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the time is 6:33 I'd like to call this regular Board of Education meeting to order the first item of business for this evening is the roll call for those Board of Education members who are present trusty Goodridge could you perform the roll call please certainly Madame President truste Sutton Kennedy present trusty espie here trusty
fields here trusty Townsen here trusty Goodrich I am here vice president Lee presid president Hawkins here we have seven Board of Education members present next that takes us to the Pledge of Allegiance at this time I would like to invite everyone to stand and reciting of the Pledge I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and
to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all next that takes us to the acceptance of the agenda is there a motion at this time to accept the agenda as presented I president Lee move that the Board of Education accept the agenda as
presented thank you a motion has been made by vice president Lee is there support for this motion support trusty Townsen thank you supported by trusty Townsen all those in favor I those oppose that motion carries next that takes us to achievements Awards and recognition and at this time I'd like to turn it over to Dr Elena Zachary Ross thank you madam president I just love this time of the meeting when we have the opportunity to see and hear from
our schools so at this time I just asked principal Ingraham if she'd come up um to introduce all of the folks here from ipenny Ipsy connected I know they they don't want to do the whole Y2 squared they have a lot of they got a lot of acronym however whatever acronym you want to say is the place where people feel like they belong and so
I appreciate that principal Ingraham is here as along with her great supportive staff members so thank you so Mrs Reeves is our Middle School lead and then we have Mrs Pucket n uh one of our TCS we have Aaron Anderson physical education teacher um among other so she's also Rising leader
and so it's and then we have Aden science teacher the students refer to her as a scientist she is not a teacher thank you for welcoming us Ipsy connected Community School AKA YC squared offers a learning environment that delivers live online instruction to
K8 grade students daily YC squared provides a learning atmosphere that allows all students including those who have struggled in traditional in-person settings to establish and participate in the most comfortable and in turn productive learning environment YC squared staff are leaders in adopting and trying the latest methods and tools for engaging students in the most relevant learning
environment our staff has a significant Presence at the mall conference each year and we have representation at most professional learning opportunities we love to learn YC squared 2nd through fifth grade core instruction is platoon or depart departmentalized excuse me teaching which is having subject experts teach instead of one teacher for all subjects each teacher has become an
expert in their core subject which allows for highly effective differentiation for our students we hope to support other schools in the district to adopt this learning environment a little short at YC squ we take pride in offering personalized learning experience that cater to each students's unique unique needs and strengths we
Al we also offer for Unique learning opportunities such as virtual and in-person field trips podcasts drama club ice skating Arch tree orientering and service learning by fostering an environment where every child can Thrive we ensure that learning is meanful and engaging for all good evening everyone at YC Square we cherish the strong relationships that we have with families who
we call our learning partners by being welcom into their homes each and every day virtually we leverage this virtual and relationships with them with every students reaching their fullest potential at YC Square all staff members are part of the Intensive student support network we take pride in our Collective commitment to academic Excellence by collaboratively owning and analyzing the data of our k
through eight students we work together to continuously improve and ensure each student's academic success YC Square's dedicated staff collaborates seamlessly to support our community we are committed to facilitating Optimum growth and academic success for all students our team skillfully tackles challenging situations and transforms them
into opportunities for productiv staff are empowered to take initiative and offer assistance to the fullest extent possible together we form the cohesive unit that is Ipsy connected community school thank you thank you so much Ipsy connected for sharing those wonderful points of
Pride about all the exciting learning opportunities that are happening for our students online let's give them another round of applause uh next I'm going to turn it back over to Dr Zachary Ross to introduce the presentation on career in technical education thank you we have an additional point of Pride and so I'll ask if our student Dylan Presley would please come to the podium while we
share about this one wonderful student this Champion now lately Dylan has been the one speaking and at this time I would like to just share a little bit about him and I'm sure then the board would like to maybe ask a few questions or if he might want to share let me just go ahead and brag about this scholar it says here he'll have an opportunity brag some more ipany
Community High school student Dylan Presley is truly making a difference as a champion for Career and Technical education we call it CTE through his experiences in the ipsan community schools engineering manufacturing CTE program Dylan has inspired others and advocated for expanded opportunities in this essential field over the past few months he has demonstrated impressive
leadership by presenting to the Michigan State Board of Education where he highlighted the critical role of CTE in student development and addressed the pressing issue of CTE deserts in Michigan particularly in washing County his compelling testimony not only called for an increased funding for CTE programs but also led to
significant attention from the Michigan Department of Education Dylan's ongoing efforts including his participation in the wdct brand immersion um workshop and his impactful appearance at the Michigan Career Education conference showcased his dedication to creating a sustainable system of CT opportunities
his remarkable leadership continues to inspire others to join him in advocating for the future of Career and Technical education for students across Michigan ycs the high school our entire district is in very proud extremely proud and we want to congratulate you Dylan Presley for your impressive leadership
