wayne State University in partnership with the Michigan Department of Education confirms that an effective strategy for combat for for combating this issue relies on dedicated school based personnel who actively build relationships with families to understand and address the root causes of absences. I would note that attendance,
secretary salaries are an allowable use of section 31 a at risk funding. The proposed budget before you tonight makes very conservative assumptions regarding Troy's categoricals. The, this past year, Troy received 2,700,000 in section 31 a funding. Our current state proposals indicate this funding will likely increase either in either in its existing form as per the house proposal or shifted to student weighted formula as per the governor and senate's proposal. When Avis funding is finalized on state aid budget, I respectfully ask the district to immediately restore these positions. We need our attendance secretaries to help maximize attendance so that every student can fully
benefit from the great instruction our schools provide. These hardworking attendant secretaries represent a cost effective cost effective solution to the chronic absenteeism challenge that undermines our our students' ability to benefit from our great teachers. Curriculum and instruction only matter if the students regularly attend school and and I fear the consequences of eliminating this vital support. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you, mister Cook. Next is missus Jill Gettner. Thank you. Good evening. My name is Jill Gettner, and I am a Troy School District parent of thirteen years. And I have served as the secretary to the principal at Martell for the past
six years. I'd like to share what a typical moment in an elementary school office can look like. A student arrives in the clinic with a severe nosebleed. Another student takes medication, which by policy requires two adults to administer. A preschooler arrives late and must be escorted to class. A parent is repeatedly ringing the doorbell demanding to speak with the principal. A substitute teacher has not shown up. Leaving the office staff scrambling to find coverage. At the same time, students, staff, and visitors continue coming through the office. These situations are not rare.
They happen regularly and often simultaneously. Many people think attendance secretaries simply take attendance. In reality, they maintain student records. Manage yearly enrollment requirements. Oversee health and medical documentation, assist in the clinic, support staff, manage supplies and help ensure the school runs safely and efficiently every day. When our attendance secretary is absent and there's no substitute, I am often unable to complete morning attendance until early afternoon because I'm covering two roles. That is a clear indication of how essential this position is. Although my experiences is in an elementary school setting,
I have no doubt that the high school attendance secretary is playing equally critical role in supporting students, staff and school operations. The main office is the hub of the school. It's the first point of contact for students, parents, staff and visitors. It is also a critical component of school safety. While every staff member plays a role in keeping students safe, office staff are on the front line every minute of every day. In the in the proposed budget reduction scenario, eliminating high school attendance secretaries and reducing elementary attendance secretaries was classified as a tier
one recommendation described as low risk, high feasibility, and strong savings. I respectfully ask, how can remove removing or reducing a position that directly supports student safety, student health, and school operations be considered low risk? Overall, reducing office staff in the elementaries and high schools is not just a budget decision. It's a decision that will directly affect the safety, efficiency, and support systems that our students, families, and staff rely on every day. I urge you to preserve both the full time high school and elementary attendance secretary
positions. Thank you. Thank you. Miss missus Jenny Martis? Mhmm. I I hope I said that right. I'm sorry. Hi. My name is Jenny Martis. I grew up in Troy. I attended Troy Schools and graduated from Troy Schools. My two sons also went through Troy Schools and graduated. I have a daughter who's going to be 11, and she did start in toy schools. But we had since moved, a little north of here. So we we decided to move her so she could have friends in our neighborhood. I have worked in the Troy School District for over twenty years and currently serve
as the elementary principal secretary. I have also worked as an attendance secretary. I'm asking you to reconsider the proposed reduction to elementary and high school attendance positions. There have been no fewer than two full time secretaries in our elementaries since the 02/2010 school year. I think there was a comment made at the workshop meeting that we were going to go back to point five secretaries, attendant secretaries. And up until through the 02/2010 school year,
we had two full time secretaries, one being the attendant secretary. During the financial challenges of 02/1011, the district reduced tenant secretary staffing. Some schools were assigned point seven five positions and others point five positions. Over the following years, those positions were gradually restored because the workload required it. By the 02/1819 school year, all 12 elementary attendant secretary positions had returned to full time status where they have remained for the past eight years.
The reality in calling these employees attendant secretaries does not accurately reflect the responsibilities. Attendance is only one part of their job. I'm gonna kinda skip some of this because Jill said a lot of it. Let's see. In many elementary schools, the attendee secretary is the first person a sick child sees, the first person a concerned parent speaks with, the first person to respond when a student cannot be located. They are critical. They are a critical layer of student accountability and school safety. What makes this proposal more concerning is that these employees are among the lowest paid
members of our secretarial group. They are level three employees who work thirty four five hours per week, forty two weeks per year. Yet they carry responsibilities that directly impact student safety, health, attendance compliance, parent communication, and building security. If reducing these positions was not sustainable fifteen years ago, it is even less sustainable today. Student absences have increased significantly since COVID. Safety expectations have increased, and the workload continues to grow. Cutting these positions will not eliminate the work.
