Trusty Goodrich >> here. >> Trusty Fields >> here. >> Trusty Sutton Kennedy, I'm here. Trusty Townsen >> here. >> Trust Vice President Lee >> here. Hawkins
and I know she's >> absent and trusty also abust Kennedy. We have five board members present and two. Next on our agenda, the pledge of
allegiance. I ask that we all stand and trust Phils, could you please lead us in the pledge of allegiance >> to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it
stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. >> Thank you. Next on our agenda is the acceptance of the agenda. Could I have a motion, please? >> Madame vice president, I move that the
board of education accept the agenda as presented. Is there support? >> Trusty feels I support. >> Motion was made by Trusty Goodrich. Supported by I'm sorry. Motion was made by Trusty Goodrich. Supported by Trusty
Fields. All those in favor? >> I. All those opposed? Hearing none. Motion passed. Next we have on our agenda number four, achievements, awards, and recognition. and I will pass that over to Dr. Zachary
Ross. >> Thank you, Madame Vice President. At this time, we are excited to um welcome the principal of Holmes Steam Elementary School with their
points of pride. Uh, Zack Shoots is here and I see lots of our home scholars here and let us please welcome him. >> Good evening. I am so excited to present our seven points of pride for homes
elementary tonight. But first, I would like to invite all of our homes ambassadors that are here tonight. So, if you are new or if you are a veteran ambassador, please stand and come on up to the front. >> All right.
>> I am so proud to be standing here as the principal of these ambassadors. We're going to with our big voices go down the line, just introduce yourself, your name, and your grade. And then we will do our homes ambassador pledge. Starting with Micah. So go ahead. Real big voice.
>> My name is Micah and I'm in fourth grade. >> My name is also in fourth grade. My name is My name is My name is All
right, ambassadors, we're going to do our pledge on the count of three. One, two, three. >> I am a home team ambassador. I leave with respect, act with responsibility,
and to safety. I am a scholar of academic success. I commit to excellence every day in every way. To excellence every day to excellence every
>> Thank you, ambassador. Stay up here for just a moment. We've got a few things that we're going to tell our board and our our uh community about. The first thing you'll notice some of our ambassadors have pins on their shirts that say excellence and some of them do not yet have those pins. The scholars
who have pins on their shirts, they are veteran ambassadors. They have earned those pins by memorizing the pledge. And the scholars who don't have pins yet on their shirts, uh they were just inducted last Friday. So, three days ago, they became ambassadors. And that's our first
point of pride. So, we have here pictures of our newest ambassadors. We had 23 newly inducted ambassadors on Friday, uh, February 20th. And I'd like to have them be able to lead us through a few
things, but first, I might embarrass you a little bit. Uh, this is their interview, uh, what it looked like on Friday. This is from our security camera because I was I was fortunately and unfortunately not in the building. I was in Las Vegas at a conference. So I I snuck in and
grabbed a glimpse at the at their at their interviews and this is what it looked like. They came into the gym one at a time and they talked about what leadership is at homes. Uh what how they have been leaders at homes and how they commit to being leaders at homes
interviewed by uh Miss Majetti, Miss Love, a fourth grade teacher, Miss Neil, and Miss Mikl. And so uh very excited to have them go through that process. They all applied formally. Uh they wrote uh a few different answers and then came in to be interviewed in their Sunday best
on Friday a u morning. So without further ado, th this is our first point of pride. All of our ambassadors and I'd like to have them talk us through what Home's Hands of Pride is. Who would like to share with our board about Homes Hands of Pride? Awesome. Thanks,
Destiny. Go for it. >> Yep. >> Okay. So pride. >> Yeah. Destiny, you want to come to the microphone? >> Okay. >> Bring the mic to you. Let's keep
moving. also. There it is. Okay, here it is. Okay, I'm going to leave it just like this. So, if you're going to talk, you can come on up to this microphone. But anyway, we have uh students who earn their handprints by
showing growth on their NWA and also uh the highest achieving uh students also get to earn their handprint on the Homes Hands of Pride wall. Next up, excellence every day and every way. We've got three different trophies here.
We'll start with our green cafeteria excellence trophy. One ambassador, please come on up to the mic and explain how we earn the green cafeteria excellence trophy. Morgan, come on up. Whenever you want to come next for PBIS,
go for it. >> To earn the green cafeteria trophy. Yeah. To show cafeteria excellence every day and in every way. >> Ivor, you want to come up for our PBIS
trophy? I'm going to hold my >> So, you have to earn your class has to earn the most PBI s points throughout all the classes in the school. >> And our biggest silver, the biggest trophy up there is
our academic excellence trophy. How do we earn our academic excellence trophy? Dakota, come on up. You learn it by when you do your NWA test, Mr. Shoots looks at it and the class that has the
most growth gets it. But if we didn't have a recent NWA test, he looks at our mirror. >> That's correct. >> So every month, thank you, Dakota. Thank you, Ivor. Thank you, Morgan. Every month you'll see there's little trophies in front of the big trophies.
The class that earns the trophy for that month gets to take a picture with the big trophy, but that stays in our trophy case at the front of our building. The little trophies go back to the classrooms and stay there all year long. All right, next up we've got Oh, these
are that's our PBIS excellence winner from January. Our academic excellence winner from January. Very proud to take these trophies back to their classrooms. And next up, okay, so I'm going to take over from here. Ambassadors, thank you so much for being
here tonight and representing homes so well and being fantastic ambassadors. Am I forgetting something, Miss Magetti? >> Yeah, most definitely. One more time. >> I'm Sage and I'm in the fifth grade. >> I'm Leila and I'm in the third grade.
>> I'm Ivo and I'm in the fourth grade. I'm Davies and I'm in the third grade. I'm Donna and I'm in the fifth grade. >> Awesome. Thank you, ambassadors. All right. Thank you, ambassadors. You
may take a seat with your family. Right now, about 15% of our scholars have earned the opportunity to be ambassadors. Uh, and it's an open application. So, we've had our first open application uh just this past February. uh but twice a year students will be able to apply. We have our homes
esteem uh leadership institute over the summertime uh where we uh teach leadership uh for two weeks right after GLC uh during the summer. So our ambassadors are invited to participate in that as well. This is our new mural on our fifth grade hall and it is the
steam pathway in YCS. So you'll notice uh Stacy Schwarz is the art teacher at Estbrook and she did a phenomenal job bringing this vision to life, >> but all the way on the left you'll see Ford. She captured the the essence of
each building just extremely well. There's Ford Early Learning Ford Steam Early Learning Center. Next up is Home Steam Elementary School. And then you see the middle school, the high school, and beyond the high school is a college that looks very similar to EMU.
and uh a little flag that says collegebound. And this is just a wonderful representation both of the the trajectory of our scholars at homes uh and also uh an opportunity for us to have conversations about who we are and
where we are in this pathway so they can see themselves uh as middle schoolers, as high schoolers, as collegebound graduates. Uh and it be it helps us bring context to the conversations we have with our scholars every day. And we will sometimes literally bring a student out
into the hallway and say, "What do you see here?" You know, "Where are you in this picture? Where are you going? And why it's so important to do our best every day at homes." I didn't number these. I think this is number five. Uh we have new flexible furniture in 100% of our classrooms.
So you'll see different configurations. Uh these are both second grade classrooms. And you'll notice I think this might be a laser. Oh yeah. Okay. Every classroom has this whiteboard kidney table with uh wobble stools underneath which is just a such a fantastic place to have small groupoup
instruction for all of our teachers. Every single one of our uh gened teachers has this setup. And then each of our student desks are 100% mobile with casters on the bottom. And the best part about it to me is our second and
third grade students scholars have uh desks that are slightly smaller. Our fourth and fifth grade scholars have desks that are slightly larger and it just fits them perfectly. They come to school and their furniture fits them exactly how it should. Uh each classroom has their own color, so all the chairs stay together uh and have a sense of uh
community in that classroom. And so this is our new flexible furniture and 100% a point of pride for us. This is uh two pictures showing our December Homes for the Holidays event. uh one of our uh events this year that
had a lot of family engagement. We've had a number of different events this year open to our community uh bringing in our parents and families. And you can't see it on the left, but this is our cafeteria. Uh and the maintenance department just did such an incredible
job uh making this look the way that it looks. Our stage is is refinished. We got new brand new curtains. We have that is the marquee. uh those pencils and crayons and stuff. Uh that's the marquee from the 1999
uh PTO that donated uh that to to homes. So uh we took it off of the old marquee when we got our new ones and then Mr. Birwell was able to backlight them and it just looks incredible. And this is homes for the holidays. So we had uh lots of holiday singing. Uh and that is
a 100% packed cafeteria. But we had 200 seats laid out and then we had about 30 or 40 folks uh just standing and and watching. It was it was a packed house. And lastly, the reason why we're here
at the beginning of this school year, 100% of our students set NWA growth goals for one and a half years of growth this school year. We looked at the benchmarks for beginning, middle, and endofear growth for ELA and for math.
And then each student marked out a year and a half worth of growth where they should where they want to be at the end of this school year. By the middle of this year, 42% of our students met or exceeded their midyear
benchmark to get to that year and a half uh years of growth. and 55% of our students met or exceeded that mid-year benchmark to get to a year and a half worth of growth. The reason why we set that bar at one and a half years is because if we have a
student who comes in in second grade and might be performing on a on a kindergarten level, this year and a half growth year after year after year puts them on grade level on grade level by the time they leave Holmes Steam Elementary School. So we want to make sure that all of our scholars are ready
to enter middle school on grade level to enter middle school or above. And though this is not 100% right our our goal is that 100% of our students are meeting this growth goal that we have. Uh this is more growth than we have seen in the past at homes. Uh and
it brings a quantifiable uh number and goal for each of our students and each of our teachers to meet uh and in the benchmarks in the middle of year and end of year for NWA. I'm very very proud of our scholars for working so hard on their NWA and showing that growth and I
am so excited to see their continued growth through Amira and NWA and MSTEP in the spring when it comes up. Uh and those are our seven points of pride. Thank you ambassadors. Thank you board. Thank you Dr. Zachary Ross.
Do you have any questions? Trust my counsel. Uh, good evening, Mr. Shoots. Um, great presentation. I just love how um the students are so engaged at home. They whenever they come before the board, they do an excellent job. So,
I want to commend you all on that. Um, the other the question I have for you is one, what do you feel contributes the most to the success in the growth of the NWA and your parent engagement?
>> The teachers for the growth. Uh there's, you know, the the the leaders in our classrooms. Uh they're the ones who are creating the engaging lessons who are uh breaking down the standards into their daily objectives and measuring them through formative assessments to make sure that our students are reaching the
benchmarks that they've set for themselves and that we've set for them. Uh so 100% that that is due to our classroom teachers, our parent engagement uh and family engagement is uh due to a number of different things.
And we we've been very fortunate to to receive uh uh communities and schools grants uh and that brings Erica Harrove into our school to be able to bridge uh that relationship with our community. Uh it
has been a number of different exciting you know back- to-school bashes that we've had uh over the last couple of years. the relationships and communication that we have on a regular basis with our families through Parent Square makes it very easy. But in the in the past, you
know, we were using other platforms as well to communicate with families, just making sure we're available and communicative and uh and that we have things uh that our students are very proud to present to our community uh and to their families that bring them in. You know, everybody wants to see their
their scholar uh perform and be successful. And so one of the things that wasn't in that picture, we had uh also an art exhibit uh during our homes for the holidays uh event. So we had student art in our hallways and uh whenever we can showcase our students,
our scholars uh being excellent, you know, our our community is there to watch and be there. And >> thank you. And then my last question was what is the goal for the number of ambassadors? You told us 15% um I wanted
to know what was your goal for that and then what is the goal for the um participation for the summer program? >> Well, I've not said this out loud, but I do see a time when 100% of our scholars are ambassadors. Uh they all
wear their their ambassador shirts on Fridays uh and their pins on Fridays. And those things those those pins are very important. you know, they earn their pins, but they also have to continue to earn their pins. And so there's a there's the potential to lose your pin. You remain an ambassador, but
you might lose your pin by by not exemplifying the values of the ambassadorship. And so, you have to earn it back. And I do see that uh being a part of a 100% of our scholars. I think they're all capable of of being ambassadors inside and outside of our
building. and and I have that vision of showing up on Friday and seeing 100% of our scholars in their ambassador shirts ready to be uh participate in the ambassadors uh lunch and learns that we have once a month with community leaders uh and exemplifying the values of our
school everywhere they go. Uh so that's that's the the long-term vision. You know, in the short term, every classroom should have ambassadors uh so that every classroom sees what it looks like to to be exemplifying the values of our school
everywhere. And for our summer leadership institute, you know, we've talked about there being up to 40 students uh just logistically. That's sort of the number we're thinking about. Uh though it's it's open to that
application. And we actually did have a couple of students who applied uh and we were able to have really real conversations with them and their families about hey these are the things that you can work on to become ambassadors in the next round. You know we appreciate your interest and and
really want you to be an ambassador and right now that means you need to do X Y and Z to to earn that. So uh so right now our summer program you know last year we had 11 students and it was a great start and we're looking to expand. Right now, we'll have 34 invites to
start the summer and and then another open round of applications. >> Thank you. >> Welcome. >> Thank you. Any more questions for it? >> No. Again, thank you. Um parents,
students, teachers, thank you. Could we have you stand? all the teachers, parents and students from homes. Thank you. We truly appreciate you. Thank you.
At this time, members, our board president has arrived. I will be turning the meeting over to her. Uh Dr. Hawkins, we are at number four in letter B. Thank you so much, Vice President Lee.
Um that takes us to the honoring um of National Board Teacher Certific Certification. Um and at this time, I will turn it over to Dr. Zachary Ross for this um honor that will be presented this evening.
Thank you, Madame President. Um, we are really proud of this teacher and at this time I'm going to ask her building principal, Ryan Johnson, to come to share about this extremely extremely
difficult and rigorous program that Miss Jennifer Gray um endured over the past few years. and we are just again proud of the work that she has accomplished.
>> Don't leave me up here alone. >> Okay. >> Thank you uh everybody and good evening. Today it's R and I say R because this is a district-wide recognition as well as for you Miss Gray. Um privileged to recognize Miss Jennifer Gray for
achieving a monumental milestone in her professional career and that is becoming a nationally board certified teacher. As many of you know, National Board Certification is the most respected and rigorous professional certification of certification available in K12
education. It requires hundreds of hours of dedication, deep reflection on teaching practices, and a proven positive impact on student learning. Mrs. Gray, who does a phenomenal job teaching third grade at Esesterbrook Elementary, took on this formidable
challenge with incredible dedication. Beyond this credential itself, Mrs. Gray's impact is felt every single day at Esesterbro. In her 26th year with Ipsilani Community School, she continues to lead not only from the front of her classroom, but alongside her colleagues.