thank you um I'll just I'll take any questions first what field do you uh want to go into specifically well I was going into engineering but little kind of curved a little bit so
we got a new fic robot is setting it up because everybody's using fanic robots in the plants now because it's building everything so I already know how everything shifted more to robots doing stuff so that's kind of what I want to go into so when we get the right stuff set up I'm going to switch over to robotics I've been going to robotics after school so I've get to started with that but I'm still going to be doing
engineering at the same time so I I just want to put Manifest this opportunity for him one I know we're going to have a presentation from the WD but I think there needs to be a conversation about him being a brand ambassador um along with that I truly um see that you're very well-versed you know what you're talking about so I'm going to already manifest Dr Presley uh what you're going to be
doing in the future okay thanks thank you yes trusty goodr uh congratulations on all your hard work it's always so exciting to have one of our Scholars come and speak to us um and given your wealth of experience now I would love to hear what what advice you might have for school districts to increase access to this really important Educational Opportunity um this program is so
so good I think it can change lives cuz it changed mind so if it can change one it can change more so I think that it can help lots of other people that really don't know what to do or maybe some athletes that maybe just got injured and can't play sports anymore so maybe they can find another career to do that can make some money and do what they actually like to
do other than play sports another way out thank you welcome yes trusty Fields I'm sure it may be somewhere and I missed it if it is so what are your plans um like for college where are you going to be attending and what year are you because I'm probably have that but I I'm a junior so 2026 okay and are you have you already started applying to college accepted or what did your what does that look like for you I'm going to go to college for sure and go the
college for Robotics and business so I can go in the field and do some work at an internship too so I can have some work experience then I will go to a plant to be a controllers engineer and work with the robots good choice yes hi thank you uh I'm curious Dylan congratulations all of what you've done has been amazing um I'm I'm
wondering how or what kind of things would you suggest or share with a student who is considering uh engaging with the CTE program um I would say that it's more options because when people just hear manufacturing they probably just think of building something or just doing kind of one thing but it's one thing that leads to a lot more so it's not just manufacturing I go you can go in that
class and do 3D printing if you want to you can go in that class and be an engineer go in that class go to be robotics go in a class you can be a labor if you want to being an electrician you can do so much more than What's led on to be when they people hear it they think of it so small but it's really something small that grows to be bigger so I think that really everyone should need this in every school everywhere
you're welcome other questions or comments Dylan we are so incredibly proud of you and my question is really related to what sparked your interest and passion in CTE in the first place my dad a all right Dad um pretty lost before I U moved with my dad I didn't really know anything I thought it was um
BF athlete be a rapper or work in McDonald's so um I moved with him so I because I wanted to get my life together um wasn't doing too good in school so I was like I need to change it get get it together so mve with him and I seen what he was doing so I looked more into it and I seen that you can do way more in the world than just play sports and be
a rapper so I was like it's just uh another way out let's put it like that more opportunities for you and it makes it feel like you can just do so much more than just couple things it feels like a lot so I think that some most people need an influence for it I think more parent should know about it and especially manufacturing because
um I know someone that their parent don't want to let them switch out but um they want to go to manufacturing and they can't switch out because their parent won't let them they think manufacturing just about building stuff and getting dirty but they can go do something different in there you don't have to go build stuff if you really want to you can go work on a robot tap on the tablet all day so I think that it should be a different narrative for it engineering should have a different
different narrative for I said engineering manufacturing should have a different narrative for what it really is instead of just one thing outstanding know the sky is the limit you can do anything absolutely anything you put your mind too thank you you're welcome thank you I know that I'm inspired
and incredibly impressed by this young scholar who has come and presented to us today so I think this deserve all of us to stand up and give this young man a round of applause Dylan is your dad here Dad can you stand up for us
awesome now I'll turn it back over to Dr zachar Ras I'm just gonna leave it with Dr Zachary Ross for the next couple of uh presentation introductions thank you madam president uh next we will have an Dylan's been really talking about
Career Technical education and some changes and what that really means and we are really happy to have Dr Ryan R to come and to present to us some findings that uh we've been having as we've been working on expanding access to CTE not only in our district and across our County so thank you Dr Ro thank you very much and uh appreciate the board allowing me an opportunity to be with
you this evening Dylan is our ambassador okay Dylan is and I am going to use Dylan as a proud example throughout this presentation we need more Dylan um and he is just a shining example little did Mr Presley know Dylan's dad know that he would be taking Dylan to numerous opportunities uh and I'll I'll discuss those this evening but uh thank you again for allowing me the opportunity to be here uh we are looking to expand access to a worldclass system
that exists including here at ipsan uh when I when we mention applied and experiential learning we talk about Career Technical education but we may also talk about first robotics or Project Lead the Way or 1080 or dual enrollment opportunities or advanced placement I can't think of a better way a more authentic way to deliver all of those soft skills that we talk about than through Hands-On relevant experiences like