It will simply shift it to other staff members while increasing the risk of errors, delays, and safety concerns. Thank you. Thank you. Miss Evelyn Yates Evelyn Yates. Hi. My name is Kate Annable, and I'll be speaking on behalf of Dean Yates, and we'll both be a seventh grader this fall at Smith Middle School. This is written from her perspective. I feel that moving teachers is not the solution to our problems. Losing aids is not a solution either. Same with losing secretaries. None of these is the right choice. I get that you have a budget, but it is not fair to all students losing teachers and or aids and secretaries.
The solution may be hard to find and the road to your heart, but I have an idea. Have a group of disc kids in the district help you make decisions. After all, you've lived through all of your decisions, good or bad. I think the help the students could give you could help. All these changes make me feel like giving up. I like school the way it is. I do not like the changes being made. In fact, miss Jen, my choir teacher, had to tell our class not to scream or shout when she told us that she was leaving. I felt like screaming anyway. I think that when there are less aids, district will have a problem because they help hold the backbone of the district.
They also help the students learn in their own way. They cannot go. I also believe that when there are less secretaries, it will feel like there is less care. They help no matter what and help comfort students. Not having that comfort and help will make students like school even less. They can't go either. I don't know how to fix it, but you have dug yourself into a hole. Up or down about, bad is your choice, and no one else can help. Thank you. Thank you. Missus Sarah Yates. Good evening. I'm speaking tonight on behalf of a group of 25 families whose children attend Troy Preschool, Martel and Wattles Elementary,
Smith and Baker Middle School, and Athens and Troy High Schools. If there's time at the end of my remarks, I will read their names. Otherwise, I will submit them to you for the record. We're opposed to some of the proposed cuts under consideration to resolve the district's $12,000,000 budget shortfall. We're seeking transparency on how Oakland County enhancement millage funds, if passed, will be spent in the district, especially as related to the cuts in the budget. We hope that as you work towards your final budget, and we know that you are spending considerable time and effort here, in this proposal, But the cuts should not come at the expense of the education and safety of
our children. Our children rely on classroom aids, math specialists, reading specialists, and other positions threatened by budget cuts. Our children need support to learn and grow. Our children's teachers also rely on these support staff to ensure that their classrooms run smoothly and that they're able to effectively offer differentiated education in their classrooms. Cutting these positions while leaving intact things like athletic funding and technology purchases betrays the trust we put in you when we elected you to these positions. As for the potential for reduction in secretarial staffing and buildings across the district,
this is an absurd choice in an area of increasing school violence. I've worked at Martell as a new need and as a substitute secretary. I've seen firsthand that the office is a place where people come and go throughout the day. Parents are coming in to pick up and drop off children and supplies. Parents also come in to yell at, threaten, and harass school staff and our educators. Children come to the office for routine medical care because we already do not have school nurses, but they also come when they're injured, sick, and scared. Reducing our secretarial staff leaves our students vulnerable in times when they should not be vulnerable.
It leaves our buildings open to intrusion. The new online visitor system, which is not yet fully functional and shaded glass, will not replace a caring individual when our children need human interaction and and will not protect our children in the event of an active shooter, and you know this. We know you are making hard choices. We know that we are having multi year budget issues. We are not naive about the state of education in The United States and in Michigan, but we leave believe that Detroit School District can do better. We are asking that you seriously reconsider some of these proposed budget changes and find your cuts elsewhere.
Not only are the positions you're cutting held by people who are beloved in our community, but they threaten the safety of our children and educational standards of our district. Thank you from Sarah and Robert Yates, Amy and Luis Benavides, Amber and Austin Dahl, Claire and Sean Marks, Nino Casillas, and Roberto Cruz, Aurora, Libby and Paul Hannibal, Jessica Wilson, Jessica and Rob Harrington, Shelby and Steven Swinburne, and Julix, Juliet and Alex Ganza, Emily and Nick Carstensen, Evelyn and Jose, Luis Galicia, Judith Miller, Jessica Timmert, Christy Stott, Sam Becker, Kendra and Brian Bigler, Chelsea and Ryan Gerler,
Rosieus Riviate, Jackie Colvin, the Gebbig family, Amy Spreitzer, Alyssa, something. Allison, now we can Christina. Thank you. Appreciate it. That concludes our public comments section on agenda items. Thank you. Okay. Our next item on our agenda is general consent agenda. So let me get to that one. Today, we have a long list of general consent agenda, which includes a, minutes of the 05/19/2026 Board of Education meeting, b, treasurer's report April 2026,
c, food service contract renewal. D, Michigan High School Athletic Association, MHSAA membership for 2026, 2027, e, 2025, 2026 budget amendment, f, twenty twenty six twenty twenty seven budget appropriations resolution g, common debt fund resolution h, approval of OCSBA Association bylaws amendment I, approval of OCSBA new resolution opposing tying any school funding to waiving the attorney client privilege,
and j, AP, precalculus textbook adoption. May I have a resolution, please? That is not there. Sorry. Go ahead. Just one quick second. Yes. I just have a question about f, the budget appropriations resolution. Is that approving the $12,000,000 cut that we're making? Is that what that It's approving the budget that we actually listened to. That was proposed. Proposed. Correct. Correct. Yes. Which includes the $12,000,000 of reductions. Yeah. And to clarify, it is specifying the $12,000,000