She serves as a mentor, a steady voice of experience, and a model of reflective practice. Her willingness to share her learning, support new new educators, and elevate those around her strength strengthens our entire school community. That is what is that's what it looks
like to make an impact of excellence at Esesterbrook. We're also proud to share uh that Mrs. Gray was supported in this journey through our district's seek grant which underscores Ipsellani Community School's commitment to investing in the continuous growth of our outstanding
educators. We are incredibly pleased to honor Mrs. Jennifer Gray tonight with this outstanding achievement and for her dedication to our scholars. Please join me in congratulating her. >> I wrote a short speech and I don't know
if Mark is in here but he was one of the leading Mark Dr. or Mark Hascarella is one of the leading people in here. I want to begin by thanking my family um who stood by or more specifically allowed me to lock myself away uh while I typed and typed for hours and studied
my way through the process of becoming a nationally board certified teacher. I want to specifically thank my son Josh um who came to my rescue at one point uh when my videos were too big and I could not attach them and he heard my
screaming crying what's going on and so he came up and ran up and fixed the problem for me. So thank goodness for that. Um I do want to also thank Mark Husella because he is the one who supported me through this entire endeavor. um who a few years ago sent
out an email saying anyone interested in this. Uh little did any of us know how hard it actually was. And to thank all of you, the board of education, Ipsani Community Schools for finding the grant money for allowing me to pursue this amazing opportunity and supporting this
incredible journey. Becoming a nationally board certified teacher has been one of the most challenging and meaningful experiences of my career as an elementary teach educator. The process pushed me to slow down and really reflect on my teaching, how I
build relationships with students, how I create a classroom where every child feels seen and valued, and how my instructional choices support both academic growth and social emotional development. It wasn't about being
perfect. It was about being thoughtful, reflective, and always focused on what students need most. National board certification reaffirmed what I believe at the heart of elementary teaching. The strong foundations, high expectations,
and nurturing learning environment help all students grow. It reminded me that teaching young learners is powerful work and that our impact reaches far beyond the classroom. This accomplishment would not have been possible without the support of colleagues, mentors, and a
school community that values collaboration and continuous growth. I am grateful for that support, and I'm excited to continue using what I've learned to strengthen my practice for students and families I serve. Thank
you. Thank you for those comments and I just want to congratulate you and I'll let the board also share any remarks they would like to. This is a very rigorous and demanding um honor to actually achieve. And so we
are very proud of you, proud of your work, your persistence, your determination um and to be nationally recognized that's a high honor. Um and this uh national board certification like it was already shared is is very well respected
as you know uh but you put in the work um and you deserve it and so we are just very very proud of all your efforts and hard work. So congratulations. >> Thank you. I know that I'm the first one to do this but I really hope I am not the last for Ipsellani Community Schools
because it is though it's hard it is such an honor to have. So welld deserving board members. What comments do you have? Vice President Lee. And you have a husband and how many
kids? >> Two. >> Thank you. Thank you very much. >> Yes. Congratulations. >> Thank you very much. I appreciate it. So, yep. I appreciate it very much. So, >> congratulations, Miss Gray. I very
excited for you. It is always good to be the first. Um, and hopefully not the last. And I also applaud your service. Thank you. I like longevity and it's always good to
see that our educators are continually trying to increase their knowledge to provide quality education. >> Thank you very much. >> Yes, Trusty Goodrich. >> I just want to add my congratulations.
Um, I'm so excited to see your hard work recognized. Um, and also that you're bringing this back to your scholars and your community of educators at um, Hester Brook. It's just really adding my congratulations to everyone
else's say congratulations as well. Um, it's such an honor and like I have to deal with what everyone else says that it's here. brought it here, you know, and like you said, you're the first, but hopefully after you talk to all the other teachers, they may say, "Hey, we might
want to try to do that." And encourage them also as well by saying thank you for your service and your dedication and for being an educator in this district. Thank you. >> Congrats again. Let's give Miss Gray
another round of applause. Okay, now that takes us to um public comments. Uh our first section for this evening and I will read the public comment protocol which reads as follows. Pursuant to
board of education policy 0167.3, the board recognizes the value of public comment on educational issues and the importance of allowing members of the public to express their views. Please limit statements to three minutes in duration. Participants shall direct all
comments to the board and not to staff or other participants. No person may address or question board members individually and all remarks shall be made in a respectful and professional manner. Uh, first we have Annel.
Tell me how to pronounce your last name. Eckle. I didn't want to say it incorrectly. Ekston. Eckles. Um, so I noticed that we have at least three more uh public comments and they're all from it looks like the student advocacy center. Would someone
like to if they're all similar comments, can someone be the representative to share all of those comments to the board? That's just part of our public comment protocol and our policy. So that's why I'm asking the question while you all are considering that I'll
invite up Can you hear me now? Okay. Hi. Um, I'm Perry Stone Palmquist. I'm a 20-y year resident of Ipsellani. Uh, my senior is at Ipsellani Community Schools athlete and I also have worked um at the Student
Advocacy Center for the last nearly 14 years. But um and I'm here because I love Ipsellani students and families. Um recently Anthony Williamson uh forwarded me an email from a young person that we
worked with together more than 18 years ago. It was an Ipsy student who was homeless, lost her mother, was living with her aunt and about 10 kids going from motel to motel to doubled up. Um
and I was working with her in my role at WISD. Ipsani Community Schools didn't have the resource, well it wasn't Ipsani public schools at that time didn't have the resources to support that student. And um I was happy to to work with her to do
home visits to go to the hotel and to work in collaboration. And um it was really meaningful for Anthony to send this email to me where she told me that I changed her life. And she said, "It felt good that I had someone to push me to better myself. It felt good that
there was one more person that was in my corner to tell me how proud they are of me. She helped me, referring to me, helped me get back, get my life back." That student inspired me to find an evidence-based model to bring community and resources to Ipsellani schools
specifically. Um, and that was way before I worked at FAC. And then I was part of the visioning of this new school district with the word community in it. The values that we talked about in many many many many many many meetings was about community. And
so I was so proud to work really really hard on fundraising and bring an evidence-based model to Atlantic Community Schools. YCS frankly was ahead of its time compared to other school districts and I work with them all over and recognizing the value of community especially when you're in a school
district that lacks resources right and has families with lots of challenges there's 50 years of research and it's clear about the value of having communities in your schools improved outcomes for students stronger
relationships stronger community we were looking at the research of our program just this fall. We sat down, we went over the research because we don't expect you to have anou with just anybody. You should have high expectations. And the district said, "Wow, look at these. Everyone needs to
know about these outcomes that you're you have with these kids. This is a school-based mentoring program. That's the evidence-based model." Um, and the research is impressive and our data is impressive and our students stories are impressive and I hope some of the parents who are very busy were able to
make it tonight. But I know at least one parent already has withdrawn their kid from the district because we've been shut out. It's really hard to do this evidence-based model outside of the school hours. We asked the district to reconsider its approach working with community agencies, not just ours.
Others we are hearing community mental health and others aren't having access. Let's work together on a solution that works for everyone. We care about you guys so much. We care about our students so much. We really want to find something that's going to work for our students and families. Thank you.
>> Next, I'll invite up Chris Sutton. And I'll just say that if you want, we love public comment and we love to hear from members of our community. Um, I just wanted to make sure we were aligned with our protocol and making sure that all comments that are being made from one organization that there's one
representative that is able to share that. But I will allow all the members who are here and build out a public comment card to come and address the board. Next up, we have Chris Sutton. Is it Sutton? Is that correct?
>> All right. Um, good evening. Uh, my name is Chris Sutton. I'm a checkin connect mentor at the Student Advocacy Center. Um, I come to you not only not only as a community member um, but as someone who has walked
alongside students uh, at most pivotal points in their life. Um, I want to and I want to ask a direct and important question. Why has YCS stopped permitting programs from entering school buildings. Uh programs that have demonstrabably
helped our students succeed. Uh Ipsy Community Schools has long articulated values uh rooted in equity, belonging, whole child development, restorative practices, and strong community partnership. Uh these are not just words on a website, they are
commitments. Um, when I first began as a mentor at Check and Connect, uh, social workers and teachers would tell me, uh, half joking and half serious, you're getting the worst of the worst. They're going to give you a run for your money. Um, and they did.
Uh, these were students with repeated suspensions, chronic absenteeism, classroom disruptions, trauma histories, um, and strained relationships with adults. Uh, they were labeled as difficult and defiant.
But what I saw were students who needed somebody to remind them that they're more than that. I checked their grades. I sat with them when they were angry. I mediated conversations. I called teacher parents. I uh collaborated with teachers. I
helped them connect uh their behavior to their goals. Uh I remind them that someone has believed in them even on days when they don't believe in themselves. Two years later, those same students are
better regulated in class. Uh their attendance improved, their academic focus increased, teachers reported fewer behavioral disruptions. Um and they're life learners and going to be future contributors to this uh
community. Uh this is not accidental. It's the result of layered support systems working in partnership with schools. Um now that uh support programs have been denied entry into buildings. I've heard
from parents, teachers, and students uh describing that impact. Uh they describe increased behavioral struggles, greater academic disengagement. Um When we remove preventative support, we should expect we have reactive
consequences. If YCS values equity, then we must acknowledge that our highest needs students require more, not fewer resources. If YCS values belonging, then we must ensure students who struggle uh who struggle most still uh feel anchored
with trusted adults. Um, if YCS values community partnership, then we must not close doors to organizations that have uh demonstrated impact. Children invest in schools and communities that invest in them.
And we're strongest when those schools, families, and community uh based support programs operate as a healthy ecosystem. So, respectfully, what data informed uh this decision? What student centered outcomes are we prioritizing and how can we restore collaborative partnerships
that reflect the values YCS stands for? Thank you. Next we have Susan and I apologize because I'm not going to pronounce your name correctly. So, I'm going to ask that you tell me your last Susan here.
>> Susan is not here. >> Good evening. >> Could you tell me your last name, please? >> Yeah. Is that better? Can you hear me? >> Yes. I said your last name. >> Um,
Butterwick. B U T E R W I C. I'm the former um referee of the juvenile court in Washington County. Um Michigan I'm here to talk about a very select group of students. Michigan
foster children are assigned to the juvenile court for juris state court jurisdiction. The court makes decisions for foster kids while they're in foster care. The Department of Health and Human Services
provides their care and supervision since 1994. Um, the Student Advocacy Center has been providing advocacy services for students in schools for the juvenile court
since 2007. They have did the department of health and human services has contracted with student advocacy center to provide this advocacy. Both department of health and human
services and the student advocacy center report to the court on a um three-month basis on the progress of the students. Student Advocacy Center I know has volumes of research on the fact that our
foster children have improved marketkedly in grades in graduation and declined in disciplinary measures in schools. Student Advocacy Center
provides not only advocacy for students who move around, our students who are in foster care move around the state. Unfortunately, they move from placement to placement. So,
they're not always in Ipsellani schools for a very long period of time. Some of them are the lucky ones get to stay um in in a permanent placement here. These students do not have a parent who can
advocate for them and help them with their education. What they have is student advocacy center to do that work. I think probably it's not um news to many of you that there's a pretty
deplorable graduation rate for students who are foster are in foster care around the state. It's 40%. That's 44% less than the 84% graduation rate for
other students in Michigan. So what happens to these students when they move from placement to placement to placement? Their records don't always follow them or their records don't
follow them in a timely manner. Their IEPs don't follow them necessarily. If the other school doesn't send it to Ipsellani, then you have to try to track it down. But Student Advocacy Center does a lot of that work. the court and DHHS asks
them to go to the other schools or to come to Salani schools when the student moves to another county and get these records that are often too slow in coming from various schools around the state. Without those records, these
students are placed in place in school in programs that don't necessarily fit them. schools don't even know that they may have an IEP because they don't have the records in a timely way from other schools. And I know there are groups in
in Lancing working on trying to tighten those laws and do a better job, but that's the situation. So, Student Advocacy Center is who we ask at the court and who DHHS relies upon to go out
and get those records and help with the schools with that, to help the students when they're having trouble in school, to help them with their studies and do all the other things that have been mentioned by other speakers. So it is a real loss to these kids and to
the court when student advocacy center can't provide those services in absolic community schools and Perry Stone Pumpquist mentioned um the word community and I I also want to
sort of focus on that because community isn't just a It is often that a fact that the institutions and the people within that community need to have to provide
support and want to surprise provide support and care about the people who are there. The people who have less than others that includes the children in foster care who don't have a parent. So
the community in Ipsellani Community Schools, I hope I hope that you will reconsider the decision because you are a community and these kids need you.
Thank you. Uh, thank you everyone for your public comments this evening. Um, I was going to say something a little bit longer, but I'm going to be very brief. Um, and the only thing that I want to make sure reflects in our minutes and reflect in
this meeting this evening is that we have done our due diligence. We have provided in writing to the student advocacy center the reasons as to why that I have and I know that the
organization also has. So I'm a bit surprised tonight to hear that it seems like a relationship was ended with with kind of as in an arbitrary and capriccious way. That's never how this district has operated. We have
hundreds of community partnerships. I was part of those visioning sessions when we started in this district. I'm a professor in the school of social work at Eastern Michigan University. My research is on the school to prison pipeline. I know all too well intimately
based on my work and service in this community what the impact is. But we provided in writing in detail the reason to student advocacy center and I just want to make sure the record reflects that so that there is no uh confusion in
the community as to why this relationship that exists in our school district inside of our school buildings. It was communicated to the organization and that's So I will say just so that
the record and the minutes reflect that and for those present here in the community so that they are aware that these reasons were already outlined to the student advocacy. Next we have our 180 presentation and at this time I will turn it over to Dr.
Zachary Ross. Thank you, Madam President. We have several of our staff members who are here to follow up on the data presentation regarding 180. Um we've asked
Principal Shoots, Principal Davis, and Dr. Lopez um to share information. Uh they were asked because the 180 program has been in their district in their buildings the longest. Um they have
information that they have looked at cohorts of scholars in their buildings and the impact of the program and so I just asked them to come forward and Dr. Lopez um also who has
pulled data with Clark, our data specialist in the district. >> All right. >> Thank you, Principal Shoot from homes that you heard from earlier and principal d principal Davis from
Ipsellani Community Middle School. >> Good evening again. So today, do you want to do our learning intentions? >> Okay, cool. So we are learning today about the impact of the 180 program at YC. Yes. In terms of effect, size and
achievement. Uh and by the end of this you will be able to describe the impact of the 180 program at homes and at YCMS. Homes data with 180 program. We had I think I have four minutes so I got to make sure I stay on time. Uh we've had
the 180 program in our building since March of 2024. So we are coming up on two full years next month with the with supports from the 180 program. Uh this data is from 20 students with the highest rate of uh
behavioral writeups. And so uh what we see in the two years that they have been work and so presumably also they have the highest workings with the 180 mentors um and what you see in before and after is an improved absenteeism
rate. So the before is a a higher absentism rate that with darker line and then after a lower absenteeism rate. This is the effect of reading growth.
uh and it moved positively in the positive direction. This is so the first year that they were with us uh this cohort of students performed in the 11th percentile. Uh last year they performed in the 15th percentile and that's what this data shows here.
And then this is the writeups the incident logs that come to the principal uh and our our support system uh which has also decreased dramatically. I don't remember the exact numbers but the lines are it shows some growth in
the uh decrease in incidents. This graph uh this is from the fall of 24 right when the 180 group started with us and then our January uh administration just this past about a
month and a half ago. Every quarter at homes that I've been there, I've provided a staff working condition survey uh with 10 questions that's drawn right from North Carolina because that's where I was before this. Uh and so it uses the same strongly agree, agree, disagree, strongly disagree scale.