in Career Technical education one thing that Dylan mentioned in front of 1200 people at the Career Education conference is that he has built relationships with the instructors in Career Technical education like Mr Kim that has transformed and transcended his educational experience so how do we get there when we think about uh worldclass education in washingon County we have to shift mindsets so Dylan is helping shift
the mindset of what manufacturing is and means and same with Career Technical education vocational education that we may have grown up with is not the same CTE that exists today uh we're launching new programs so we'll talk about those programs that were launched here at ipolani we'll talk about the expanded access which is um really transitioned into more enrollment uh in CT programs we have to engage the community so never have we had a time where in Career Technical education all
nine public school district superintendence superintendent Norman at the ISD Workforce Development Economic Development postsecondary institutions and our business industry Community are all on the same page saying we need Career Technical education access expanded access in washingon County um co-creating a driven uh data driven future so we often talk about co-creating opportunities and we're doing that
that Based on data that we'll talk about this evening uh and then constructing world class you know why because our students deserve it they deserve to have worldclass educational opportunities so as the system as it is or was is Washington county is very unique in Career Technical education uh we have a decentralized um approach we don't have a CTE Center like a lot of communities have or Counties have most of our programs are housed within our local
high schools often you may know as Schoolboard members we struggle with transportation we do throughout the state um and often when our students go to and from CTE opportunities it's inefficient complicated most of our teachers are not employees of the ISD like they are in some counties they're employees of our local school districts enrollment is below demand we'll talk about that tonight how many students want to be enrolled in CTE if they had the opportunity and had access uh we lack a
countywide system of awareness and exploration and programming is funded through our general funds we do not receive uh vocational funds through a a tax levy or a millage and we'll talk about that but what we do have is a community as I just uh explained with energy and enthusiasm and commitment to expand access to CT in Wason County so we're working with uh to build the system and we're working with schools our K12 institutions the local
School District superintendence our businesses perhaps the most prominent one that you are well aware of is driving possibilities with Toyota research and development that have come to the table and said we want to leverage this opportunity our post-secondary institutions so washingon Community College Eastern Michigan University and U ofm are all at the table participating in these opportunities and then our community organizations so uh Shamar at Michigan Work Southeast and an ARB spark and a lot of our economic drivers are part of this conversation
so when we talk about deserts or Career Technical education deserts deserts come in many forms and Fashions however the underlying concern that we have with CTE deserts throughout the state of Michigan is that we would anticipate in an area like washingon County that our CTE enrollment would be greater than it is due to a variety of factors and we'll dive into that when we don't have the access that the students need and deserve it creates opportun
gaps often for our most marginalized populations and we've done the research um with the state so vocational millage funding uh happens throughout the state of Michigan if you look at the map and you see any millage rate that is above 1.0 that was passed before 1994 before prop a uh back then you could pass a millage for vocational education for as much as you wanted for as long as you wanted so for instance in lenway County they have a CTE millage that was passed in
the 70s they passed a 2.9 mil Levy uh and they passed it for 99 years if we were to go out if we were to go out for uh a millage today you would only go up to one mil Max and you would have to go back to the voters for a renewal if it so passed um so 41 isds 73% of the isds have a vocational millage in the state of Michigan and
the tax rate depends on that area area uh in wash County because of the tax base that we have uh if we were to pass a 1 M vocational education uh millage it would generate $20 million that would be dedicated to CTE funding right now we pay for our CTE programming from Perkins funds that's Federal Perkins funds we receive about $585,000 a year and
our added cost funds that's generated by the programs that exist between those two funding sources we bring in about $1.4 million a year the rest of that is paid for out of the general funds that you see here to put it in perspective lenaway County that I just spoke of lenway county has less students as a county than an Arbor Public Schools and their vocational millage
brings in about $14 million a year we're operating off 1.4 million and then tapping into the general funds of the local school districts the 15 isds with no vocational Millage are listed here Wasa county is one of those uh most of these counties outside of Wasa and Livingston um mome a lot of these are rural counties that have to rely on other sources of revenue but Wasing
county is one of those that are remaining without that funding source often if you don't have a vocational millage it creates inequities to access that we have today what can uh vocational millages be used for CTE Readiness activities and that can be leading at the elementary and middle school levels to high school programs that Dylan is in today so your Middle School uh team that participated in 1080 last year that traveled out of state
and repeated that's a CTE Readiness activity potentially leading to some CTE High School courses maint maintenance and repair replacement of physical buildings salary and benefits for your vocationally certified staff um curriculum and assessment cost Transportation cost and it would free up some general fund dollars not all funding is equal so um if you have a student that is like Dylan that wants to take a industry recognized certification and
that certification cost to $100 or $150 we have some Sur safe certifications in the culinary program that might be $50 that's an additional cost so when we talk about the money that we receive from added cost funding in perkens uh to equate to about $679 per student that doesn't go very far when you're talking about some expensive programs to run so um our efforts that include