reduction. It does not specify where the reduction is coming from, and that will happen throughout the summer and as we get more information and more data. Okay. Alright. Miss Salish? Be it therefore resolved that the Detroit Board of Education takes action to approve items a through j on the consent agenda. And in support? Support. K. Moved by miss Alish, supported by doctor Melton. Any questions or comments? Miss Potts, you can ask the questions now or make any comments if you like. I just need to say out loud and for the public to know that this
is a really difficult decision. I don't know if that presentation made sense to everybody. You know, there was a lot of lot of information that was shared. We've been talking about this as a board for several months. We knew this reductions were coming. And I know there's a lot of feelings about where these cuts are being proposed. Bottom line is this $12,000,000 has to come out of our budget. That is very much in our face. But how we're gonna do it is although it's probably the smartest thing to do, and I applaud our administration for making these decisions carefully and with
with a lot of consideration. It wasn't a reckless decision. Nothing that our administration when we looked at this, when they proposed it to us, there was nothing saying we wanna best blast the whole district. There was nothing, we always have the best intentions for our students and for our staff. I want you all to know that and understand that that these decisions are very difficult. I've not lost sleep over certain things. I've lost sleep over this. This has made me, like, physically probably pretty ill. And then, hearing everybody and hearing from many people in the community about their concerns about safety,
especially the secretaries. I know that you are the first face that we see in the morning. I had stuff written down. I probably should have pulled it up, but I'm just kinda speaking from the heart here. I, for one, have heard your concerns. I don't take any of this easily. So I will I've wrestled with voting yes and to support this budget cut. I support that we have to cut this 12,000,000. I don't like the way it's going down. Personally, I don't I don't like the cuts. I'm really urging administration to really look at these even more carefully if that's impossible.
I don't know where I stand with this, to be completely honest. Yes. Thank you, miss Potts. Anyone else have any comments? Miss Enroth? As board members, it's my opinion that our role is the what of governance. We are responsible for setting priorities, establishing expectations, and ultimately ensuring that we adopt a balanced budget. The administration's role is the how to develop recommendations and implementation plans to achieve those goals. I appreciate the significant work that has gone into developing this budget reduction scenario. No one should underestimate how difficult it is to identify nearly $12,000,000
in reductions while continuing to serve students and their families well. However, while I support the need to reduce expenditures, I have concerns myself about whether the reductions are being distributed equitably across student and adult support systems. When I review the proposals, as example, I see a reduction in some areas of only one staff out of 15 positions, approximately a 7% reduction. At the same time, I see a reduction of 54 student support aids out of a 158 positions, more than 34%, along with reductions to social workers,
psychologists, paraprofessionals, secretaries, and other special education essential supports. My concern is not that more groups should be cut deeply. My concern is that students with disabilities and students requiring intensive support appear to be carrying a disproportionately higher share of the reduction than students receiving general education interventions. The district's own scoring framework identifies equity as one of its highest priorities. If equity is truly guiding our decisions, then we must ask whether the burden of these reductions is being shared fairly among
all programs and student groups. As we make these really difficult decisions, I believe our responsibility is not simply to ask whether we have reached the dollar target. We must also ask whether we have reached it in a way that reflects our values and our commitment to serving all students and their families equitably, especially those with the greatest needs. For that reason, I would hope and like to request continued discussion regarding the proposed reductions to groups like special education, counseling, social work secretaries, and psychological services before moving forward with the finalized cuts.
I want to say to the people gathered here, we appreciate what you're saying. We hear you. And like I said earlier, I cannot imagine how difficult it must have been to try to reach a $12,000,000 goal. And thinking ahead to future reductions doesn't sound like too much of a good time either. So, hopefully, with our heads together as a team, we will maintain the supports for our most vulnerable kids. Thank you. Thank you. Any more minutes? Yeah. I wanna make a a few comments. Generally speaking, I do wanna make a general comments. The number of students we have in our district,
in our classrooms has been reducing, and that is, one impact on this, budget of of funding. As a couple of speakers have said, and thank you for acknowledging that none of us are taking this lightly. And we've spent, what, five hours, six hours in March in a Saturday afternoon just looking and reviewing it. And after that, countless number of meetings and discussions to understand where where we can reduce the $12,000,000
from. Ultimately, we have to reduce it. If we are not going to do it at one place, we need to figure out where else we're gonna do it. It's between multiple bad choices. You have to choose one, and it's not an easy task. And thank you to the administration for sitting down and looking at it a little more objectively. I understand none of it is really objective when it comes to caring for our kids, helping them, supporting them. All of these positions are there for a reason.