Nothing in the middle. And uh and then it asks 10 10 different questions. This one is always the hardest question to move. Discipline is handled appropriately at homes. And as you can see, in the fall of 2024, uh we were uh uh 72
73% disagree or strongly disagree with the way discipline is handled at homes. So uh roughly twothirds of our staff. And then in this past winter administration we are now at 76% strongly agree or agree with how
discipline is handled at homes. And less than a quarter of our staff is disagreeing or strongly disagreeing with how it's handled at homes. What this means is that homes has become the last question of this survey is homes is a good place to work. And it's just agree or disagree. When we first gave this
survey, it was about 74 or 75% uh said it was a good place to work. And in our last administration, it was 97%. Homes was a good place to work. Our teachers enjoy coming to school every day. They feel supported. And I'm probably over four minutes. I'm sorry, Mr. Davis. So, I'm going to pass the the
uh clicker there. This is the reality of what it looks like because of uh with the existence of 180. Our whole structure has changed at homes. First of all, I want to just say um I normally have on a suit, but this is spirit week and as the chief and um
instructional leader in our building, I'm also head of fan first. We uh have a whole movement. So, we my whole building has today is sports day, tomorrow's twin day. uh on and on. Okay. So, um I just wanted to apologize for that. And I I
was doing 180 before I came. Oh, 1080 before I got here. So, I just want to go through our That's wrong, but Okay. So, for us, um the 10 um the 180 program at the middle school was actually there before I got there, but
one of the things that we did is we we switched it up a lot. um what they used to do. A lot of times they were here more for discipline. What we do with them now is we have a four-step plan before you get to a a principal. And so basically the teacher is the first step
with the teacher. Um a lot of our students um if they have an issue and a lot of times they come to school with an issue. What happens with our students they just need time to deescalate. They need time. They just need time. And what used to happen um at YCMS is you would
come out of a out of a class if you were upset you if you can't calm down or follow directions immediately then you will probably be seeing a principal and then it it led to it. So what we do now is with teachers they have three or four different movements they should make.
They have to go uh move a child. You need to stand in proximity of a child. You might want to pair them up with somebody else. But what 180 does, that's step one, and then they might even call home. But step two in our building is they will go to the 180. 180 in our
building does um social emotional learning. They do a lot of restoratives. They do most of our restoratives. And what happens is a lot of times because of the relationship that they have, they come in and they can have the students write it out. They help them with that.
they remove them from the place that has caused them so much anxiety or whatever they're mad at and then they help them work through that. So with us that there's step two. Step three, we have SLC leaders and step four, we have comm
uh co culture and climate coaches before you even get to a principal. So before you get to a point that somebody's talking about you not being in our building or maybe it's a day for you to have a break, we have steps for them. And each one of those steps they get
time 180 is intricral with like they have documentations but they also move students from place to place so we don't lose any teaching time. One of the things that happens for us more than anything is they're part of our team.
They're part of the collective. And what I mean by that is if we say we need everybody in 180 to make these calls, we all make those calls. They have been very very um we meet every week. We they've been very instrumental in that.
But they have relationships to be able to get a student to calm down and that helps. Sometimes they are at all of their afterchool events. So with us, be like their um the expertise that they bring. And sometimes teachers have to if
you got 25 kids in a class and you have that one student, if they can work with that one and keep them engaged and then help reenter them back in our building, that's how they really do a great job of helping us in that regard, keeping them in class and that's how it improve our
absency rate. Um because they're you can't learn from home all the time. So for us that's how they helped this. So this one improved uh incidents log. Uh this is a huge improvement. A lot of times what we have
our 180 do they're in the hallway. They have to it's it's it's auditory. So if you hear something at the beginning that's when they move. They're in our hallways to make sure nobody's in the bathroom doing any of that stuff that happens in bathrooms. But at the same time, they go
from room to room and they walk in the halls to make sure that if they hear it, let's stop it before it starts. Sometimes their presence can stop things before they start. And so, um, and the 180 with us, they work with everybody. So, it's, you know, it's it's really to
get a 1.8 improvement for that particular thing is it's is it's really really that's a huge um growth for us. Uh, the spring math performances the way we tied that into them um with math. Um
I I know we have Mr. K. He's one of our 180. He does a lot of our after school detentions. And part of after school detention is that they need to do their homework while they're there. And so he's sitting there working with them, helping them and or whoever that may that stays after they're help providing
that after school service for them too. So that is also a benefit. But again, at our building, um, a lot of the growth that we're having in our building, it is part of the collective. I know we had a lot of
people today talking about what they actually did to help improve everything. But for us, the 180 team is is just an integral part of what we do and how we do it. So they are like I said that social emotional learning piece is
something that they just a lot of times teachers don't get that opportunity to to be able to give that while you have 24 other kids that we have to keep academically engaged. And so with that
um what questions might you have? Um so thank you Mr. Dav. I guess this is more so district question. Um what is the longterm goal as far as
sustainability for this program? Um because I asked the question before if we are at certain staffing levels is the goal for us to continue to have this program. Is this embedded in the
long-term goal for behavior management? >> The answer is yes. And it's based on need and is based also as you as you as you notice the program fits each school. So there's not one shoe fits all. It's modified based on
the need in the particular each individual school. So when you look at Paris, when you look at Erikson, but it's really we don't push it. We're not pushing this program to every school. We this is an option like anything that we PBIS and everything that we do. And so
if if it's an option that you're serious about considering for as for your staff, then we sit and we talk about impact. We also talked that you're going to be accumulating data along the way and you have to be ready to to do we keep the
program and if it's not working do we eliminated remove it from your building. So these programs we have we continue to budget because out of 31A there's funding for this kind of program and I and I know that when we're looking at consisting staff matters one of the
things that the staff has is that if one of the individuals is out sick there's a replacement immediately. The perspective if if something happens with one of that the principal feels that that person is no longer living the
core of the program, the principal communicates to me or communicates with the executive of the company and within that same day that person is from the district and we bring somebody else. 31A will fund this program but is there some
something to say with the continuity of always having people who are highly trained ready to go to support our students so that they're constantly they have the skill on forming the relationship with the students and also with the staff. What I've noticed my
personal opinion and not my personal but what I've observed when we when we give the end of the year right around this month I submit the school improvement questions this is one of the programs that's constantly in those schools has identified that that's something that
the teachers say that they value this program and why they value so that that to me seems uh but I think it's utilized differently in each environment but yes we we have the funing sustain this program with 31A and even with title one
dollars and Bob you can talk about those but we have embedded it so we can sustain it over time. >> Thank you for that. Um my last question is um with this program uh what like I'm hearing a lot as far as
teacher input which is great but as far as the student uh sometimes there maybe behavioral issues that need to go beyond their expertise. What referral what
processes do we have in place to refer additional supports for the students? >> I I can say for our building we we do have um so when it's a situation where a
student is so 180 is not the final stop for our students. There's step two. And so, um, we do have, um, social workers, we have, um, not just, I mean, we have, um, a counselor in our building. So, if
it's a student that's having some some other issues, um, we have other people that can actually help. What I know one of the things that Mr. um, I mean, Dr. Lopez just talked about is we have had m uh, Dr. Johnson from 180. He will be
there himself if somebody is, you know, a lot of them come from Detroit and if they can't make it, he'll be there. So it's e-wims. >> Wims. You're She's talking about ew. >> Oh, okay. So we have So every one of my grade levels has the MTSS process. They
make referrals to the e-w team. We meet every two weeks with the e-wim team and that has spearheaded our like we only have I think four more students to recover and so what I what I mean by that is if a kid missed three days in a
row it's reported we go out as a group we go to their houses we come get them and so that's a big part of it disciplinary things is already put in there so we we have a greater view of it nobody in my building is falling through any cracks
because we are working intricatrically together. >> Can you guys all explain what a ewim's team is so that the board will know because we have them in every building so they can understand structurally what we have in place, how it's in place, how
they're paid to be in there like that is through Michigan Department of Ed is very structured. Can you explain? >> We have a grant for it. Our teachers um I like in our ew team all four principles on it. our social workers. We have representation from each grade
level. Um the culture and climate person is on there. So we have uh we we have uh who else I want to say special education is there along with our ELL um
multilingual learner. They're there too. so we can find out every aspect of what's going on with all of our students that leads us and where we need to go, what what what extra we need to do. And so for us, that MTSS meeting leads to
the e-wims meeting and this early warning intervention monitoring system, I'm sorry. And so with that, we we find out a lot earlier. So, a lot of our students are not getting to 10 days in a row because when they get to three, we go get them. Like
literally, we go to their house. We do a home visit. And so, and anybody and everybody can, you know, if you got a car, you got a break, let's go, let's go pick these students up. And so, that's how our that's one of the things that we do. But sometimes, I mean, I know for
us, it's it depends on who's your champion. So, it's certain students that might just work best with Mr. K. He can get him to do what we might not be able to get him to do. And so, or if it's uh my lunchroom lady in our building is a
village. And so, depending on who that student responds the best to, it's not an ego thing. It's really trying to be able to get them to go. Uh the other thing too with e-wims, just so I could be a little more clear, we use panorama to look at the data. It's data driven.
Everything is there. We have, like I said, we have the meetings. We have a a person from EWIMS, E-Wim's coach that come, I think ours is in Lancing. She either can um be a part, she helped craft the whole thing, but we we let the
MTSS feed into the e-WIMs meetings so we can deal with our students who have the most need. >> Ew is funded to 23G that actually in our transparency page. You're going
to read a little more about it because it has to be part of my work. But the beauty with the whole perspective that the way it works for Ipsy is that we have each of the schools is grades six to 12. to all the schools. We have four schools that are in this partnership.
And so the four principles and their team come together and we have monthly like every four months we have a meeting and it's the whole perspective that we are working together lock step in relationship to identifying those early
warning symptoms and being very very astute every single so that in essence you're responding to the needs of our young people at all points of time and like um uh principal Davis just mentioned the biggest piece there is making that every student has that one
adult especially with the high flyers that they have an adult that they have a relationship who is in that building the champion for that student that's that person who's going to step out even if the principal everybody is saying no I'm suspended that person interjects that
person can manage and say no I want to work with him etc or her and get you so in essence a place where that student has voice choice agency has all the pieces that we're talking about because if that's not happening in the school
then it's not even and everything is that gets documented panorama but also all the data. So we're constantly looking at all data we come to those meetings and it's also part of the my work and the work and it's a significant goal for the secondary schools it's
required by the MD and so we work really hard Thank you, Madam President, and thank you all for the presentation. I'm excited to see see some additional data here. Um, I do have some questions
and u, principal shoots, I think you you talked a little bit about the cohort of students that the data for these histograms comes from. Could you remind me who are we seeing? uh in the data in those graphs.
>> I looked at our uh incident plus our where teachers submit office pearls and took the top 20 students who were present in our building for the whole time that the 180 program has been with us. >> So the 20 students with the highest incident rates >> correct >> um what was the population of students
that are represented in the middle school? >> So for us ours are not there. So we had to and some of our are brand new. So a lot of them are the ones who are kind of in the middle who were their um like when they started
some of our students their data was fourth fifth grade. And so what we did is we took more of a generalized approach for our students. It wasn't just our highest because some of the students who were our highest in sixth grade are have because of a lot of
different things. They have made drastic drops and referrals and tardiness and just some of their behaviors and like I said we attribute that to so many different things. So we try to get a
bigger group of them just our top because who was our top then a lot of them are not and some of it's just hormonal it's middle school you know they they come in they get used to it and it just I mean I don't want to I can't take all the credit but I know
that And a lot of them have a lot of them are growing up. they understand because it hasn't changed. That's another thing that's really great with our building consistency. We haven't lost more than two people in the
last three years. a lot of those because babies have babies. It's one voice. Not a lot of different like for example when I first got here we never had any classes of middle
school students who took out and under principal Davis and this magnet IB program that's been put there we now have 60 student high already
rigorous when you walk into the school day and night the amount of students and and I think it's the same shift in building the students capital cognitive
capital learning power of actually creating spaces where you're going to do this and you're going to drive in the learning intention success criteria all that is evidence
>> and one a proud principal moment we had 47 students who scored over a 229 on the NWA that's 12th grade some of them are sixth seventh and eighth most of them are eighth of course but two I mean yeah
that makes me happy all day every day but we have three sixth graders who have a 233 and and that's like I said the end of 12th grade is 229. So to have that uh that that's that that shows that their aptitude and
our student is varied. So in this IB program they're getting pushed they're writing papers um they they're really so algebra they're getting to the end of the algebra. So we're not just playing like it looks like pre-alggebra they are using graphing calculators and the whole
nine. So for me that is when when you see us eighth graders doing slope intercept I was just yeah they're gonna be ready and that's our biggest goal is to get them ready to go to the high school and thrive. And so that's and
like I said again and not to sound so redundant having them in the classrooms helps them learn more and working with them individually can help. Some of our student a lot of our students were I say co babies because they were in kindergarten and first grade. And if
they were blessed, they had somebody get them in front of the the the the screen. All of them did not. And so what they've done for the last five or six years is hide what they didn't get back then. What we're doing is building those relationships. And you know, as a
principal, I'm reading text and then they understand it. Like especially math, it's it's really one of those things. Now, they won't do it in class. They try they tend to act up, but they'll come down to me, I read it, they do it and and they're getting it. And so what's happening now is we're
trying to it's the relationship. The relationship is everything. And I know we're here talking about 180. They're just part of our team and everything we do. They're part of it. They're there. And like I said, I talked to Dr. Johnson um weekly. I um I see Mr. Coleman is
here. We have a weekly meeting. If we have anything that needs to happen, it works. But again, if it's somebody that doesn't meet what I need, uh that's instant. Like I don't even wait till Friday. Uh if they don't if if it's they're clashing or sometimes, you know,
we have a sub. Yeah, this one might not be able to come back here because of the standard that we've set. So the communication is great, but uh they understand and we meet clearly about what the expectations are and they come from the top from here all the way down
for us. appreciate how the amazing things that are happening. And also I think this helps to highlight one of the challenges in education is independently assessing how uh an
initiative like this is impacting school because you're not doing any of this not running a controlled experiment. You're giving everything you can to your scholars to help impact all of the things that we're seeing. Uh it's really helpful to have the
background to know what population of students you're drawing from to grab those data. Um it would be really helpful to know the units on the x- axis so that we could um
assess what those effect sizes are. And I know we got some additional bar graphs in our packet that weren't here. So, I don't want to dig into those too much now, but it's um some of those distributions are remarkably normal for um pretty small
sample sizes. It would be it would be cool, but I do love seeing the distribution and actually getting a sense not just of where the mean is, but like at scale, how is this impacting all of the students you're assessing in whatever sub group you're drawing from
that numbers and units would be be great if we have a chance to revisit data like this. Frankly, students typically are very exact those are children that fall in understand.