I call it the four-legged stools you have vocational millage perhaps but we also have our business industry Partners like Toyota research and development U ofm health that we work with um we have our post secretary Partners we had a meeting today with washingon Community College in Eastern Michigan participating and helping and also legislative means that Dylan advocated for uh they working uh alongside this so we don't think that one funding Avenue is all of it we know it has to be um collaboration between
all four entities however if we have a funding model and we move forward it could decrease CTE deserts and opportunity gaps increase students uh that would graduate from high school with a purpose like Dylan's increase students exploring career paths much earlier we know that we can't wait till a students in 11th grade it must start in Elementary Middle School increase students earning an industry recognized credential Dylan I think is now earned 80 certificates or credentials uh related to engineering 3D printing robotics and increase
student engagement at an earlier age so if we expand access and opportunity we can have resource allocation some of those General funds could be allocated elsewhere we can increase that program quality by state-of-the-art equipment and supplies materials and resources and certainly we can increase the quantity of programs as well on the left hand side is what we operated with for a long period of time and
then all of those circles on the left-and side where it says proposed we went from about 53 programs to well over 70 now expanding programs including at ipsilanti where we went from automotive and collision and culinary to expand to cosmetology TV and radio broadcasting and the engineering Machining program that Dylan's in today not only do we expand those CTE programs that such as the one that
Dylan's in today but that led to other means of uh SMA Prime and other opportunities that leveraged that opportunity to partner with a CTE program we could do this all day long we could expand programs all day long we do not have the finances to pull it off we've even had success having vocationally certified teachers like Mr Kim come straight from business industry a non-traditional teaching background most of our teachers in CTE
today are coming from non-traditional backgrounds in washing County we've been very fortunate to find those teachers out of business industry um however paying for that program is a challenge I find this fascinating so at the same time over the last four years that our ninth through 12th grade population enrollment population has decreased our CTE enrollment has increased dramatically even looking at ipsilanti High School in particular coming out of
30 to 40 students enrolled in CTE programming this year 125 students are enrolled in Career Technical education programs at ipsan Community High School I mean that's outstanding um I hope that those under other 124 are just like Dylan and finding their purpose and passion um so how did we do that if we don't have the funding mes mechanism to expand programming to expand access to enrollment how did we pull that off well
in 2122 we received just over a half million dollars in CTE equipment funds because legislation offered us as a non- millage funded County money to invest in our CTE programs so Collision Automotive cosmetology Mr Kim's program all benefited from CT equipment the next year we receive $576,000 in CTE equipment last year we received $11.15
three million and CT equipment that allowed us to expand programming outfit that lab and begin to teach students this year the 2425 school year zero funds so we are at a Tipping Point where we have to recommend a funding model or we have to rely on other means we went out and uh with the superintendent uh leadership we went out and applied for a school consolidation and infrastructure fund we received a quar million to
study the inequities of CT access in washing County so that helped pay for some positions such as myself to lead this um initiative and then based on those findings of the U ofm youth policy lab report on the inequities the findings there gave us recommendations to follow we applied for the consolidation of services to implement those findings and we received 5 million that $5 million is leading this charge today to look at
a consolid of our four consortiums ipsan Community Schools running their CTE programs and Arbor running their CTE programs Whitmore Lake running their CTE programs and then the Southwest washingon Consortium of six districts running theirs want to go back right here out of these 71 CTE programs that exist in the county guess how many of these programs are open to students from all nine districts any student from
any District can enroll in one of these programs see none of these where you reside is where you can attend so if you're an Ipsy student you can enroll in Ipsy programs Lincoln has some arrangements that they could come back and forth the South West washingon Consortium does but for a majority of these programs where you reside is where you can attend we're trying to tear down those barriers and allow access so ifs Salen is the only School in the
county that has a collision repair and uh program so IFC and um Lincoln students are able to participate with that in Seline there's a welding program that's the only one in the county we should have a welding program in every school in the county we need that many welders that's the expansion we're looking for so this is where Dylan went up on December 10th with three other students and uh testified to the State Board of Education and state superintendent Dr Michael rice and I I put the
press release in your packet uh that response in January that press release was based in part by Dylan's testimony on expanding access for CTE students specifically in CTE deserts but increasing funding for all CTE programs throughout the state so the big picture alignment is with the top 10 strategic education plan at Michigan we're not in an island maybe in a desert we not on an island when it comes to this initiative everyone agrees that all five of these
could be reached if we expand CT programming in wash County so a history of unequal access so I just want to walk through this really quick on this isn't something the superintendant have been working on for the last 12 months or 14 months it has been for a long period of time and has been a laser-like focus on expanding access to CTE in April of 2019 the University of Michigan Youth policy lab that's right in our backyard we commissioned them to