We need them. But at the same time, we also need to balance our budget. We also need to reduce $12,000,000 in cuts. So every question we ask in real evaluating these cuts, we always have to come up also with the suggestion of where that cut will come from because it can't come from thin air. It has to come from somewhere in this budget, somewhere here. So it is, I acknowledge it's not easy. I acknowledge it's difficult. And I also acknowledge that there are many facts that could let's say,
if the county millage has passed, you could get funding, and that would bring bring back the money to bring some of these positions back. So there's a lot of factors that could change the dynamic of what the cuts are going to be and how they're going to be. And it's not a one time done deal either. As the funding, God forbid, if the state government gives us a little more money for foundation allowance, we can add back these, positions for the secretary. So it is not a fixed thing,
and we will continue to reevaluate and look at where we should add back. And like someone said, these are not high cost positions. It is potentially easy to get the positions back. And the best part about all of this is we are only taking advantage of the buyouts that are the voluntary separations that are happening. And we are and this, budget does not at all try to reduce any, existing employees, and we're trying to move them to the right positions.
It's not easy. I know. It's not, it's not something that you want to hear, but we will definitely reevaluate and relook at everything as we get more data, more information, more funding, more everything throughout the year. That's all I have. Okay. Okay. If alright. Those we need to vote on this for now. All those in support of the consent agenda, please say yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Do we have four? Yes. We have four. We have four? Okay. Can they refrain? All those who oppose, please say no. No.
K. Alright. The resolution passes four to one. All right. That concludes our consent agenda. Our next items, next on our agenda is personnel. We have no personnel agenda, I assume. There's none. Okay. That's correct. And curriculum? There's none as well. Okay. Next is our business agenda items. Mister Trudeau, we have MacBook and iPad purchases. Oh, before you start, Matt, I do wanna clarify. Someone mentioned that you have to rethink about iPad and technology purchases when we are reducing headcount.
I wanna clarify to the public that technology purchases come from a completely different fund, which cannot be used for paying for our teachers, our secretarial staff. We are required by law to make sure that they are completely separate, And that is why we are not able to use any of them. Thank you. Yeah. We we did try to push these off further into the summer, but there's just a timing aspect. So both of just set up on these devices and and and order times, things like that. But then also from a bond perspective,
we do have cash flow schedules that we have to maintain. So, we have a three year window essentially to spend these funds. So we have to make sure that we're diligent with that and in light of all the other conversations we have going on. So first item on the agenda, is the MacBook iPad purchase. So this would be for 4,400, staff devices and student devices across the district. So we went over kind of the the philosophy behind that number at the workshop. But the total expenditure would be $2,420,000, and that will be funded through our twenty twenty three capital projects file.
Alright. We are asked to consider Apple MacBook purchases, MacBook and iPad purchases. May I have a resolution, please? Doctor Melton? We have therefore resolved that the district purchase Apple, MacBooks and iPads in the amount of $2,420,430 and that this amount be approved as an expenditure of the twenty twenty three Capital Projects Fund. K. Resolution moved by doctor Melton supported by missus Alish. Any questions or comments regarding this? Yes, miss Alish. So, I brought this up, at the workshop, and I've and I've,
been bringing this up in a different format. So, the the question I'd asked at the workshop is, you know, we are we've slowly moved k through third grade to CARTs. So it is one to one, but it is no longer the students taking the iPads home. And I believe there are some classrooms, at the fourth grade level that are piloting that this year. So I guess my question is, you know, I understand what these particular purchases are going for, but have there,
especially now that the students are are going away from having the compute you know, the the iPads, k through third, let's say, bringing it home. Is there any discussion, or has there been any discussion to potentially going back to the way things were before COVID where kids didn't get iPads until third grade or at least some other so I I think that's my you know? And so have there been any of those discussions? Yeah. Our tech, we have a technology committee, so that's comprised of just various administrators across the district from all levels.
And what we had talked about was, you know, obviously, we're piloting a fourth grade cart model, but we do wanna further those conversations in the fall of what does the the one to one delivery model look like. And there's a lot of larger ramifications that we have to loop in some teaching and learning staff in terms of, you know, what does testing look like across the district and what is the actual implementation of certain curriculum items. You know, the middle school's pretty heavy with the iPads and and making sure that their students are uploading their documents every time they have a homework assignment. So there's other deeper conversations that we need to have in terms of what technology
and the role is in our curriculum. But that's something I think that once we start the school year and and get things going after the new buildings open and all that, we wanna bring those teams back together to have a little bit deeper conversation of, you know, what what should technology look like. You know, you're starting to see a lot of countries. I just saw The UK is now banning social media for student or for children 16 and under. So I mean, there's there's a large movement, I think, that you're starting to see not just from social media but all the way down to devices too. So, as we hear those stories and read about them, that's something that we wanna dive a little deeper into,
and engage with the board, obviously, you know, in the fall to to see where the district wants to go with that. And I guess my other comment would be, you know, and and Vitell is partially to what you said. You know, this is monies that are coming out of the capital project fund and not out of the general fund, and, you know, we can't intermix those two. But that also means that this is $2,400,000 that is not gonna be used for, infrastructure changes and improvements and things like that. And I know there were monies in the in the capital projects fund for for technology. The other thing is in and I,
you know, I talk about digital technology quite a bit to let the public know that in September, we do have the intention of beginning a a a book read together as a board. We've we haven't done one this year. We did the, governance court, but we haven't, done one in a little while, and we will be talking about the digital delusion and and looking at it through a curriculum lens. But my comment would also be that while this is money that that does not come out of the general fund, every iPad, every piece of technology does have a general fund component.