So what we did is the students from SAT and the students identify the achievement data is from those those 20 students that's their attendance and everything from treated as school student
they had in common is that they were they participated with money they had a lot of That was the only difference at the bottom. So you look at the
notes and those notes also explain more detail. I had that in the notes. Are there any uh other questions or comments? Um just so clarification 180 all of the schools except for
>> currently is one Ericson has it homes and school. >> Okay. There's only four schools. Any other board comments or questions? I just want to say thank you uh first to
Dr. Lopez for uh putting together all of this data. Um and I and I'm sorry that I had to step out and I missed a portion of what was presented. Um but I just want to thank you because I know it was a lot to to pull this together and I
know that um you don't mind doing it and you doing this work in order to kind of paint a picture for the board and the community as to what supports in our schools are making a difference. And we know there's no one singular program that's going to make a difference. It's
a lot of different things that we're doing intentionally, horizontally, and vertically across the district that is moving the needle for our students. So for that, I'm very proud of to hear the the the data, right? But but more proud to hear the stories. um because
sometimes the data misses out on what those stories are. Um and that's just one part of the picture. Uh so I just I just appreciate being part of this community and this district and to see how many leaps and bounds we are making
academically with our students and not that we don't have a long way to go because we do because we always want to make sure we're looking towards excellence but I think it's often important pause to recognize how
much good work is happening across our district. Um, and that's because of the people who are in our buildings every day. Uh, Dr. >> But I do want to say that this could have been Mr.
>> I was getting data as well as Charles Davis's data. We came together and then we PowerPoint and they went and they added so they had incident plus data and so it was a collective effort. I also want to
say that Clark magic behind this scene was together and collectively he was a middleman between all of us that it addressed the questions that
rel pointing that out um Dr. Lopez. Um and you know having been in the buildings right and seeing firsthand what is happening like that's the story right you have to you can have the data is one
piece but when you walk into our buildings you see the work in real time you see how our scholars are being engaged you see the opportunities that are being afforded to them and that is what matters so I am just thankful not just to you as one of our administrators
right but I'm thankful for what happens on the ground every And that's our principles in the buildings, that's our teachers, that's our support staff, that's our folks in the lunchroom, that's our bus drivers, it's everyone across the district that makes this work and to make this happen. So, thank you both for being here. And again, I
apologize that I missed the great presentations. Thank you. Next, we have our budget amendment presentation, and I will turn it back over to Dr. Zachary Ross to introduce um our presenter.
>> Thank you, Madame President. At this time, I ask for Barbara Bowen, our director of state and federal programs to come and she has been working with Pria Nyak, our previous director of
finance, and myself uh to develop this budget amendment. This is our first budget amendment of the year. has some background for you first and then um a budget amendment to present for you to consider approving at the end of the
meeting. >> Thank you, Dr. Zachary Ross. Madame President and Board of Education, thank you for allowing me to present the 2526 um budget amendment. So, I have an agenda. I'll be discussing
the R for amendment. The budget amendment summary, overview of revenue changes, overview of expenditure changes, thumb balance history, next steps and questions and comments.
The district is amending the dis the current budget to align revenues and expenditures with updated financials. Adjustments are based Sorry about that. adjustments are based on enrollment
count um revised foundation allowance and discipline review of personal and operation expenditures. Um updated figures were developed through ongoing budget to actual monitoring detail spend collaborating
with um Pria Nyak a previous CFO working with payroll and um consulting with department leaders and um building leaders. This process provided a clear understanding of the current financials
trend and the amended budget accurately reflects the district fiscal position while maintaining responsible financial oversight. The original budget that you received in June of 25 reflect estimated numbers. This budget amendment summary will have
the final allocation for title all the titles. It will have the final allocation for the carryover as well as final allocation and carryover allocation for 31A various state and federal grants. Um this amendment
reflects final allocations in in a nutshell the local revenue as stated the original budget shows estimate. Um, the reason why I'm here to amend the budget is because of final allocations. Um, there is somewhat of a difference, a change in
some of our revenue, but as I collected this information, um, I saw the need of doing some changes in local revenue with the change of 1.8 state revenue. Now that the, um, we know what the f the foundation allowance is
and our student enrollment number is that information changed by 9.9 million. Federal revenue changed drastically just a little bit not too much and that comes from one of our grants that we had is no
longer we no longer have it. It ended and another grant that was just taken from us. Um and then the incoming transfers and other transactions is just like monies that we receive from the ISD. So our amended budget as of
February 23 is 83,438.95 with a 5 million difference. The expenditures is 78% of it is um staffing costs. Um always again um the original budget is a estimate because at
that time the foundation allowance wasn't out. The the enrollment numbers wasn't in this in it wasn't in yet. So, now that we have that information and we know what it is, here is our um general fund expenditure amendment. Um the difference
is 103,000. This might change. My goal hopefully is to do another amendment in April. But as you can see, the revenue and the audit fund balance was July 2025 was 9.5
million. My projected fund balance is 10. Um, this is this amendment is very important because I want to continue to make sure we're doing what we need to do in terms of audit, getting the right information to you guys in a timely
manner and and making sure our audit fightings is no longer >> Let's go back on the pause on the change. >> Okay. >> Go back on on the change. The whole total change. you just read the wrong number.
>> So, the original budget was 78 million and after the foundation allowance number came in after we know what our student count is um as well. It's just staff cost, the building's cost. Our
amended budget is 82 million 9119696 with a change of 4.5 million. I also want to just express again I am looking to do at least two more amendments so we can be in line and address our previous um budget audit
findings. So I want to talk a little bit about the fund balance history and timing. um fund balance decreased from 17 million to 9,2425 and this was because this was changed
reflects timing of revenue timing of expenditures and when the revenue was recognized. The expenditures was created in 2023 but the revenue wasn't captured until 2324. Um some some of our grants have a period
to September the 30th which is why that fund balance was 17 million and 2425. This this created a reduction in the fund balance and again as I said before it's it's the timing factor. The expenditures happened
in 2223 and the revenue wasn't captured to 2324. But our fund balance has remained above the 10% board policy. Um, historically the fund balance has been stronger ever than ever than before since I've been
here. Um, I watch it grow every every year. So my next steps is continue to refine the budget estimate over the next few months. Reconciling accounts daily to make sure we stay within budget. Determine grant carryover amounts if
any. Prepare a year and final budget amendment early. Like I said, before I even do that final budget amendment, I will be requesting to have at least one more just so we can stay within and making sure we're we're capturing everything. um timely and accurately and
then prepare next year initial budget. What questions might you have? >> Thank you, Miss uh I see the large jump in the change. for just so >> No, these are expenditures.
>> Yep. So, this is staff salary and benefits and cost to support our scholars. >> So, that's addition. So, those are addition. >> Okay. Thank you very much. >> 2.8. >> It's not a loss. It's just because I'm
looking at the budget really closely and they also have um a district grant I mean transportation grant so they use those dollars for other things. Any other questions?
>> Uh, yes. Trusty. >> Yes. Yes. So one of the things is um our debts part of our debt was relieved the PA321 and also um I didn't report the the the
debt that we have here there. You guys should also have another debt um original budget in your packet. So that number is added on willow run and Ipsy. That's where it should be reporting. Does that answer your question?
It's not. >> Yes. Absolutely. Yes. >> Any other board questions? Yes. Thank Thank you very much. It's in the resolutions because right now she's just amending the general fund, but the board accepts your budget.
You're doing your syncing fund, your food service, your debt fund. >> Yep. Your FC Boulevard debt fund and your student activity on this one. >> Yeah. So, the debt expenditures was relieved, but the
The debt service should have its own um budget. We have It just should have its own budget. I'm not um really sure why it was on your original budget, but you should also have a debt um budget for
Willow Run and Ipsy. >> Trusty, do you have any other questions? Any other questions? Um I just have one kind of question comment. Um the I'm assuming that the the amended budget
or I'll just say the budget in general in terms of the increase in instructional cost >> um could you speak a little bit just about um how the budget is impacted based on us
opening a new school this this school year. Well, because of the the student count in the foundation allowance, that actually helped us pretty much. Um, each year as our as that building grow, we get more money in state aid and and that
that's the main thing. If the more students we get, the more money we receive in state aid. So, that actually helped um our our revenue. >> Thank you so much, M. Thank you. >> Oh, who has a question?
>> Oh, trusty said Kennedy. >> Yes, absolutely. >> Anything else? All right. Thank you so much. >> Next, that takes us to our section 104H presentation and I will uh let Dr. Zachary Ross
introduce this next presentation. >> Thank you. The board has received this in several different ways. Um the name has changed yet. The um information continues to um come forward. The
Michigan Department of Education has um the board to look at our goal progress. So we'll just even though the number has changed, it's still the goal progress um that the district is looks at. is aligned to um looking at our
assessments. Um and and again the name has changed over the years. Um however uh the work continues. We know that we have our um my kit plan the district my kit plan and the strategic work that
many of you are on the districtwide committee. So Dr. Lopez will be presenting this. As you see at the very top, it says that we must present on the goal progress by the board meeting in in February and then we'll also present no
later than the last day of school. So, Dr. Lopez, thank you. >> Well, good evening Dr. Hawkins and more trustees. Um, as you know, part of the uh Michigan law is that we have to present used to be 98, but now it's
shifted into section 104H gold progress report. The reason we have to do this because it's not only a good thing to do and keep us in track relationship looking at data but also uh as part of a
fun funding initiative. If we do this we test students three times a year and measure and present to the lower performance. We're we're rewarded by the state of Michigan as a reimbursement for our NWA cost. So it's significant that
you know increase could be $50,000 $50,000 will be used differently for educational purposes. So there is direct alignment as we move forward. you know that the section 104H goal progress
report is really we we're responsible like Rosa said um present to the district in the fall then again in February and again at the end of the year uh to make sure that we you're able to see the results of the NWA and our
progress throughout the throughout three points of services with our students um moving forward um our goals are right in middle in the middle of the year. Our goal right about now, the middle of the year is now and all YCS students K
grades K to 11th grade will improve performance in reading and ELA from fall to spring as measured by NWA and then at the end of the year um you see that it moves from fall to spring. So this was fall to winter is the top one and then
fall to spring at the end of the year. And so what we're looking at is in the area of and also in the area of mathematics and this is pretty standard every year etc. So what I want to highlight here is
our collective work at YCS um what has gotten to before we look at the data I think it's important to narrate that story about what's taking place with this last year one of the things that we started the year really strong was the whole perspective of making that our
leaders who are resp responsible pretty much for facilitating facilitating their educators sense making and learning side by side. We uh adopted a concept of learning together. That meant that our
academic leader which is the principal in the building works closely with their culture and climate coach and their teachers to make sure that they're planning together, working together, putting instruction together, wrapping the units together. And this this initiative of learning together allows
us to go a little bit deeper because then as the principal and also the instructional coach the principal could raise those real conversation around is this is this instructional process that we're doing really the driving student
as leaders of their own. The goal is to transition for us is to uh this year has been to transition to a space where students have voice choice and agency but making active decisions. So that means that when you walk into classroom you should see uh learning intention and
students very clear about the success criteria. Reason I'm saying that and that's the work that in learning together we're doing. So you see the instructional coaches pushing a little bit deeper with conversation with the teachers. So if the teacher saying hey
I'm doing this then let's videape you on your phone so you can see and let's have a deeper conversation. What do you see? What opportunities were missing? Where else could you have exerted a little bit more conversation with that student to really and the goal is not only looking
at your practice but looking at positioning the student what questions the student is raising. How engaged is the student? Are the student mastering the the cognitive development that they have to master at a rigor level? And if not, what conversation should you be
having with that youngster? So the focus is on the student, but we're coaching the adult on how to focus on their student so that the students are driving the learn. That's a shift that so it requires from our staff a mental shift. And this is what that learning together
is helping everybody talking together. Again, if we think at the model, remember our triangle where the children, the students start and the teacher around the triangle. The model that we're talking about is that now a teacher, a brand new teacher
coming in does not only just have the principal as a coach or the coach, the instructional coach as a coach, but they also have if there are four second grade teachers. Now I have three other second grade teachers where I can go into those class and they're also coaching. So now
I got I'm a brand new second grade teacher. I got three teachers who are coaching my coach. I have uh four five people that I could go to. So if this person is busy, I can go to the next person. I could go watch a lesson model with the same unit. So this is important
because as we're shifting, we're shifting the culture by coaching staff, coaching them up, and coaching them up to the next level. And and this is the way that we're working hard to adapt the the dialogue that you're going to see today. And we see some movement in that
direction right now, but we're going to see more by the end of the year. Um, and one example of that is reveal math and working with SIS. And I know that some of the board members here, two of the board members were in that training with with us the other day uh doing our
strategic myip work. And one of the thing is that that reveal program that we have is really being impactful in the lives of our young people because it's really working lock step with teachers and really shifting their mindset and make sure that they are ma
mathematically um inclined to support our students in their development of ma mathematics and that's what you'll see. So in here, one of the takeaway that I would like you to see is that our overall scholar proficiency growth measured by NWA continues to grow over time with our
students. Our scholar proficiency and growth, you're going to see gains and then you're also going to see some gaps in those transitional year. Again, I don't think that's what is shifted, but we we need to continue to work with that. And I think that's why we are
digging deeper in the content that we're presenting and the is being presented to the student. And the only way is that we need to get into the heads of the instructional leaders, the people who are teaching. And so the the best
invitation to a principal or to a coach is when the teacher allows them to get into their thinking about how they're developing that lesson to to connect those opportunities for student. And the best gift that a student can give a teacher is to allow that teacher to get
into their head to to see how they're processing understanding developing their cognition and several that meta cognitive and metrategic pieces that are being developed within this. So when we look up here takeway two is the overall
proficiency of growth for our for our groups. I don't like using the word subgroups but our groups are measured for improvement. So you see that our student are also performing uh high in certain areas and not in others but in relationship
they are outperforming the year before that from other special needs students the multilingual students as well there was gaps in sixth seventh grade um and in relationship to African American students their achievement was also and
I'm going to show some of those gaps as we talk about and opportunities uh missed an opportunity gain. So on this particular chart uh what this what this shows is that these are the fall to winter NWA reading benchmarks for our
students. Uh and this is the average winter NWA reading achievement was lower than the published 2025 norms in NWA reading achievement across all grade level. However, the differences between the winter reading scores that you see
here and the national averages were within only a few points in grade K 10, 11, and 12. They were very, very close to those norms. Extremely, very close. So, since co, we have observed our
scholars resilience continue to grow and move in the right direction. The NWA uh item banks remain unchanged since 2010. However, new national norms were released la in 2025 this last year. Uh these norms were generally slightly
lower than the 2020 norms. But the key thing here as you look at this is the an observation that we are noticing is that while the test scores for our students have only made small changes, the achievement percentile represented by
those scores are slightly higher than when calculated with the older 2020 norms which were based on national wise assessment from 2011 to 2019. So we're moving and trending in the right direction, but areas were flat and
we did not see the kind of growth that we wanted to to see. In other areas, we saw significant gains and and and outperforming. So on this particular slide is the growth. So in this one is fall to
fall and so you don't see any orange because we have no data for those kindergarters from last year. So this is fall to fall. So this is our first fall. That's why we don't have an orange. But when you see the Orange bars are growth percentiles from the fall from the
previous school year and the other one the blue one is for this year. Uh despite general lower generally lower than normal averages from NWA reading um achievement scores. The NWA reading growth from the fall to the winter is
comparable to the 2025 national norm for NWA reading growth and it is in the third quartile or average across all grade levels. Once again, reading growth for grades eight and 11 exceeded the fall to winter national norms in those
area. So we exceeded in certain areas and and not in others. Um in here this is the map and these uh are the fall 2025 NWA math benchmarks for all students. Similar to reading, the
averages for fall and math achievement was lower than the published 20 25 national norms for NWA math achievement across all grade level. However, the winter math scores for YCS students was
within a few points from the national average for kindergarten, first grade, and 11th grade. Um in this particular one, this is the on the growth. U the orange bars again represents the fall to fall math growth
percentiles and the blue bars represents the fall to winter math growth within the current school year. NWA math growth from fall to winter was not too different than the growth from the reading. But for all grades except in
grade six, fall to winter math growth was in the third quartile of average in in the NWA scale. There has been positive teacher buy in and reveal math uh in for grades K through eight, especially with the SIS teacher support