look at CTE access in washingon County this was pre-co their findings were we have a lack of widespread familiarity with CTE overall CTE courses align with emerging occupations and their desire to expand programming even in 2019 in January 2020 the state went out and said we're going to work with the U ofm youth policy lab and we're going to study Career Technical education in Michigan how does access look for any student in the state of Michigan and you
can see 50% of all students enroll in CT courses female black and economically disadvantaged students have less are less likely to participate and we have a significant challenge when it comes to a lot of our um opportunities occupational opportunities we went back to the UFM youth policy lab in December 2021 and said maybe we just don't have the demand in washon county for CTE we do demand for CTE is equal across all districts and students will participate at a high level if
they're provided easy access to those programs and off-campus and neutral site tests possibilities of what we might be able to offer on a countywide scale rather than within the traditional High School the state went right back in December 2022 and found out as a state how access to CTE varies and then we went back in July this study was paid for out of that consolidation Grant so no cost to the districts and we found that all wash students have less access on average
than the state average to CTE programs now how is that possible in washingon County our students should have more access than students on the Statewide average access is dependent on which district and building a student attends low-income black Hispanic students have less access to CTE and there are many opportunities in front of us that can increase access for students including exploring funding models so Money Matters every dollar that's put into CTE $5 do returned to the state economy Dylan and
others have earned credentials through their programs they've earned post-secondary Awards and supplemental credentials as value added ways to go on to College and Career in the 127 rule so out of any entity any organization whether that's University of Michigan Health if it's Toyota research and development if it's zoler or Lee bear Aerospace any worldclass company that we have in this area has the 127 rule out of every 10 employees one requires a master's degree
or more two employees have a bachelor's degree and seven individuals have an associates degree certificate or credential employed for that institution and and when you think about University of Michigan health and the health system you think about your RNs and your X-ray technicians your maintenance workers uh your food service employees that help run a worldclass company there's a lot of individuals then we need every single one of them so what we're doing currently is we're building capacity with
our positions out of that $5 million um so we've hired individuals to help on a countywide scale we've never had countywide service and support it's always been through the Local District so in concert with the local district superintendent we've hired a Career Technical education coordinator marshan Brooks is in the back he's from Chicago Public Schools just joined us we've hired a work-based learning coordinator to connect business industry with the students so if Dylan wanted to go out and work for a company we would
help coordinate that between the family the student and the district Eric Jackson proud Ipsy High School uh graduate a special populations coordinator Jackson greenstone and we have a CTE Grant Management coordinator alect Collins thank you a lot uh we also do daa and Reporting through Charlie Jones Charlie's not here this evening we're looking at three countywide programs Aviation Aerospace so I was able to travel with Carlos
and Chelsea to Atlanta to study this this would be a FAA part 107 drone pilot certification we're bringing that to Ipsy High School we're going to Pilot two programs one at Ipsy High School one at Lincoln High School start with those two in the fall Ramone Crow is going to lead that charge he just retired after 37 years with the FAA to lead this initiative along with us um that will be Monumental the
best business entrepreneurship Sports and tourism leadership program so let's just take Dylan for instance Dylan said he wants to be an engineer he's a junior he's successfully completing his engineering technology program right now this what we launch in the fall is a pilot program for any student that has an entrepreneurial Spirit let's say that Dylan says I want to start my own business next year each district will have a couple slots to Pilot this program where a student will take a class with with um
Professor Anthony Terry over at Wasing Community College one class in the fall one class in the spring one class in the summer following their senior year and walk away with a management certificate on their way to College and Career this will be aligned with the business industry and our last one engineering construction trades so we want to expand access to engineering construction so that ipsilanti high school students if they so choose could participate in an engineering construction program so we'd like
to have these Regional sites for Building Trades in construction our unions are on board our trades people are on board our postsecondary institutions are on board and washingon Community College is revitalizing their construction Tech program based on this initiative as another post-secondary option and finally we're developing communication marketing and branding strategy of which Dylan has been part of ever all of this uh Dylan took place in our messaging internal and external our countywide load our
countywide messaging our countywide Publications and last week roads branding and marketing came in a firm and they're doing a video on each of these career Pathways and I'll let you guess who is featured in one of those 90c videos so you'll see that as well um and we're working on branding and marketing we're working on a report to the community and we've done some survey and focus groups and we've really worked with the uh student leadership here at Ipsy to give us their student voice and
what they'd like to see it's not the adults dictating what that may be it's the student voice saying this is what we want and need so our CTE design process we started this in 2019 exploration and fact finding kind of led to 2023 where we started to launch some more programs March and April 2024 did some visioning work with our economic developers and business industry leaders that said we're all
in in August the superintendents met with their uh retreat with those business industry Community leaders and they all said we're all in we formed advisory groups looking at those career Pathways and where we want to head we have a we're building Community commitment and investment and on M March 18th we'll have a community Summit AT washingon Community College we will invite you to participate Dylan may be the keynote speaker doesn't know that yet yeah but he'll be part of it I can