Every single iPad so so as we look to the future both at at curriculum pedagogy and budget, we have to we have to be aware that every iPad that's purchased has software that's connected to it and multiple pieces of software, and those are subscriptions that come through our general fund. And so this iPad is not just these $2,400,000. There is there is an entire list of associated items that come with it.
So, we may not only be doing we may not only be doing harm to the teaching of kids, I think, especially probably at elementary level, but we are also incurring additional general general budget funds. And so, you know, I know it's a lot to put into one one, you know, iPad purchase, but it's some of the comments that are coming from the public. But it's, well, also things that that, I brought up in the past. And so, you know, I'm hopeful that this is maybe gonna be the last time that it's gonna seem
like, well, we are just in this rotation of iPads, and we just have to keep on it because that's just what we have to keep doing because we've committed somehow ourselves to keeping in that rotation. But I think for for several reasons, we are we are gonna have to break away from that and and do a really, deep dive in what that means in terms of teaching and what that also means in terms of our in terms of our budget. So, okay. Apologies for the long comment, please. Thank you. Any anyone else have any comments on this? No? Yes or no? No? Okay. That's great.
Alright. I just wanna clarify, Dan, that this purchase includes, for teachers as well. Right? All the teachers will get new iPads and MacBooks as part of this purchase. Yeah. So we replace staff laptops once every five years. So we are ending our fifth year currently. So we wanna get those in over the summer. That way our tech teams can go through and, format them all, get them all set up, and then at the beginning of the school year, start distributing those to staff. And then the iPads, during the pandemic, staff were given an iPad in addition to a laptop. We're gonna make that somewhat optional for them.
You know, we're not just gonna say here's an iPad for you. So we're gonna collect the old ones. We've heard a large majority don't use them. They primarily use their laptops with Apple TVs. So any remaining iPads then will just go and we'll start replacing older, ninth generation iPads as well. Okay. So Yep. And the student iPads we are replacing, they are running out of service? Is that what you said? They are generation? So they're seventh generation, so they're about five years old as well. Okay. So typically, an iPad lasts about five years before you have to replace it. So we have, large we have over four thousand seventh gen iPads.
So those are the ones that still have a button. They use a different connector on it. And so we're trying to get rid of those as much as we can. That way, they're all the same type of iPad across the district. Alright. And I do echo, miss Alicia's sentiments that while I'm I'm gonna vote for this and approve it, that for the future purchases, we definitely need to review and pair it with our technology, our technology panel and what we plan on doing as far as our one to one devices for our students and what's our long term strategy and,
for that before we start making more capital purchases on these. Yep. We will plan to do that for the fall. Okay. Thank you. Alright. If no other questions or comments, all those in oh, all those in favor of this resolution, please say yes. Yes. Those who oppose say no. Resolution passes five o. We're gonna have our iPads. K. The next on our agenda is bus purchases, considering the purchase of 15 of our district school buses? So out of the 15 buses,
we four of them are currently available. So it's kind of a a one year old model, but still brand new. So we'll be able to take delivery on those later in the summer. But the remaining 11 are gonna be a new model year. They didn't have any left, of the prior model year available. So it's about a ten to, twelve month build time. So our goal is to get those ordered, before June. That's when prices go up. So we've locked in these these prices through the MSBO, which is the Michigan School Business Official Bus Purchasing Program. So it's a consortium of buses where about three different vendors offer different pricing based
on the model that you want. So, we wanna get those ordered pending your approval, but those would also be funded through the 2023 capital projects fund as well. Okay. Alright. May I have a resolution, please? Alright, miss Salish. Be it therefore resolved that the bid for school buses be awarded to Hoekster Transportation in the amount of $2,464,089 and that this amount be approved as an expenditure expenditure of the $20.23 capital project Fund. Support. Who are the two? Miss miss doctor Melton? Okay. Alright. Sorry.
Stephanie. We will proceed. Alright. Resolution moved by mister Lish, supported by doctor Melton. Any comments or questions regarding this? Alright. Hearing that hearing none, all those in say in favor of this resolution, please say yes. Yes. Those who oppose, say no. Resolution passes five o. Alright. Next on our agenda is the new Smith Middle School printer purchase. So this is, so it's Smith Middle School, but then we do have some other devices across the district. So, for the public's knowledge, we have printers across the district that we lease.