and the K the grades K through five. With these now in place, our hope is to improve elementary mathematics to a higher level because we see a real buy in from the staff and we see teachers excited about it. The what's happening
in this is that we're doing they're getting coaching, they're getting training and then in their building coaching real time in their classroom. Also, what they're what they what they're what they just released on on
February 12th was the whole curriculum, the pacing, the alignment of all reveal into this into our own personalized toolkit that actually has the set curriculum for our teachers. There is nothing gas in here. You click on this
and you get the right to the page of what that looks like for student, what you assign to different level students, multilingual student, student What we did as well, we invested a lot of money there and we invested a lot of money also for reveal mathematics to be
taught to our uh special needs students and a student with multilingual and what we did is like we always live high rigor with high supports. So we kept the crown up here the standards are here and we put the systems in place. So in essence
the special ed team and a number of teachers met no different than our teachers to co-design that curriculum and we took the curriculum on rapid and so we have developed we're in the process of finalizing a their whole curriculum as well that's very rigorous
and also will help our students do well which is important. Okay. So in essence is not leaving anyone behind making sure that when we were accelerating that we're not only accelerating with the general ed population, we're accelerating with all students, all
means only in this district and we're not taking any exception. Uh it was a little bit I'm gonna be honest with you, it was a little resistant at first and I had to massage the team, you follow me, because they didn't want to really move in that
direction. Um but when we look at the scores and we look at the our students our scholars are born to achieve and they nothing the only thing that stop us stop any learner from learning is people not believers
about expectations about hey our students are worth worthy of being able to rigorously and with the intervention and that's what we and so
in essence um it helped a lot that our math contractor or I call solutions Shannon McCarthy has a background in special education in math and so in essence that helped a great deal what
also is making a difference with our teachers is that every coach they have is a mathematician meaning teachers that taught math and one of them is And Janelle was in the math specialist at the ISD and so she is literally
working in our buildings with every school building and the personalization is really deep. Okay. So I want to skip over this and then I want to show you this. So again when we're looking at grades 9 to 11 we are within the
effective area and moving toward the highly effective in fact but on the other hand we are where we need to be. even better. Okay, the the goal here is again is moving toward 60 and 70% and 80
and that's what we've been working. So, um the next here is the data for special education. The winter NWA reading achievement was and one might expect lower than our student who get support
from the but you could see that there was growth. You from fall to winter. You see that the orange is the fall and the blue is so you see that there's consistent in the elementary schools and then there's a little drop in the middle school six
seven and then it levels up again in eighth grade ninth grade level 10th grade 11th grade then there's a drop in 12th grade but I I think it's important when you look at this data please take a look at that I put notes underneath you know I think that helps you to explain
me text or email if you have any questions because there's a lot to unwrap in this data. The beauty here is that we take this data and I want you to know what we do with this. So we create this data, we create a document for all the principles where they can see if
they have the lowest 5% the lowest 25% and we have a multi-ter systems of support. So then we identify for them if this if this student is at the lowest purpose percentile we highly recommend that the student receive these kinds of
every and we do that for lowest percent and then like you principal both of the principles talking it's all about having high rigor with high support and making sure that the principal is unapologetic about the work and that the teachers
because the reality is we're still a school district that brings a lot of new teachers they need some time to really navigate and get comfortable with the with the learning because the learning is rigorous so we need are great here because we have instructional coaches
that are there supporting our the learning. So when you look at the read the reading growth it was significant reading growth in in grades 1 8 n and 11 and exceeded even though these students special ed it exceeded the national 50%
of the compared to the national. So even our student with special need can exceed and go and go that level as That's why I said the rigor of making the curriculum comprehensible and and appropriate is
it's on we have to be unapologetic about and so when we look at the this particular one here with the math achievement again it's you can see that the blue you know we're growing but we wanted to see a little bit more you follow me but on the other hand the
students are but we did see in the middle school sixth and seventh But but about leveled out in eighth grade because reality is this is mid this data front of the teacher but the data for the for the principles and the
teacher goes more detail than this. It doesn't descri I love the way Clark breaks it out for me because I wanted it to be color. So in essence if you're green the more green you are darker green you are great. But if you get dark red that
means this is a student that is in crisis that really need the support that child be receiving additional intervention. Then when you look at our school for example with the school that's double math and
double ELA. So the students have 45 minute of reveal mathematics and then 45 minute of Alex. So and also supports needed and the same thing with ELA etc. So the
those kinds of interventions are really making a difference with our young people. Okay. Um the other thing that's happening is that AI and I know that you probably think I'm all crazy but the reality is AI having a personal tutor
that is when you need the help not when trying to get your teacher to come support you because the teacher's too busy trying to do all the whatever having an AI to such as economy the effect size and achievement of the learning of the students and the rigor
and so in that spirit of student driving their own learning we have contracted through 31A uh and we are purchasing Kamigo for grades 6 to 12 and every student is going to be taught how to use it effectively and so what it what it does
is twofold for the student the student has their own personal mentor that does not give them the answer. The student plugs in the question that they have and then it asks the student questions. So what is how would you like to begin this? And then if the student
does not have then it keeps asking question and then it keeps adaptive. So it goes up to accelerate and see what the gaps are in the learning. And what I say to you, you'll have access to I would like you to play with it. It is
amazing. and the results that for schools that have been utilizing and it now we pilot we were one of the fortunate school district that piloted with uh Michigan virtual at the high school with ESL students in an algebra class. Those students not only were oh
and then it translates into different languages. So the students were able to use Kamigo and maintain their not only learn English but also sustain the academic. And so to me when we saw the that classroom and saying, "Oh my god,
this is really accelerating here in that." The beauty is is that these are supposed to and for the teacher is a coach on the side for the teacher. So suggest the teacher, hey Johnny, you
could push this assignment to Johnny. So it's and then it helps the teacher to craft the lessons. So it's one of the tools that AI tools that we're venturing into putting into the classroom because we were able to pilot it two years and
so gains and so we want to utilize that for our students. So in moving forward the date I'm going to go back to this piece because I think it's important because all this all the subgroups and the data for all the subgroups but when we get to the very end I think it's
important here. Um okay so this one so winter benchmarks growth in achievement in both reading and math have become more uniform across that's one observation we saw our teachers the ELA math curriculum and our pacing are
coming into more closer alignment because the teachers are there helping to co-construct that and working with external partners to make that happen so that what biggest thing for me and I think Maria Good. When you were an instructional
coach here, we talked a lot about ambitious teaching and when I was walking into class, I wasn't teaching and I didn't want to blow anybody's bubble, but I wasn't. Now I can walk into class alignment to the state
totally that's making a difference. Take a look at this because I think this all our but aspect during the 25 school years we to use 180 for support the multi-ter support e- wins that we talked about the HMH instruction building by
pursuit but we have taken a little bit deeper because now we're working with Serena Sera Hammond and what we're doing with that is really building student learning power so they can drive their learning by building students uh cogn
cognitive capital and and that is so crucial to move our students forward. The other piece here is what's next for lit our school will continue. We're using we're utilizing all these I mean when you walk into the young kids and the kids are doing no effects and doing all these kind of AI pieces in the
classroom. We're seeing that kids are using AI as a partner. They're learning not for cheating or anything else but for mastering and getting going deeper into the learning. It's very very different the district's artificial intelligence integration through adult professional development.
We have the AI youth ambassadors taking place spotlight labs and all these things are making a difference with our young scholars in going deeper and reflecting and learning and okay so we're moving in a different direction and for numeracy you can see all the
things that we're doing the SIS FTSS and so what questions might you have >> yes trusty Gri >> thank you madam president thank you Dr. as to the presentation uh and all the data that you shared. Um I just say we
were talking about histograms in the previous presentation. It would be really cool in some of those pivotal transition years to maybe take a more um a more granular look at what's going on in in those years and kind of seeing if it's the wholesale shift or if they're
particular portions of students that are are struggling with the transition. Um but thank thank you for all the data. Um, just a quick note, um, because we receive these as PDFs, similar to the last presentation, we don't get to see the speaker notes, unfortunately. So, we
missed all the hard work that you put into those explanations. Um, they don't in the PDFs, but it'd be really cool to see them. Um, and on the I'm really glad to learn more
about some of the kinds of AI supports that we're using. I'm familiar with Kamigo. world I teach in also and I do think that um it's exciting when we have well vetted carefully scaffolded
learning supports in place um there is a lot of potential to assist especially many of our multilingual learners so that they're advancing on all tracks at the same time um one of my wonderings uh you mentioned a couple of times that we
have these really high proficiency in our lowest and our highest grades and I'm curious if you have any hypotheses about the root causes for that. So I think the root cause is also it's walking into a classroom and
watching that adult that's actually so it's about relationship relationship relationship is about teachers and educators really are not apologetic about acceleration in their classrooms and so they're they're engaging the
students they're using project based problem based and place based and using different approaches. So of It's also each of the schools using innovative techniques and processes that are non-traditional. Also is we walk into
classroom where they're moving they're moving from compiance to opportunity. And so they're not they're challenging even the district with compiance rules that service barriers to learning. and they're trying what we're
calling teacher action research and they're putting those strategies in. So for example uh in Mr. school homes. One of the things that they I call it platooning, which is
students get a math teacher and a science teacher, you feel me? And they're starting that earlier and all fifth graders are doing that. Well, that's preparing for middle school. And there's also not only preparing for middle school, they're they're all of a sudden they're also working with the students and making sure because a lot
of it students don't are not in like middle school taking classes and looking at their classes in power school whatever. So they're working with their students to identify students students paying attention to GPA earlier on. So
when they transition they know the importance of those grades and correlates those grades. So kudos to the schools that are trying these types of innovation. Sandra up is doing a lot of different innovative
programs. She's out of 30. We also leveraging 31A differently by I met with every single principal to identify their wish list. They could get staffing or sports or 31
reconigure differently. So we got after school program school program we have all kinds of initiatives happening but is that the instructional leader sitting there and having good conversation I just ask a lot of questions and the
reality is I can't I'm not going to go through that building because there's no there's no magical superman's gonna come and turn that that school around. It has the people inside that building have the power to turn that around. We're here to provide support and we're here to ask
all the questions where holding up the mirror so they can see what they're doing and they can communicate that vision and because I think it's important because the answer is in that space just like I always say the smarter people
in the room all the same I don't know answer question >> you certainly shared a lot of like great examples of ways that we're working on providing more support. Um, and this can
be a further conversation later. I'm still kind of curious about why why it's showing why that proficiency high proficiency is showing up particularly in the youngest and the oldest grades and if there's something in particular that's happening in classrooms there.
There's some interesting sampling bias that might happen in our data. But I'm not going to labor that right now. I'm sure other people are questions. Other question for the elementary literacy essentials by focusing on those
working with the teacher but working with the students as well. So in putting 31A to to bring literacy like interventionist or title one interventionist developing and that's making a difference because
they're using ortho billing they're using all these strategies with the student. So that time they're spending there and in the secondary when you go in there I'm I'm just telling you very honest is apprenticeship. It is doing by by doing and so what we're seeing is the
career technical opportunity that our in the dual enrollment and all all of that is what's enticing our student. They're not bored. They're engaged. They're driving. They're beable and the elementary is a hit because it engages the student. It's also working on
students lack. So those are where we're seeing those gains and you know because you have to have program that really speaks to the heart and soul of the student. So their talent, their interest and that's when students are connected and
important to them. They embedded those. >> It sounds like trusty good you want to ask questions later to follow up possibly. Trusty Thompson, I saw you.
Yes, thank you. I'm particularly interested So one of the things that we notice I have Clark looking at all this and there's a whole perspective of attendance issue. certain students. It could be
that if they're misbehaving in the class, they get suspended or they got removed from the classroom. They self select to get out of the classroom. So, one of the things that why we embedded Muhammad and why we're working with Sarah H is the whole
perspective that for students to be successful, they need to know that like for example that you see their greatness before they and that you're there to support them and be able to form those relationship. So I think
that um I don't have all the answers but we're we're noticing that for the classes where African-American students thrive the teacher relationship with the student is unified. When I go into the class up here the high school I decided
to take Charlene from the I bring partners to the table and their coaches. We went over there and we spent the afternoon there going every math class, six math classes. What we witnessed when we walked into
each class is high rigor. But most important that we saw is the relationship that the teachers have with the student. So when we went to Andrea's Stanics class, the engagement
of the AI tools that she was using with the students and the moving around of the the teacher relationship. So I don't I when students are I don't I I really think we need to look at what's happening in the classroom student
engagement and are we working with the students? Are we making instruction relevant? Are we So that temper that whole process of engaging having students
learn by doing is important. And so to me the teachers and when I walked into every single math class they were doing rigorous work but they were doing it in alignment to a project. Some students that were were podcast students were but they were doing
higher level through podcasting etc. So finding the teachers there have figured out how to form relations with students identify what their strength their interests are and have them build their math through those initiative and then we were seeing the scores of the the
students in those classrooms. So the biggest thing for me is for the students who are not doing well in school then Dr. Chelsea and every principal on reps they got the data for their building to the point where they
to find out as a principal is their responsibility to identify who are these students. So in all our schools we have data walls that they use and they're tracking and trying to figure out what what's going on and forming those relationship with the student to see is this a classroom is the student bored is
this why is the student not engaging? And so those are the conversations we're having now. working with him and others is the whole perspective that we really need to examine what's going on in our classrooms. Every teacher, every instructional coach, every so it's the
business of everybody because we want to make sure that every student has the support and have the opportunity to have that rigorous instruction but with the right supports. So the perspective here is when it doesn't happen is identify
but when I talking to building leaders and looking at the data is a number of students whose attendance are really they're out of school or they self- select by behavior all of this stuff. So with those with these individual we're
now looking at how do we develop a process of engaging them and finding areas of interest so So we have we have the literacy li we have all these things that we are doing but the beauty is engaging the student
in the decision making. So we have shifted to learning intention success criteria students goal setting so the students are engaging their learning but they're driving and the perspective is do you want to be a passenger in your
own car or you want to be want to be driving so that requires a different so the teacher cannot be lecturing all this information because the kid could look at that in a phone in two seconds 10
I already know what you're talking. So kids don't need all that information. Kids need to be able to process, learn, get deeper with learning. And so it's shifting what classroom
does a class. So those are the kind of things. Don't have all the perfect answers. We do the principles. We have conversation principles know who these students are and they're trying to do bring supports
etc. So is ensuring that students are are 180 all these interventions to make sure that they have exposure So one thing is also because
in those shifts taking place that's why we're having all these conversation innovation trying to get to that point how do we engage so in essence we're utilizing all these tools and whatever
the perspective of bringing the that will help students learn as well so there are these thought partners with student But the perspective for us
learning the learning that is so we have this trajectory that that's why we did training with every training with every staff member and when I get all the math teachers middle school or whatever we're working very heavily with those and
looking at curriculum differently. And so we don't have all the answers, but we'll continue to work on those. And those data, these data points are being lived in buildings. And one last one, the school. I just want to make sure the middle school has
funding that we allocated. So they do ting 21H with individuals. So they do have many opportunities initiatives student. So how do we work around all the things
because some of the students want to go to sports. So it's how do we make it all work but the initiatives is that the middle school does champion every dollar to try every innovation they can it's a thought I mean not perfect but we got
room for growth in many many way and so you know the thing is that I also know that you are very successful with your program with tutoring so connect and try to figure out other things that motivates him to come.