tell you that uh and then November 2025 we hope to recommend a system of uh Equitable access to CTE programming in the county along with a potential funding model I would entertain any questions that you may have thank you um Dr row uh for
your presentation um one of the questions I have is is that over 30 plus years ago we did have a very viable rctc program at Ipsy go bra um and um have you all looked at any um past data or information in how that program was its pros its cons you
you know how it maintained its stability sustainability through over over those years I know one of the major issues that we ran into of course was when we had the crash with uh you know GM Ford leaving the area and then also fer uh so in situations like that with this program have you all looked at you know if there's a possibility of any type of shift in the economy how this
program still sustain itself that's a phenomenal question and we've been very very fortunate uh when I've talked to the superintendents at their monthly meeting I don't know if I could accurately answer that without our $5 million in funding through that grant that has empowered us to work with some world-class organizations like the UFM youth policy lab Handover research and others locally and Arbor spark Shamar herin at Michigan Rook Southeast to really dig in and pay for some data
findings that we have can we plan for all of that probably not but we're doing some really good uh predicting on what may occur and how we would pivot if that if that occurred um I'm wondering so I noticed on uh I'm not sure what page it was on I think it might have been the second page or third page but you'll know what I'm talking about when I ask the question so I noticed that there is this lack
of widespread kind of awareness about CTE programming does part of your research communication and marketing plan speak to that and it doesn't explicitly call it out on this slide but what are kind of some of your plans to raise that awareness get the word out so that more people know about what options are available through CTE thank you very much um so a few things uh one our Handover research that's taking place with
our Focus groups and our survey so over 4,000 people responded to that survey on what they believe experiential and applied learning including CTE means to them if I walked in with a piece of paper today we would have that many different answers to what Career Technical education looks like so our messaging and branding and survey we will put together a very succinct message on what we're trying to achieve and what CTE means to us they're going to hand that over
to forthright another firm we're working with to do a report to the community on all of the data that was collected are those 4,000 individuals parents Educators administrators business industry leaders and students what do we as a collective determined uh CTE to mean to us and then we're going to hand that forthright report over at the summit the CTE Summit that we're having on the 18th after that the report to the community and then finally the road roads branding and marketing we are
going to reach we'll use social media we're going to use print we have the funds out of that consolidation Grant thank goodness to articulate this so that we are talking the same language when it comes to CTE um developing a website a communication specialist all that will be dedicated to this effort so that the word is out there that this is a pathway through college not around College
y right
that
right that's right
so in other words on this page 10 a history of une assess December 2022 lowincome Black and Hispanic students have less overall assess to CTE and less likely to attend schools with at least one CTE program so what did you do or what
are you going to do to help them yep so that's where our focus in the last three years Al those CTE equipment Grant and expanding programs has been on Ipsy and Lincoln and that's where Prime the Grant and the $400,000 for Mr Kim's program came through those efforts um you will see that the Southwest Washington Consortium the six districts that work together not one program has been expanded in there in fact Dr
lcha superintendent Seline said and he's been part of bringing me to the IST to say we can do better and you know who we need to concentrate on period so this is a all nine all nine superintendents philosophically agree on our efforts and we've been laser-like focused on our expansion on the east side of this County and did that include African American females also yeah and then that I'll share the
U ofm youth policy lab Report with you um it they did a very good job and it is by we look at the non-traditional field so we want women in welding we want men in health care we want there's so many different areas with Jackson greenstone special populations coordinator that we're looking at specific student populations that should be enrolled and yet that demand is not equating to the access that should be allowed so be clear the all nine superintendent hired him
to do this work we commissioned this work we said that this would be our priority we made every single meeting we brought in Shamar before he worked for Southwest Consortium so we stole them so we said that this will be our Collective work throughout these few years we didn't know what the data set at first NOP but we sat down at a retreat as you said in 2019 and collectively said that this would be our work we
talked to kalamazo about what they had done to to make sure they had a collective funding source we looked at what other as other counties came together what worked for them what didn't work for them we had so we had a lot of presentations before we even started the work and asked for any funds and that's when we came up with this Collective voice of nope we do not need any additional funds for certain areas
because they already are saturated they have access they have buses they have things right at their fingertips these others as funds come in we collectively agreed that we would not put money in places that were already saturated we put money as the state gave us money everyone agreed out of the nine that we put money in in districts like Ipsy like Lincoln and we decided that as you saw in there Ipsy is was the place that
we would be and then like Lincoln joins us and so we worked to ensure because there was no place for our students to go on this side of the county and then we thought okay now we've got to have to research the research there with the data and then we have to have Collective n language because what we call some people are calling it vocational some people are calling it CTE now we're talking about applied work right so like