Those lease costs come out of the general fund currently. So we have two sets of leases. One expires at the end of the summer and then the other larger lease expires the end of next summer. So the lease ending this summer is about $40,000 annually, that we are gonna drop out of the general fund, purchase new printers with the bond funds, which then alleviates some of that pressure off our general fund. But next summer, we have about a $140,000 of leases that come due that we will then bring forth another purchase. So our goal is to utilize these bond dollars to help pull costs out of the general fund,
where we can. So, that that's a strategy that we try to look at across every operational cost that we have in our general fund. So over time, we'll start to see even, like, repair and maintenance costs go down out of our our, general fund as well because of the improvements to our infrastructure across the district. So, this is primarily, as I mentioned, for New Smith Middle School. So all new printing devices in that building, will be purchased. And then all of the lease devices that we have, which are primarily colored devices across the district, Those are gonna be pulled from the district over summer and then replaced with a
new purchase device. But we're also rolling in on top of a lease, we're rolling in warranty purchase with this. So when you purchase something that's bond eligible and you roll a warranty in at the time of purchase, you can actually lower your per print cost, every print across the district, where they charge you a little bit for warranty as part of that print. So what we're doing is prepaying that warranty, which is an allowable expenditure through the bond, and then that'll help lower our print cost, from the general fund as well. So, a lot a lot of thought went into this purchase in terms of how can we alleviate some of that pressure on the general fund.
So k. So these printers, the the tentative target pending your approval will be they would be installed in early August, in time for the new school year. So and they they are funded through the twenty twenty three capital projects fund. Alright. Thank you. We are asked to vote on a res consider resolution for printers. May I have a resolution, please? Miss Potts. It is therefore resolved that the purchase of printers be awarded to Applied Innovation in the amount of $733,985.55 and that this amount be approved as an expenditure of the twenty twenty three capital
Projects Fund. Support. Okay. Moved by moved by miss Potts, supported by missus Sandler. Any questions or comments regarding this resolution? Seeing none, all those in favor of the resolution, please say yes. Yes. Those who oppose, say no. Resolution passes five zero. We're gonna have printers for the new Smith Middle School. Okay? Thank you. Okay. That concludes, the general part of our agenda. Do we have any public communication on non agenda items?
We do not. That takes us to other, and we do not have any student reps this today. I'm sad. There is summer break. Well deserved, I guess. They're probably not sad. No. They're not probably sad. Yes. So that takes us to the other other part of the agenda. So you wanna start off, miss Anurag? Sure. So I just wanna say that kids aren't politics. Right? Kids are kids, and they need what they need. And, frankly, the work we're doing as a team, is for them. Right? They are our primary consumers, and the work we do will hopefully pay them dividends years in the future.
So, hopefully, those in the audience, whether live or on screen, who are watching this later with popcorn, received doctor Mucheski's email today about reaching out to your local legislators about passing a budget on time so that we can do the best job we can do. We can't, as you can hear, wrestle with what reductions are the best reductions, what reductions are the most equitable reductions, what reductions impact students and communities the least without a budget to work from from the state. So regardless of your politics,
kids aren't politics, Please reach out to your representative and ask them to please work together regardless of politics for our students. I I think I got an okay there. I'd like to, again, thank the speakers that came up tonight. We appreciate your input. I wanna also apologize for not having other opportunities to hear your input before tonight. I feel like it's really important to to be able to hear our community and the people inside of it, every single stakeholder group. And I promise that at least for my part, I will do my part to make sure that there are increased opportunities for that
as we continue to move forward. So, please enjoy the summer that you get. That's all I'll say. And thank you. Thank you, miss Sundar. Miss Potts? Thanks. I wanna take a moment to congratulate our class of twenty twenty six graduates. Last month, May was wait a minute. Two high schools graduated last month, and two more graduate this past month. So I just wanna congratulate everybody. I'm very proud of their accomplishments and was very honored to be part of that celebration. It is also June, so happy Pride Month. June is nationally recognized to bring awareness,
support, and love to our LGBTQ plus community. And as a strong ally, I will always spread acceptance and unity with a wonderful group of people. And all are welcome in the Troy School District. It's also men's mental health awareness month. So men, please take care of yourselves. I will refrain from saying what I said last year, and that was to encourage all men to just get it together. So but it's never a bad idea to seek help and guidance from a professional. It's never an embarrassment to better yourselves either. I have to take a moment to thank our administration for the hard work they've
done this past year as we turned to budget conversations. Cuts are never easy, clearly, from tonight's comments. We just know we know just how hard these decisions are and how hard our community takes them. It's not easy to say that none of you are import no. That is not wait a minute. I didn't edit this. That is not to say that none of you are important because everybody's important. Just like we all said here, or miss Vidal miss Annie said. It's okay. It's not a weight of your importance. All of you are very important and play a very vital role in what makes
our district what it is. And I've heard from many of you regarding the strain this will cause, and I want you to know that you are heard. Thank you to everyone who spoke. I wanna tell you that, we appreciate your comments tonight. And going forward, I know that we're gonna make our the best decisions possible for our district and happy summer. Thank you. Thank you, miss Watts. Doctor Milton? I wanted to wait until now to to really dig into my comments. So first, I wanted to recognize our secretaries that were here tonight, that spoke. Being a former principal at the middle school and high school level as well as
an interim principal at the elementary school level, I 100% know what you are talking about. It gets crazy up there. And so I recognize the stress, that that causes. And that kind of leads me into some of what we're talking about. We do have multiple board members that did request, a special meeting. Board members can request that, to dig further into, proposed reductions because I think, we need to spend more time on this because there