>> Thank you. Any other questions? Next, that takes us to our u action item under student affairs, which is the acceptance of um a field trip for um our middle school students 1080 team to uh go to Baltimore, Maryland. Is there a
motion at this time? >> School 1080 program to Baltimore, Maryland on March 18th through the 23rd, 2026 for the National Black Engineer Society Convention 1080 regional race in Baltimore, Maryland.
>> Thank you. A motion has been made by Trusty Fields. Is there support for this motion? support Trusty Townsen. Thank you. Supported by Trusty Townsen. Any discussion on this item board members or questions? Seeing none, all those in favor? >> I.
>> Those opposed? That motion carries. Next, that takes us to the acceptance of a uh field trip um to historically black colleges and universities uh to Wilberforce, Frankfurt and Frankfurt, Connecticut and Nashville,
Tennessee. Is there a motion at this time? Trusty Townsen, I move uh that the board of education approve the overnight field trip of the community high school for the H.B.CU spring 2026 tour to Wilbur
Forest. Ohio, Frankurt, Kentucky, and Nashville, Tennessee on April 7th through the 9th, 2026. >> Thank you. A motion has been made by Trusty Townsen. Is there support for this motion? I support.
>> Thank you. Supported by Trusty Fields. All those in favor? >> Those opposed? That motion carries. Next, that takes us to the acceptance of a field trip to uh for our 1080 team
to go to Charlotte, North Carolina. Is there a motion at this time? President Trusty Bills move that the board of education approve the overnight field trip of the Ipsland Community Middle School 1080 program to Charlotte, North Carolina on April 23rd through the
26, 2026 for the national championship challenge for the 1080 race. >> Thank you. A motion has been made by Trusty Fields. Is there support for this motion? >> Thank you. supported by trustee Sutton Kennedy. All those in favor I.
>> Those opposed. That motion carries. Uh, next that takes us to a Oh, >> you didn't you didn't say that. >> I did. I was like I was waiting patiently. >> No. Interesting. Um, jump in. >> So, are these two different groups of
students? Are they the same group of students? Are we assuming they going to win and they going the next one? >> Uh, yes. 1,000%. That's confidence. twice. >> That's excellence. >> They've they won two years in a row at the first one.
>> So, if we have to come back, it'll be too close. >> So, you just want to just get up to date. >> Absolutely. Great. >> We're believing that they're going to win again. >> That's proactive. >> Yes, it is. >> Um, we're also building a pipeline. We we have had great success in the middle
school. Um, we got the number one rated driver in the country. Um, but now we're taking her to the high school. So, we have a all girls team at the high school level, but now we have two sixth graders, two seventh graders, two eighth
graders, so we won't have the issue that we have now. Our middle school students have never had the opportunity to get on an airplane. They um we're doing like three hours a day with them. Um, I think today we did datadriven design and uh
part of the presentation. It's so many parts other than just the racing, building the cars, doing all the other stuff, but um we're trying to build a pipeline. One of the things we talked about today that was 1.2% of African-American I mean of engineers are
African-American women. >> Yeah. So yeah, we want to um uh our she's now a ninth grader. Our driver in ninth grader, her times in seventh and eighth grade was better than the high school winners. >> Yeah. >> So
>> um we just being proactive. >> Yeah, that's I mean >> we manifesting it. >> Yeah. >> So when I read it twice, I'm like, okay, >> the Nationals is just totally different than Nesby is it's going to be 20 20,000 people at that conference. So they get to see black excellence in a whole
another level. All of the kids in I mean the young people in suits and you know getting jobs and things of that nature. But when you go to nationals it's it's just uh it's about 100 people in there. It's just totally different. It's not
the same thing. But it's also with the the theme of excellence and and we want to get our youngest our six We never took sixth graders before. So now we're trying to think about where they're going to be at in >> Yes. >> And financially, how's this supported
like >> for both of these trips? >> Um driving possibilities. So when we go to NESBY, we have about 20 Toyota closes their booth >> to come watch. >> It's the most supportive relationship. It's it's Yeah, it's
it's a godsend really just to have them come. They spent an hour with our kids just talking to them and just feeding into them. People from all over the country and they they know them by name. It's it's really >> it's a blessing. So,
>> thank you for um you know putting it. It's two of them. >> Thank you guys. >> We can't wait until you all come back and tell us uh how you are the champions again. >> All right. Um, just to recap, we had a motion made by Trusty Fields. It was
supported by Trustee Sutton Kennedy. All those in favor? >> Those opposed? That motion carries. That now takes us to the field trip request for Ipsilani International Elementary School, which is a fifth grade camping
trip. Is there a motion at this time? Madame President, I move that the board of education approve the field trip request for the Ipsellani International Elementary School fifth grade camping trip on May 20 to 21, 2026 to Somerset, Michigan. >> Thank you. A motion has been made by
Trusty Goodrich. Is there support for this motion? Support Trusty Town. Thank you. Supported by Trusty Townsen. Any discussion on this item? >> Seeing none, all those in favor? >> Those opposed? That motion carries. That
now takes us to our consent agenda. Is there a motion at this time? >> Trusty Townsen, I move that the board of education approve the one January 12th, 2026 uh regular board meeting minutes.
two February 17, 2026 special board workshop minutes and three personnel matters as per the presented listed date of February 17, 2026, new hires, resignations, terminations, and retirement. Thank you.
A motion has been made by Trusty Townsen. Is there support for this motion? >> Thank you. Supported by Trusty Fields. All those in favor? >> Those opposed? That motion carries. That takes us to action item uh we're at number nine under human resources which
is the approval of the director of finance contract. Is there a motion at this time? Madam President, trustee move that the board of education approve the director of finance contractor Barbara Boon with the commencement date of February 23rd, 2026.
>> Thank you. A motion has been made by Trusty Fields. Is there support for this motion? Thank you. Supported by Trustee Sutton Kennedy. Um, are there questions or comments at this time from the board? I do have one comment.
I want to acknowledge all the hard work that she miss all the hard work she has done in these last few months and especially with the audit and I do appreciate your service and support
from your team as well that you have over a good team success. So congratulations after >> proactive. >> I'm proactive. >> Thank you.
>> Any other board comments, questions? Dr. Zack. >> Thank you, board. Um, and in the absence of Miss McCarti, I just want to give some more background of Miss Mrs. Boone with over 15 years of accounting
experience. She's been um in the district for seven years. She started off as the accounting supervisor and when the grants position was vacant, she applied for the role. She worked with the two previous CFOs uh the directors
of finance in the district. She has been committed to the district bringing her own child to the district to attend school community high school currently. Um she holds uh the business a business manager
certification with MSBO taking the classes rigorous classes uh throughout the years um with her eye on this position. She has a bachelor's of business administration and as our board
treasurer has stated when the um when our auditors uh was were were working within the district they personally requested to work this year with Miss Boon Mrs. Boone and she did an outstanding job. In addition, um, if you
looked at the information towards the end of the meeting about the refinance, she worked really closely with standards and pores with the S&P rating and our district had an improved rating. And as
you um have noted from Nate from PFM, they talked about because of the improved uh, business practices and that's been under her uh, leadership under this short amount of time. It's been a pleasure working alongside her and I highly recommend her for this
position. >> Thank you Dr. Zachary Ross for your comments. Um and and before we take the vote, um I just want to also echo the comments made by Trusty Talzin and um there are several of us on the board who serve on the um finance subcommittee and
um those external partners who sat on that call to give you high accolades and to say um how committed you are and how quickly you were able to bring the audit together. uh there was immense pressure and you rose to the occasion and this
board and this district is are grateful for all of your hard work. Um because we know the learning curve was steep but you rose up and you made it happen and we are really really grateful and thankful to have you as part of our Ipsellani Community Schools community
and now to see you move into this new role. Uh it is really a testament to who you are and what you bring to the district in terms of your skills and your expertise. So, thank you for all your hard work. To recap, a motion was made by Trusty
Field, supported by Trustee Sutton Kennedy. All those in favor? I. Those opposed? That motion carries. Congratulations, Miss F. We are at item 10 under business and finance
and we have a resolution. Is there a motion uh for the 2025 20226 budget amendment? Is there a motion at this time that board of education approve the 2025 service?
>> Thank you. A motion has been made by trustee Sutton Kennedy. Is there support for this motion? >> Trusty feels I support. >> Thank you. Supported by Trusty Fields. Any discussion on this item? Seeing none. All those in favor?
>> Those opposed? That motion carries. Next, that takes us to the acceptance of the 2026 refunding bonds resolution. Is there a motion at this time? >> Board of Education accept the 26 bonds resolution. >> Thank you. A motion has been made by
trustee Sutton Kennedy. Is there support for this motion? >> Thank you. Supported by Trustee Fields. Any discussion on this item or questions? Seeing none, all those in favor?
>> Those opposed? That motion carries. That now takes us to the acceptance of the 403b, 457, and 401A provider changes resolution. Is there a motion at this time? >> Madame President, I move that the board
of education accept the 403b, 457, and 401A provider changes to plan member services resolution. >> Thank you. A motion has been made by Trusty Goodrich. Is there support for this motion? support Trusty Towns.
>> Thank you. Supported by Trusty Townsen. And before I open up for discussion, just a reminder to the board um that these provider changer changes were um presented to us at the January 12th board meeting. Um any discussion board members or questions?
Seeing none, all those in favor? >> Those opposed? That motion carries. Next, we have the acceptance of the storm water board resolution. Is there a motion at this time? >> Madame President, I move that the board of education accept the storm water board resolution.
>> Thank you. A motion has been made by Trusty Goodrich. Is there support for this motion? >> Fields. I support. >> Thank you. Supported by Trusty Fields. Any discussion on this item? >> Yes. One of the statements in the resolution
says that Whereas community schools has developed a storm water program. And then it also says that whereas the conditions of the school separate storm sewer system
discharge permit requires community schools to develop policies and procedures that prohibit elicit discharges. I was wondering if I'm going to turn it over to the expert. This is Kathleen from Art Environmental.
help with all the environmental paperwork we got to do for this school district to the state and she'll give you more of the background what we have to do. >> Good evening. My name is Kathleen McBride. I work for Arch Environmental Group and I'm the manager of our storm water team there. Um to answer your
question, uh there is a policy that was developed as part of the storm water management plan. Um there's been a bit of a history going back to 2009 where the district had a storm water permit and it's gone through some evolutions and the last time that a board resolution was brought to the board was in 2015. So it's been about 10 years and
the state has re-reviewed the permit application and is um has given comments and a new board resolution is needed because the storm water management plan has been updated. So that policy I believe it was in the packet that you would have received that's part of the storm water management plan.
So we are able to use the policy that is included here along with the resolution and us. Any other questions? Any other questions from the board? Thank you so much. So to recap, a motion was made by Trusty
Goodriidge, supported by Trusty Fields. All those in favor? I. >> Those opposed? That motion carries. That now takes us to the acceptance of the contract bid award recommendation for our summer 2026 paving projects. Is
there a motion at this time? >> Madame President, I move that the board of education accept the contract award recommendation for summer 2026 paving projects of Midwest paving for Ford ELC and Holmes Elementary in the amounts of
$60,000 and $48,000 respectively of Allied paving for RCTC and ACE YCTS in the amount of $113,545 and $13,879
respectively and of best asphalt for Perry in the amount of $95,715. >> Thank you. A motion has been made by Trusty Goodrich. Is there support for this motion? I support. Thank you. Supported by
Trusty Fields. Um any questions or comments on this item? Seeing none, all those in favor? >> I. >> Those opposed? That motion carries. That now takes us to the acceptance of the Epsilani Community High School track
resurfacing bid. Is there a motion at this time of education community? >> Thank you. A motion has been made by Trusty Sutton Kennedy. Is there support for this motion? >> Support. Trusty Goodrich.
>> Was that Trusty Goodrich? Yes. Thank you. Supported by Trusty Goodrich. Any questions? >> Yes. I'm not 134,500. add an additional $25,000 allowance to the bid just in case there's something
that needs to be done. We don't have to come back to the board. We don't have to staff the project. We can just working at it. >> Thank you. >> Thank you, Mr. Burchwell. Was there another question?
>> Um, a motion was made by Trusty Sudden Kennedy, supported by Trusty Goodrich. All those in favor? >> Those opposed? That motion carries. Next, that takes us to the acceptance of the transfer renewal order for magnet schools. Is there a motion at this time?
President Trust Fields moved that the board of education accept the con academy service order for personal AI tutoring for $38,420. >> I'm sorry, Trusty Fields, could you go back one >> to my age? No, I'm not on the I was on
the right. I mean, >> it's okay. It's the uh Yep. Just go up one >> at the top. Yep. Yep. At the very very top. It's kind of like it goes over to the next page. Do you see it? Yes, I do. It's G. Right. And then I got to go next.
>> You do way ahead of y'all. >> You were. I'm like, let's go. >> Yes. >> All right. Uh, Trusty Fields moved that the board of education accept a transfer renewal order for magnet schools in the purchase amount of 56,000. >> Yes. Thank you, Trusty Fields. Is there
support for this motion? >> Support. Trusty Towns. >> Thank you. Supported by Trusty Townson. Any questions or discussion on this item board? Seeing none, all those in favor? >> Those opposed? That motion carries. Next, that takes us
to the acceptance of the Khan Academy Service Order. >> I thought you was gonna bring it back, Trusty Fields. >> I know, right? Thank you. A motion has been made by trustee Sutton Kennedy. Is there support for this motion?
>> Thank you. Supported by Trusty Fields. Any discussion board? Any questions? >> Just making sure. >> Yes. All those in favor? >> I. Those opposed. That motion carries.
That now takes us to the acceptance of the e rate category 2 access points. Is there a motion at this time? >> Madam President, I move that the board of education approve as presented the choice of Sentinel Technologies as the recommended vendor for updating network
infrastructure at YCHS ACE and Watts. >> Thank you. A motion has been made by Trusty Goodrich. Is there support for this motion? Thank you. Support of our trustee Sutton Kennedy. Any questions, comments, board members? Seeing none, that motion
carries. Next, that takes us to the acceptance of >> Oh, sorry. Point voter. >> We didn't actually vote. >> Oh, you remember our workshop? You remember that bar? Just alike almost identical.