we have to have a collective voice and then what this means because in some areas of the county you're right they're thinking we're taking away from college credits whereas we changed our whole um commencement ceremony to ensure that everyone has stable credentials so that you had opportunities to know what the what what's next so we're not afraid of it we understand the articulation agreements between washing Community College Eastern Michigan U ofm and all the others and so so we're having
to make sure that there's this shared understanding if we're going to have a shared um fiduciary we've got to make sure that no matter where you are if you're a district that already has the funds that you are understanding just like districts where we do have more brown and black students that we all can collectively agree that this is the same funding source so that's kind of where we're working together because even though the superintendants agree the communities are a some people are still
at thinking this is a the quote unquote words vocational to these other people like Dylan who's like no this applied work now is how amusement parks are built how hearts are now being repaired in hospitals like this is a a form of access that people are looking at if you look at in duai they're having whole AI colleges and universities this is expanded access that other people are seeing
as assets and we've got to make sure everyone in the county sees this as asset base and for us to be the most knowledgeable the most educated County in this state there's no way we should be a CTE Des any any other board questions or comments um my last question would be um in regards to when we
have these students get these stackable credentials the pass off to the next institution that they go I think we need to just really look at what that really looks like to make sure that they get there and that they're prepared for the send off um because I want to make sure if we're going to align students with all of these credentials I really would like to know what that data looks like of how many of them are actually utilizing the credentials um because if
we're going to be changing lives that's that's a very important piece of that um to make sure that you know this is a successful program and that is sustainable agreed thank you so much thank you for all you do thank you all right next um Dr Zachary Ross will introduce um our next presentation on
um the fast for challenge thank you madam president to continue with this conversation it is very important to us that our seniors are ready for their next steps and we have both of our high school building leaders here with us Dr Chelsea Harris hugan and principal Leslie Davis to talk about how the universal fasta challenge is connected to what is happening with our senior portfolio many people are hearing about
this Challenge and are concerned about um is there lack of access and we're looking at it from a different lens and we want to make sure that there's an understanding of what that lens is um because we want our students to have those options when and if they want to to take advantage and so thank you so much to the both of you for being here today good evening everyone good evening thank you for having us this evening
um so um lesie uh principal Davis um passed um around just what we'll be kind of going through and talking about tonight um we I'm going to start this as well um so that everybody can kind of take a look um at what the finished product kind of looks like for our seniors as we start doing this work or continuing this work so um just so that you can kind of pass it around and see what what it
look so we were um awarded um money for um The fasta Challenge yes right who knows everybody um and what that looks like for our students we've always both of us and even when I was um the principal at a worked to ensure that all of our students completed FASA we did a senior project where they completed um FASA uh
did a bunch of um a whole entire portfolio that you'll see and at senior checkout there's a checkout list at the very beginning as far as what all of the things that they need to have prepared and put placed into that binder we moved it this year to a binder because I it looks wonderful I'm going to share a really quick story um we hired haidar G um who was a former who is a
former student um at graduated with us two years ago we hired him as a um ta teachers assistant for our auto repair and he came and we did the whole entire interview and at the end I said okay you're going to have to get all of your credentials together and he said Dr hugan this is my portfolio that we did two years ago with all of my credentials
in there and when I opened that it warmed my heart to see all of these credent because you hear like I hear about it right and I I see like I go in Mr Kim's room you can see all the credentials and all that but to actually see the next step of it a student walking in with that and saying here are all the credentials that I earned here just it was amazing so um we wanted to move it to a binder because he had it in a folder and I was like how much when we talk about being teachers and getting
your teaching certificate you have to present your portfolio and the work that you've done so why not if we're moving this and like Dylan said changing the narrative let's do this so that when they go to a job or go somewhere they look professional and can present that way so that's the goal with the binder and the checklist and ensuring that all those things are there in that is yep the fast for challenge want to take it
okay so we had the opportunity to apply for funding to support our staff and our students with completing the FASA because recognizing that there are a lot of challenge that are posed um when it comes to completing having documentation available the training that's required for staff to support parents as as they complete the FASA so we um put together a proposal of how we would spend the funds so if you take a look at the document the two-page document that was shared um we select Ed four areas to
um allocate the funding and the first and the the largest is the student engagement and support so that's inclusive of offering students um incentives having guest speakers taking them on college tours um exploring different careers that are available to them having summer programming um preparing them to be leaders in the world um and then preparing them for the tests that they would take so the SAT and other tests like that um the second piece was parent communication and engagement