are I guess maybe hidden consequences that people don't always think of or because they haven't been in a role, they don't know or they don't understand. So I think it's important for us to spend time talking about that with the realization, like miss Annie said, that the cuts do have to come from somewhere. But I think it it's it's the right thing to do to give this the time it deserves to talk about these things. One of the one of the things that I wanted to talk about, we we receive updates from our administration with information,
and I wanted to add some information to that. As a board, we're not allowed to meet together on the side or even communicate via email, around an issue that is like this that we're gonna be discussing because that would violate the Open Meetings Act. So I'm gonna share some of my thoughts or just information, for my fellow board members and administration. Just these are items to consider and think about. We had talked about counseling and counseling ratios. We were provided some information on, contractual maximums,
also some national and state council ratios. I just wanted to make it a point that the state of Michigan council ratio is 600 to one. That is included K through 12. When we look at our council ratio, we're looking secondary. I think that's important to point out. A lot of people don't realize that, some school districts in Michigan have elementary school counselors. We do not have that. So when we're looking at ratios, that's an important thing to take into consideration. The other piece is a little domino effect here. One of the special education
positions that is being shifted is point four FTE at each high school, that were five zero four coordinators. Those, duties would be now placed onto counselors. So that is something to think about as well. It's not just, not refilling a counseling position. It's adding to the plate of counselors as well. So I wanted to bring that to people's attention. We did get an update on elementary literacy reaching more readers, which is great. Two years ago, we got a report from,
New Solutions k twelve. Nate Levinson was the, consultant hired. He was paid $350,000 to do an analysis and come up with some recommendations. And his top recommendation was reaching more readers through service. The reading specialist reach grew 3.6 specialists over three years is what we were told. One of the things though that Mr. Levinson recommended in the book that all of our administrators and central office staff looked at, which is called six shifts, One of the things that he says is key is a district does a financial
analyt analysis to see the cost of a particular intervention and also to measure that intervention's effectiveness. And he calls that a return on investment. So Mr. Levinson said that we should be looking at interventions that give us a bigger return on our investment. Currently, we use reading recovery, which is a one to one based model. A reading recovery teacher serves services for kids one semester for the next. That's eight total in a year. Mr. Levinson, in one of his research papers stated that
a five to one ratio is just as effective as one to one and supported that with, evidence from What Works Clearing House. If we were to shift to a curriculum or an intervention model that followed his advice that we paid for, we could serve as 40 kids per year per reading recovery teacher versus the eight kids per year. And we could level up or increase our service from 3.6 times what it was to over seven and a half times what it was.
So as we sit here and look at money and how we best spend our money, I wanted to to give you a quote from his spring twenty four, Education Next article where he said that other interventions that service four to five kids at a time performed just as good, if not better, at a fraction of the cost compared to reading recovery. So in a time when we're crunching pinching pennies, I think we need to look at every single thing we're using.
And this is one of the things that I think we need to take a look at. That's it. Thank you, doctor Milton. Miss Alish? Thank you. I just wanna you know, we we spent quite a bit of time at our workshop talking talking about some of the specifics that that were, laid out to us. And I just wanna say when it comes to the budget, we understand I understand how jarring these adjustments are. I've gotten a lot of feedback from from from parents in the community that, you know, they didn't know that we were gonna have to cut 12,000,000.
And and we've been discussing that for a little while. But I understand the the reality of, you know, what it means. You know, we're not laying people off, but there are definitely staffing level cuts, you know, in in lots of locations, with senior and beloved teachers leaving. And four of us on the board have kids in the district. So these are not changes that are being made that affect somebody else's kids. They also affect my own kids. So that's I guess it's to say we're being heard. We we have maybe
not the same concerns as you, but we have concerns across the board. And and as doctor Melton mentioned, I am one of the board members who requested that we have an additional meeting to have more time to to look at the to look at at where we are. And some of that is gonna depend on whether or not not the county millage passes. And that's something that Macomb and Wayne County both have, and sometimes gives us an disadvantage even in terms of teacher salaries and other things. So we are waiting on that. We are waiting to see what the final severance numbers are to see how much
more room that may or may not give us in the budget. We are waiting to see what budget the state passes. So there are kind of three outstanding items that that have an effect, that will have an effect on our budget not only for next year, but some of them will have an effect on our budget going forward, you know, into the future. And so I have requested, and I would like for us to have another opportunity to have a meeting where all we talk about is is kind of is this. And I said it at our workshop. For me, our budget is a reflection of our values.
Right? And our values are in our in our strategic plan. And so we have to look at what it is that that our mission is here, and our mission here is to educate kids in a in a safe environment. And so when we and that's that's I would say that's our core mission. And so we have to look at any budget adjustments to through that core mission. And any budget that we adopt isn't a is isn't a is is a reflection of our values.
So, I don't know, you know, I I don't I don't know where that 12,000,000 is gonna be and how it's gonna be distributed. But, you know, many of us asked for additional things to be at the workshop for additional things to be looked at for a fairer share from some departments, to be given that that maybe were not in the original proposed. So all I can say is this is really hard. We don't have a choice but to cut this money, and we are probably gonna have to do additional cuts next year.