>> Okay, let's go back. A motion was made by Trusty Goodrich, supported by Trusty Sutton Kennedy. All those in favor? >> Those opposed? That motion carries now. All right. Thank you, board. Uh, next we have the
acceptance of the rate category 2 UPS. Is there a motion? has presented. >> Thank you. A motion has been made by Trustee Sutton Kennedy. Is there support for this motion? Support.
Thank you. Supported by Trustee Towns. Any questions or discussion? >> Question. Looks like get a really big discount. Is there some special school district? What is that about Nice, don't get me wrong, but >> yes. Uh good evening everyone. Um so the
category two for which is a federal um initiative uh headed by the FCC, right? So based on our um our income of our district and our classification based on our income surveys we are given a discount based on the need of the district and so uh with our uh
classification and where we fall with the FCC we are given an 85% discount on all of our category 2 which is all the connectivity inside of our district not to the outside so that um and the power that's why this falls into that. So all four of the things excuse me in front of
you are for category They're all at 85% um discount when we go out. So, we have a there's a raw number in the files and then you'll see the discount amount and this is what we as a school district are owed and the federal government picks up the rest and we get that renewed every five years. >> That's nice.
>> Yes. As long as it's good. >> Yes, it is. It is wonderful. Thank you. >> Thank you so much. Okay, just to recap, a motion was made by Trusty Sutton Kennedy, supported by Trusty Town.
All those in favor? >> Those opposed? >> That motion carries. That takes us to the acceptance of the -ay category 2 fiber cables. Is there a motion at this time? Trusty Towns move that board of education award has presented the section the selection of Centennial for
the network infrastructure for Islamic schools. >> Thank you. A motion has been made by Trusty Townson. Is there support for this motion? >> Support Trusty Goodrich. >> Thank you. Supported by Trusty Goodrich. All those in favor? >> Those opposed? That motion carries. That
now takes us to the acceptance of the - category 2 professional services. Is there a motion at this time? >> Trusty Thompson move that the board of education award has presented the selection of the Centennial Technologies for structure.
Thank you. A motion has been made by Trusty Townson. Is there support for this motion? Thank you. Supported by Trustee Sutton Kennedy. All those in favor? >> Those opposed? That motion carries.
Uh that now takes us to um item 11 which is our second public comment portion for this evening. And we have read the public comment uh an excerpt from the board of education policy uh public comment protocol. And at this
time I would like to invite up Jeremy Haley. Jeremy Ipsy Township. I don't know if you guys read the report that come out just recently saying Gen Z is the first generation to be not as smart as the generation before
it. To me, how does that vote if Gen Z is not as smart as the generation before it? How does that go for Gen Alpha and successive generations? And in the article they mention and you
should look into us what they're lacking or what why they are not and how you could possibly incorporate into what you're doing in educating the students now to prevent further decline because that's where it's kind
of headed if it keeps going. And other thing is the incident that had at 11-11 West Cross Street that was in the beginning January. What's were did you guys let this ele the school down here out like were
students who if they had to walk they could walk that way in the direction of the whole thing? I just wondered on the protocol on that because I was told that some students were let out and they were walking in the direction of that. I don't know if you heard of anything that was going on,
but they were popping off flashbangs and tear gas and that's not a safe thing to be around. I don't know if the police chief called you and let you know or you guys called and said, "Hey, what's going on? What are you guys doing? We got students down here."
That's what I'm concerned with is what's the protocol something like that were happen. But something like that close to a school, what is the protocol? keep the students safe and students need to be brought or picked up. Would the parents be notified to come pick them up because
there is an incident near the school that they need to be not picked up so they're kept safe? So, thank you. Uh thank you for your comments and we will be sure to follow up with you um as we always do with those who address the
board, but we do have uh very um strict safety protocols uh across our district to make sure all of our students are kept safe. Uh next that takes us to our discussion uh this evening um which is
for the invest in my kids organization valid proposition discussion. Um, before we open it up for board discussion, Dr. Zach, is there anything that you wanted to share? I know that you've been working closely with gathering background information before
the board engaged in this discussion this evening. Um, so I will turn it over to you and then we'll open it up for board discussion. >> Thank you, Madam President. Um, I did share in the um executive content information for the board. I gave um
some real just the information about invest in MI um about what it is. I really appreciate u Mr. Weise spending time um and gave information that boards the board had asked about including um what districts
had already accepted um past resolutions. Um I also um gave information about um what is the plan. Um one of the things that our attorney
talked about was being very careful about not overpromising. We don't know exactly what funds can be uh delivered or not. And so being thoughtful about if the board chooses, and that's what you're doing today, is having the
discussion about if you'll have pass a resolution or not. And if you do um decide to have the resolution or not, just being really thoughtful about what you're putting in in a in a resolution if you decide to support or not because
we know no matter what, it's important to nobody denies about investing in Michigan kids at all. Um, I think that was what uh the attorney talked about, but really thinking about um if the
board typically um endorses resolutions or had takes on resolutions or not, thinking about um what types of resolutions that uh the board would adopt. Um and so that's the kind of thing he went back and forth on. Um, and
really uh just having the discussion about what is it um that uh that um you're saying you're going to go. You guys know I'm really sick today, so I apologize. My brain is really kind of fuzzy. Um but really thinking about um
what you would state to the public because um no matter what, you want to make sure that you're being able to give real clear information. And so I think Having the the dialogue was important. And then um what we also did was asked
to have somebody here to answer questions. Oh, thank you. to answer questions that you know that just wasn't us. so that we can have some um that there is some clarity about uh what is it that um that is promised either from
legislators or from others that if this does get on the ballot, what does it really mean um for Ipsy schools? Because I asked um for Truman to be able to say, "Do you know what that actually means?" And so the answer was no. They couldn't
find out what does it really actually mean? And so I wasn't able to come back and say for sure we do know um they couldn't say for sure that legislators wouldn't supplant the funds or not. We would hope not but they couldn't
guarantee that. And so those are the kinds of things that um uh Mr. Henley was a was saying be very thoughtful in your responses. That was kind just a little bit of the background. But um the important part
was just have to have the dialogue for everyone. And then the other thought was um if if the board went towards a um towards some type of resolution to actually have the names like who voted
and and what they voted yet or >> Thank you, Dr. Zachary Ross. I will open it up now for um for discussion. Um yes, Trusty. Thank you, Madam President.
Um I just want to say at the outset, I'm delighted that we're having this conversation. I realize that it's late uh and folks are tired. Uh but I think that there is there's been a variety of confusion. Um, and it's really useful
for us to have the chance to talk as a whole board about this. Um, because this is an issue that is going to impact not just students in our district, but students across the state because it really is a statewide initiative and a grassroots statewide coalition of folks that have been working um far before
this year on bringing this reform to fruition. Um, I was grateful that Mr. brought this to us in public comment on October 20th at our October 20th meeting. Um, and frankly, I'm embarrassed that I didn't bring it
sooner because that um, as many of us who have been involved with the Michigan Education Justice Coalition and other partners um, had received uh, communications about it earlier and I I feel I should have brought it here
sooner. Um, but I'm delighted that we're talking about it today. I think there's a lot that we don't know for sure. Um the the resolution the um sorry it's late words
are failing. Um the if the ballot proposal if the proposal does get on the ballot it provides an opportunity to create a another chunk of secure funding. Um, it
is true we can't control what legislators choose to move around, but we know that um, as I talked about the last time this came up, we we experienced all sorts of crazy delays with the bud with our budget this year
from the state because there's tension over whether the money goes to schools or roads or this would create a chunk that at least would be earmarked for schools. But yeah, we can't say exactly how much comes to YCS specifically. Um figuring out those
allocations, figuring out if the legislators are brave enough to go in the face of the will of the people and then take money back from the schools when the intent is clear. It is a thing they could do. I'm heartened that our legislators um have uniformly endorsed
um and that signals to me a a will to try to honor the will of the voters should this proposal get on the ballot and be passed by the voters of Michigan. Um and I've already talked about this a bunch so I'll pause there right now for other folks.
>> Thank you. Um there's a couple of things that I think typically supporting some type of resolution that um however I think it is important to
highlight the things that they have here are things that provid our goals. CTain those are things that
funds have applied those monies to those things. So this would only additional funds to do what we're already doing. The other thing um that I wanted to point out was this is talking about
um taxing individuals who make over a certain dollar amount that we're looking at the medium income for township and the city of Ipsani our residents don't even get to that threshold like we're not
even at 60,000 for the township and barely 40,000 for the city of those are census numbers So, I mean, that's just factual information. So, again,
it's saying tax the rent, the rich. I don't know what else I need to say. We're not rich in this. So, I mean, we have a couple of people, but not in my neighborhood. So, um I think you know as if it is something that's put on the
ballot is voted on then I'm sure I would hope that our legislators would put parameters in place just like they did when we got the additional increase in money or the always mess up the number 304 whatever it's called um plan. They
put parameters in there for us to come back and then outline specifics on what we're doing. So those are things that ask your legislators to do. So yeah,
>> thank you Trusty Thompson. Other comments? Trusty Sutton Kennedy. >> Um I wanted to share that I personally support this initiative. Our public schools are but I also want to highlight how you
know this is my second year starting my second year on board and how hard our administrators work here in this district to ensure that we have sufficient funding for our scholars and our partners between our partnerships
and our grants and trying to fill that gap in this district and it's definitely commendable but I do think that this proposal offers the community really not just our district you know everyone across the state an opportunity to bring
some meaningful additional resources to many districts including arts and so I think it's important to show our support for that initiative and to get it on the ballot so that you know to show our support for moving to the ballot so that
hopefully voters can decide you know ultimately decision invest in the future. But as we're saying here, you know, hopefully our legislators will demonstrate their support for public education and support, you know, scholars everywhere, not just in this
district, but across our state. Um, and really investing in public education. They, you know, will be our tomorrow, you know, our community members who are working and supporting
So I just wanted to share those thoughts and then we also said I just wanted to highlight that as well. I don't know where we're starting with that language. >> Yes, >> I know I said it was going to be quiet,
but I just wanted to tag on to um one of the things Trusty Sutton Kennedy said that I think is compelling about this ballot initiative. Um it is up to the legislators how how money gets distributed. Um One thing we often see in Lancing is
this tension between the various needs in our state and this tugof-war. And of course, everyone would like to give education more money, but there just not enough money to go around. And I I find this exciting because this revenue
stream would be for education and it wouldn't solve everything. But if that's the excuse, this like here's a new pot of money that's not the other stuff we've been fighting over. And I mean, if they really follow the will of the voters, should this pass, that should be additional money
that goes in and becomes available for foundation grants or needsbased distribution. Um, but it's really for education and it can't they might choose to do other things with the other money and that would take us
It would be interesting to see them try to claw back, but the the will of the voters would be clear and it would be great to have at least that part protected um and not in a tugof-war over all of the other needs
that are in our state. other four comments. Um I think the only well I'm not going to say the only but but some of the comments that um I'll just share regarding the history of this ballot
initiative um really just rest with as a governing body um like I understand as a citizen I can support every single board member at this table can support this initiative um on their own. As a governing body,
there's a different threshold which we have to consider in terms of how we engage with an initiative such as this. Um as someone who's been in this community for many, many years, I take my role in this community very seriously, as I know we all do at this
table, and I don't know enough about this initiative personally to say to voters, you should petition because I just don't know enough. On its face, I absolutely don't think anyone in this community or across the country for that
matter would say that we don't want more money for kids in schools. I think we can all agree wholeheartedly with that. What feels challenging for me is the connection between what the funding structure would actually mean for a
specific school district. And so in good faith, can we say that this is going to be more money for community schools? We just don't know. And so for me, there's so many unknowns that I tend to struggle with saying yes, you should because this
signals to voters or to petition signers that if the district and the board says you should sign on to this, we are essentially saying we support this whole party and I in good faith can't say that I have enough information and I just
want people to make informed decisions, right? Like I haven't been to any forums. I know there maybe was a forum held at Eastern Michigan University. Um I just haven't received enough information and I've looked on the website. I've done research on my own. Um I do know the way this came to the
board was a little bit challenging a and we've had you know those discussions as well. And so I just want to make sure that we're considering what this mean and signals to our community if we decide to move in a direction of a
endorsement as a governing body because that does come with a certain set of responsibilities and wait and I'm just speaking for me personally to say to our community members yes it means that more because I think what people hear on the ground is if Sani Community Schools is
going to get more money and we don't know that and I think we just have to be honest about what it is and what it isn't I'm hearing um a desire for more information. I'm curious if there are specific questions that you have because I know that we have some additional
people in the room. Um and yeah, while we can't make exact dollar amount guarantees, um I do think we have an opportunity. A and this district has actually done amazing work advocating
for things that have had much broader impacts than just within this community. Um, so yeah, while we may not be able to say if Sani will get exactly this many dollars out of this ballot initiative,
I guess I feel comfortable with the idea of this board endorsing an initiative that's going to be a net good for the students of Michigan, even if we can't have settled in the ballot initiative all the specific all the
specifics of how legislators might allocate those educational dollars, but but I hear your desire for more information. Um, and I would love to identify like what additional information we might need um to make a
decision, yes or no, if we're willing to take a vote on a resolution, a resolution carefully vetted by our attorneys if we get to that point so that we're not overpromising. But I hear your desire for more information. Um,
>> yeah, I mean, yeah, I mean, from the outset, I mean, I am someone who does, uh, want to make informed decisions. I look at information. I look at implications. I look at what does an endorsement carry in terms of weight.
And as a voter, as someone who served in this community, as someone who's been elected numerous times, right, I know my voice matters, right? And so I don't want to say and signal to someone if I don't have enough information about and
I know this initiative and proposal has been a long time coming right there's been a lot of moving parts and a lot of moving pieces and and no one came to me as the board president and no one came to our superintendent to bring this to them and I've shared that right like
and I've shared it you know very clearly and I think coming to the to say I want the board endorse this and we don't have we do have some people who came to public comment but I think it was kind of under this compressed time frame when we had a lot of board business that we
had to tend to and so from a process standpoint it certainly was concerning for me to not have anyone reach out to say anything I'm not saying just because I'm the board president you need to reach out but I am saying that we have a process and a procedure within our
district and I've been very clear about that and to kind of sidestep that has has not felt very respectful. Does that have anything to do with whether or not I will support money for kids in our schools? Probably not. But I think context is important in terms of how we
got here. Um I want to say clearly to voters if they ask me about this what it means and what it doesn't. I don't think it's my responsibility because I know what my role is on the school board. But I think
it is the responsibility of those who want this initiative to be placed on the ballot. I believe it's going to be successful. Um whether or not I sign a petition or not is a personal choice and I think that's a personal choice for all of our board
members. I'm just simply saying that I switch into the governance of a bo as a body and I think the weight is a little bit different because we are signaling a certain set of promises that I'm not comfortable to say if you sign this and if you vote this way it means that we're
going to get more money and I think on its face that's how it lands yet we can't control a lot of variables even without an initiative right there's a shell game happening at our state and federal um that's that has some real impacts.
And so I'm just being very candid about what my concerns are when it comes to saying yes, sign this. Yes. And and and we're nonpartisan, right? So I don't even want a signing of a petition to even signal that you should because
we're a whole district. People have a lot of trust and confidence in us. I don't want to inadvertently say sign a petition and then that in some way is conflated with also vote in this particular way. So those are I mean and I had a list of questions that I shared
with the superintendent but those are some of my bigger concerns is that I want to make sure people have all the information and that they make informed decisions. Um and it's not necessarily about me wanting because I know how to get information right. I just want if
someone is asking us to support something, I want that information to come to the board in a and and could have come to the board um and to the superintendent as I mentioned earlier um in a way that would have allowed for
some of this earlier dialogue that we're having now. >> Trusty Sutton Kennedy, >> I had a question about supporting endorsing the proposal the initiative
versus advocating for how voters I see those two things as different. >> So yes, we're endorsing this initiative. I don't know. I feel like in whatever
whatever we communicate in any situation, there's always an option that someone misinterprets or misunder that you're not communicating. And in those cases, we rely on, you
know, our meetings are minutes. If we were to pass a resolution, the resolution would state we're actually promising. And while yeah, some folks might misinterpret what we are promising, I
think, you know, it's been communicated that we want to be clear in that resolution about what we are promising. I guess the point is that, you know, I think it will be helpful to clarify
the difference between what this is. not passing that law. It's not what November is. This is the first step is getting invest and so
I guess for me I'm just focused on this this part of that process and clearly differentiated from any promises inve and and if I was not clear I'll just
share it again um the implication could be that if someone sees that if community schools is on this list it may signal um
I don't know if it will or won't. I'm just thinking about all sides of it because if community schools, there's a lot of trust that our parents and our community have in our district. There's a lot of trust and confidence that so if we endorse as a body,
we're not telling anyone how to vote, but I think we have to be honest about what that means. If we say yes, then you know that means that people might say, "Oh, well, if somebody said it's good, then community schools, then I should sign this petition and I should vote
this particular way. I don't know how if that if it's going to happen that way. But I'm just trying to to look at it from the lens if I wasn't on the school board and I were just and I saw this or someone came to me and asked me to sign it and they said if schools endorse
this, that might give some confidence to a voter that is not necessarily informed. I'm just saying I'm not informed enough to be able to confidently say. So I just want to make sure I reiterate that I know that there different parts of this process, right?
It has to get on valid and then it has to pass. But I'm just saying what it endorsement signals um to people who might be wondering should they sign, should they not sign. I just think I I just think we have to be careful with that also equating
possibly to so I'm just very cautious about what that means because we can all at govern I have a lot of thoughts um but I'm just focus on I think
that sits on this board. One of the things that we sign up for is to try to um anythinguc JC there's a big advocacy day coming up in
March. These are different things that we as school work on a regular basis. Again, I do agree with Trusty Kenny. This is something the voters themselves have to decide
whether or not they want to support it. Yes, they take what we say. Um, but I'm looking on this list and the research I have done, we have State Board of Education. That's the
highest governing body in education in the state of Michigan. Um, and I'm sure they did not take this. Now, at the end of the day, we all have our own individual vote
supported, not supported. I'm very black and white about that. That's what you have to know. There's other things that we can discuss offline, but I I just think at the end of the day
at some point, do we want to support it as a body? Endorse it ourselves individually and we go from there. I mean, I I don't know what else we need to say about this. I I think the information um from the
beginning when I first saw it the information has expanded detail they have a clear website to provide additional information data points that are attached to that we just appreciate the opportunity to discuss
it. Um, but at the end of the day, it's just that and we go from Oh, I'm sorry. Go ahead. But it's >> like I mean they have an information on several different
sele details. Again, we've had people at the meeting. We've had Mr. Weiss contact us, ask questions. I mean, it's just as simple as that. If you want to know, ask questions. Um, and go from there.
>> Um, >> and and we all can follow up and and do just that. Go ahead. I'll go after >> Yeah, this been a long night, but like I'm sleep. But what I guess what I'm I guess what I'm and
what I'm reading too even when I'm looking at the different um that they have that are supporting endorsing it is that's supposed to sway or change the decision if it's going to go into you know because now what's coming to us doesn't matter though you know what I mean like you know what I'm and that's
what I'm saying so >> it doesn't really matter you know what I mean and um why are we even is it is it a voting thing for us I mean you know I think it's a good initial That's not what I'm saying. I think the idea is definitely their book. Why does
it have to be necessary saying it's YCS is doing it? You know what I mean? That doesn't that doesn't make sense to me. Why do we have to say YCS is doing it like like they because they kind of like are promoting everybody else who endorsed it. Okay. I mean, you know what
I mean? Okay. So, but why does it have to be like okay, YCS is doing? because it's almost like they're kind of to me encouraging the community kind of like what you said trying to get the community to say oh because we said it that mean it's good but if we if if some of us are not very clear as what it is
that you're saying to do you shouldn't do it you know what I mean we shouldn't be because that's what it sounds like to me some people are not really clear of what is behind it or what the so then why should we all say yes we going to do this but you ain't clear you never want to be clear because you don't want
someone to come up to you and say, "Oh, so I see you guys are doing it." You can't even explain to them what it is. You know what I mean? I'm just being honest. So why, you know, why should we as a governing body if everybody don't know what it's about? >> And again, as I state,
>> if you want to know information, >> ask good. >> I'm just saying ask the questions. >> Oh, no. You can ask those. I'm not pushing it either way because I I support as a person. >> Yes. I shouldn't have >> and and and and we can do it
individually because if I say I I support it, I'm not saying YCS is doing it. I'm saying Ivon Fields is okay with that. I'm Well, I I guess that's where I'm at with that. We're we're putting a lot of time and talking about and doing all this stuff. Why does it have to be a YCS thing? If if I say I'm good for it
and I can put my name down, I'm an elected official just just like Jimmy Wilson. I'm just saying so if it's going to really stand like that, I don't have to have YCS to kind of like, oh, are you guys in with me? Cuz if I say it, I'm an elected official just like Jimmy Wilson is at YCS. So my name should be just as
good as being Ivonne Phil's board of trustee at YCS as it is being saying YCS board is doing it. Does that make sense? >> Yeah. So that's again I want to be very clear where I stand. >> Yeah.
>> I support it whether YCS does or not. >> I think the reason and let's just be very clear. We not we not gonna beat around the bush why the names are there. It is simply showing who supports it. Just like when y'all get those little flyers in the mail during every Let's
not act like we don't think endorsements matter. They do. So let's just let's just not do that. >> That's why I said as a governing body. That's what I'm saying. >> If we decide to do it, then it's simply a decision. >> Do you want to support it or not? Yes or
no? I already I already know where my name will be. So, it's just as simple as this. We just need to either make a decision not to even put it as a vote. Make a decision at some point if you're going to vote and leave it at that. It has nothing to do about personal
feelings, anything like that. Has simply There's information out there. Now, for me, anything that I vote on, I do my research prior to I go into that that room with that curtain. Everybody don't do that. And I understand that. And I understand that my name does that way.
But anybody that knows me knows I'm going to do my research before I vote on something. Anyway, that's just me. I know my level of influence. At the end of the day, for me, make a decision and
We don't have to do it as we don't. Right. And I just think as the local governing body or at YCS, that's why it's brought to the table. I mean, we know why it was brought to the table. I don't know why we acting like we don't. It's whether or
not your local school district supports it or not. >> It's as simple as that. Why we acting like It it isn't that way. >> I mean, it is, but I mean, we have a lot of districts in Washington County, too, right? And this is not being led by the ISD. This is not like a countywide like
effort to say we are getting I mean, so I'm just saying like yeah, I mean it's >> again they have the same decisions to make. I don't decision schools. I do what's best for
>> I make a decision for >> Y >> on anything that I >> well individually we can do whatever we want but >> well this is >> this is just discussion I would like to just tag on to Trusty Thompson's point
about endorsements. We know what endorsements signal um and individual endorsements and endorsements as a body carry different weights. I think we all know that which is why we're being so thoughtful in considering this. >> That's why I raised the very point that
I comments from we're not voting on anything. Okay. The next thing that we're doing is moving into subcommittee report. Thank you board members for your comments. Any board superintendent? Uh, I'm I'm sorry.
I'm sorry. I'm sorry. We're in a board meeting. >> I understand, but but this is a this is a meeting. It's a it's a meeting of the board of education and we have a section for public comments, but we don't have
comments back and forth with members of >> Yes. to ask some questions. If board members have already That now takes us to board subs. Do we have any subs at this time? >> Yes. >> Um,
sorry, find my notes for this. Uh, I just wanted to quick update the board on the policy subcommittee. We met um when did we meet last week, Monday, February 16th. Um, we we made it through
one short series and partway into the second in our review of the Trune policies for implementation. Um, we've asked for some administrative support for the 3000 300 series from facilities and finance and the 4,000
series from HR and the 5,000 series um from the assistant superintendent on some of the curriculum policies. Um, I think there's a lot about this process that is so anyway it's delightful to work with succinct and clear policies
and I know it's a heavy lift but I'm excited for the district to have a clear and unified policy package. I've scheduled a meeting with Lucas Seavoy from Trun for tomorrow to inquire about some of the questions we had and um it our next meeting is not until April 29th. So, in the interim, I'm planning
to reach out to the subcommittee members to just debrief and think about how we can move through this process as efficiently and thoroughly as possible. Um, and when Miss Haynes has the opportunity to load the rest of the policies into our shared folder, we can start working ahead and make sure that
we've reviewed and cross reference all of our new and existing policies appropriately so we can be as efficient as possible during the next hour that we get together. That's all I've got. Thank you. >> Thank you, Trusty Rich, for that. of where we are with our policies. We
are moving forward and we're hopeful that we can get through efficiently and effectively. Um any other subs? Um I have a report from the community schools foundation. Um the foundation
participated in uh the high school scholarship platform on the 19th. Um the application for the scholarships is now open. Uh the application period will end
or deadline is April 6, 2026 at 11:59 a.m. We they have drafted the mini grants applications as well as the PTO mini application. states to review those so
foundation president myself just in regards to how the foundation supports ideas. How to engage What was it? April April Facebook.
Thank you. Any other breakfast. So I won't but um they are seeking um Committee members. Thank you.
Do we um know if that May 18th meeting will be hybrid or just any other 850. Am I correct? 85. No,
that's Our targets. What are our targets? >> Maybe that's what they said. Is it 85%? Those are the number of students who have not Thank you for update.
>> Thank you, Vice President Lee. Um, are there any other subcommittee reports? Next month, but I think it's next. All right. Thank you board members. Um, did I miss
any? That's >> Well, we did not go into March. Look at that. You'll have something in March and finance. Exactly. All right. Sounds good. Anything else with subcommittee reports
before to hear me. I came last week to the scholarship um excuse. It was nice. I was nice. Um the participation, the students seem to be, you know, engaged. It was good. you
know, the different um we had one one young man who kept he asked lots of questions. I don't know if he was a senior or not, but he had lots of questions and stuff. And Trusty Townson did a great job as usual being the MC. >> Um um I just wish we had a little bit
more turnout with some other people who didn't show up, but it was nice though. It was a nice little thing. And it's always good to hear what money is out there and opportunities for our babies to be able to utilize to have for to go to college with just a matter of getting it little disappointing to hear that
some some sororities were saying that they have all this money, but but we don't get a lot of applications. So, we really need to get that pushed out there. You don't want the money just sitting there. We need to get that out there to our students and let them know >> absolutely >> to apply to apply.
>> And um they was there >> they just don't apply. Yeah, >> the ones that were there, but she was saying too, a couple of them said we don't get a lot of applications. So, that's what I was concerned too. They said we they have all this stuff, but they don't hear from they don't get a
lot of applications for a lot of populations and stuff, you know. So that's >> numbers. >> Yes. Yes, I think so. >> So the foundation with those concerns mentioned before
have been addressed. So those are found. Oh yeah, that's good information. I'm listening. So it's a difference and and that was one of my things I was addressing with the foundation is we have to learn how to shift right
and stuff like that. So, um, but they're shifting and you know, I think counselors that have a great job entire school. So, I think that's where everybody should be sharing information.
That will be on Saturday, April 4th to 12 school. that district. This has been almost four years to the senior Senior day on the 26 cate.
>> Oh yes, Trusty Goodrich. Go ahead. Uh, I just wanted to quickly share my thanks to Miss Haynes for confirming that the school board filing deadline is July 24th at 4 PM. And I want to reiterate my enthusiasm for whatever engagement and education opportunities that we might be
able to provide to any prospective candidates. >> Thanks. Yes. And I think we have something scheduled. I saw that come out already. Um, it's in June. Yep. So, thank you for making that. Any other comments? >> I went to
last night. It was last Friday. activities were amazing. Um they represented um and reflected the work that was in the classroom with so it was nice to see that connection
and also they had a high school teacher there who brought some drones. So both principles were there as well as the and brought some nice math activities.
It was really I'll be quick because I know it's very late and we're all uh I just want to say thanks to to the administration and uh for making all the adjustments that needed to be made.
So tonight's meeting was a lot because we had to make some shifts and we have to spread out um some of those uh agenda items that we didn't get a chance to take care of because of the snow day. Um, and then I also want to
just give a shout out to all the buildings um for Black History Month events uh for the Napa events um that have been happening across the district. I know a lot of them were uh extremely successful. So, a big shout out to all
the parents who came out to support and all of the programs and I still know we're going have presentations to round out the month and then I think in March we have the uh annual ESA uh play black history month.
Um so I know Julie is always diligent about those out to us as a board. So we appreciate that. Um and then uh I think lastly um anything I forgot I'll have to share
but um thanks to all of you who came to the board last Tuesday with last Tuesday um last Tuesday I think we learned a lot from each other and how we could all work together and
I've learned a lot So just want to thank you all for being there and I hope tonight. Okay, I think that's it. >> Thank you. And I'm not going to go over all the dates. Please do look at the
dates that do sent because there still are a lot of black history month opportunities and valent even Valentine's Day opportunities. We have um our bills on boarding that's what um our onetoone um computer programs um so
we're really excited about that. You're going to hear more about that at YCHS and ACE where every one of our scholars will get computers that um go home and they are attached to the internet. So, they're going to get additional devices through that program. Um the state the
district address is March 5th at 5:30 um here at the administration building. So, that'll be the first that we're going to do that and roll out that strategic plan. And we have some scholars that will be joining us for that. Um And again, thank you. We I know we had a lot
of public um comment today. And just a reminder, we every one of our ourus, we do go over them. They go to Dr. Lopez. There's on our website a lot about the requirements for that. Like for example, with EMU, even just recently, we have
some that are accepted. We send them to our attorney and some that are not. And so I know people just think that they're all just accepted every time, but when they're reviewed and our legal counsel gives us information, we do have to follow our legal counsel's um
recommendation um just per their advice. So thank you all for understanding on that. Um and we just look forward to there's district playoffs. So tonight we'll hear about our basketball team because there it just goes until that we want them to
keep winning. So I told Dr. Hugan to let me know. So we'll keep you posted on district finals on that on that sport as well. Our teams are looking pretty good. So thank you all for your support and um supporting our team supporting our
build. >> Right. Thank you Dr. Zachary Ross. I did just want to say thank you to Vice President Lee for starting the meeting in my absence. Um I have some family matters um things that are happening right now. So um I can share that
offline. Um but um the time is 10:34. If there's no other business coming before the board, we are adjourned.