I think we as a board are committed to to trying to ensure that we we we we meet our our our core mission of educating kids in a safe environment. And we just we are gonna have to work through this together, and we appreciate your feedback. And I would encourage people, whether in the audience or who are listening to us, if you if you have feedback, send it to us. You know, this is a it is a time period for for for for the district to to think about, analyze, and and and adjust. Again,
as a reminder, and I've brought this up several years, the county millage will be on the August, on the August ballot. I know somebody had raised the question of, you know, the community would like to know if it votes for it or, you know, where those monies could go. And I think, you know, we as a district and we as a board cannot advocate for people to vote a particular way, but, I know that, missus Latante has provided information at least to to parents, you know, about the millage. I think, maybe perhaps if we haven't so,
you know, if we have it in a way, we could we can again outline for the community what are some of the, what amount of money we would be talking about that would potentially become again as a you know, into into our, into our budget and and what those monies could be used for. So and I know some of that has already been been done, but, we are less than two months away from from that, from the opportunity for for the community to to vote for that. So, I mean, I guess with all of that, I just we are taking this seriously.
And and, you know, I I I hope everybody has a a safe summer, and I and I and I do look forward to us as a board having an opportunity to to sit with this again, before the start of next school year. K. Thank you. Doctor. Muczynski? The, to answer your question specifically, if the enhancement millage were to pass, approximately 780 ish dollars is, a student, that would go to every public school and public charter school student, in Oakland County. And that is that would go that would be distributed through Oakland Schools to every
district based on enrollment. And for the Troy School District, that's just under $9,000,000 So what would it be spent on? It would be spent on exactly the things that we've identified are reductions for next year. We prior we attempted to prioritize those reductions, in a manner, that was objective, and and made some sense. It was not easy, but that's where those, if if that money were to come to fruition, that's exactly, what we would be looking at, restoring. That along with, as mister Trudeau mentioned earlier, we have built into our reductions of one a $1,500,000
savings from the, from the, the buyout, the severance. If those savings come back at a greater rate, which we expect they will, then we'll use those savings, as an opportunity to evaluate those reductions that have been proposed today. I'll remind, the community and and as, we shared in our spring updates, to both staff and and community. Just another reminder to the board, our budget is 93% personnel. We are a people organization. We are people serving people. You do not find $12,000,000,
in reductions, unfortunately, without impacting people. That is again, we're a people heavy organization, and that is that's the reality that we have to wrestle with, And it's a it's a reality we wrestle with in this these particular budget reductions. You can reduce things, but things, that's a that's a one time reduction. And, unfortunately, there's just not the savings there that that we need to find, the recurring savings that we need to find on an annual basis. And, as was mentioned earlier, if, the state, does not begin doing its job,
in appropriately funding public education. We're looking at at least another $6,000,000 in reductions next year, so for the twenty seven-twenty eight school year. So these are, these are challenges that will persist so long as the legislature persists in not doing its job. And at the end of the day, that is the issue here. The issue is we have a, we have a system of financing public education that is broken. We have a legislature in Lansing that is broken, that refuses to do the job necessary to,
at minimum, fund schools at the rate of inflation, at minimum. And what we see what we hear tonight, and what we see as a result of these budget reductions is exactly that. So I would encourage all of you to pick up the phone tomorrow, call your legislator, call the governor's office, and tell them that it's not acceptable, that they refuse to do their job. And the fact they refuse to do their job creates more work, more anxiety for this board, for this public. I wish I could say it differently, but unfortunately, that's the case. And we're we're situated, saddled with,
these very difficult decisions as we move forward. So with that in mind, yes, $9,000,000 would be the outcome of the, enhancement millage for the Troy School District. I encourage you to go, online. You can go to, to the Troy School District page. Miss Montianti has regular every Friday is in our, in our, newsletter has put out information regarding the enhancement millage. Encourage you all to, to look at that further and determine whether that's something you and or your neighbors think they might be willing to support. Other than that, unfortunately,
there's not much more to say. Thank you, doctor Machesky. Okay. I'm gonna kind of, I guess, on the sad side, sad note, but, the landscape for public education is not good in general. What we have in the state legislature is what we voted for, and they want to reduce funding for public schools. That's the general reality. And we need to work with what we have, and we need to make tough decisions. How we make it is all on us with your input and feedback.
But, I'm gonna be honest. We're gonna have to make even tougher decisions in the coming years ahead as our enrollment is coming down, and we need to be smarter and strategic about how we fund, how we spend in our public education and how to educate our kids the right way. But having said that, there's some good news. This weekend is Father's Day. Let's celebrate all the amazing fathers we have in our families and the time that
we spend with all of them. It's also Juneteenth and International Yoga Day. So I say let's take a deep breath, and let's try and solve these problems one at a time. It's not as bad as we think. We can get there slowly, one reduction at a time with very strategic moves. So I can say, when is our next meeting? July 21. Well, in summer, we usually only have one meeting in the month. That's for July. And our next July meeting is July twenty first,
Tuesday at 09:30AM at the Administration Building here. Okay? And if nothing else, we are the meeting will be adjourned.