so bringing the parents in to kind of inform them of the opportunity all the funds that are available for the state of Michigan um for students once they complete the FASA just so that they know what the why is behind the request for students to complete the fasta and then the um area of Staff support and professional development so making sure that our um College advisors our counselors um and in my case anyone who's working with students to support them in this college process um
is knowledgeable about what information is required so that way they can inform the parents and they bring all required materials with them during that first meeting so we don't necessarily have to keep having them come back and then the last area is the Community Partnerships and data so um design Implement monitor evaluate so every process that we go through we kind of use that that acronym so making sure that we're monitoring how this goes which students have completed the fast or which having what are what's the rationale for the families that haven't
completed it yet and how we get them in because our goal is 100% completion um so when you take a look at the funding we have in the areas that um we focused on it kind of ties everything together nicely the portfolio um the work that we're doing with the staff and we bring everyone together to ensure that we have um polished Professionals in the making as they graduate from M atantic Community Schools thank you what
questions might you have yes vice president Lee so when do you start the process for the B so for and I can only speak for a students our process may look a little different because we have rolling graduation so as soon as the student completes the um application for the college for instance washingon Community College they send you a check list and
I believe number one on the checklist is probably completing the FASA so they the colleges are encouraging students to do the same thing so when we do this we want them to have the portfolio developed so if they have other colleges in mind when they complete their fasta they send it to multiple colleges instead of just one okay so if it's due so when is the application due for it so I think it opens what
December 1st something like that so it's available starting December 1st and they have probably until right before the the school year ends almost to complete it for that year okay so do you also help them to fill out scholarships that's available so you let you know when the scholarships are due so if you take a look at the checklist it's the second page one of those um items is complete in scholarship applications so there are local
and then a lot of colleges offer scholarships too so once we find out which college the student would like to attend we ensure that they not just do the ones that are available locally but also the ones for their college and then we have um the presentation that's coming on Wednesday D9 is coming to do a presentation about scholarships and what offerings they have um there then the students will be able to um go
downstairs and kind of talk one toone with the folks that are offering those scholarships we also have a um Career Success coach um through the University of Michigan um it changes every two years and she supports both Ace and the high school to make sure that those scholarships get to the students get in the hands of the students that will qualify for those so we've got multiple scholarships I think last year
we gave over uh 4 million La I have to look T me on it um in scholarship money that was available to both of our students and so I want to interject that we have just applied we just applied and got awarded this and wanted to bring this forward because this work has been do been done without those additional funds so now that they've written this they are able to then say okay
if someone needs to do some incentives if we have need to have a night if we need to do some things These funds will be able to use be used I wanted to there was a part about the app about this that was missing that I want to make sure the board knows about so before we've always had this on the check on this senior project requirements and as I always said the requirements I just really want to emphasize part of what um they said with the universal um fast and this is controversial part so I really want
to emphasize that people say oh it's required for them to fill out the fast but what happens if they don't does that keep them for from graduating what happens and so parents can opt out the administrators can say hey we tried and we don't have the information because obviously you need information from like tax information and things that we don't have so we can walk you through some of the application but I don't we don't have information from the household so
there are multiple opt out opportunities so there's no student in ipsan Community Schools who would not graduate without if they didn't fill out the form we just want to make sure we're doing anything and everything even if they say I don't think I'm gonna go to a college I'm doing this okay it's part of your senior because what if they do decide at the last minute I want to go and then they have as you talked about it's important deadline and if they haven't applied or have had even known what opportunities
there are and then they changed their mind something happens life CH happens at least they apply it doesn't hurt it's not going to if they don't access the funds from some college or university or trade program it's not going to take away from the family it will hurt if they haven't applied and the deadline has passed so I just want to put that out there because people have this concept of oh my goodness if you put this requirement you're going to keep somebody from graduating and that's the last thing
we want to do we want to make sure so I don't want the board to think like they missed that part of the presentation and I have one more so with the scholarships the deadlines for those do you give them the information for that too yeah because I know like the anaba area
Foundation scholarship that deadline is February 13th so did they get that information so if that um Society reached out to the high school and gave all of them and gave us the information we shared that with all of our students we have a Google classroom for scholarships so when whenever our um success coach gets any information Kappa just sent their information
um Remy not organizations typically completely yep so they once that once we get that information it's shared with the students and placed in the Google classroom with the deadlines we also work with we also go out and say hey you should apply for this scholarship we kind of identify those students that would benefit from applying for those scholarships and we kind of sit on them until
they and if I can add a lot of what you'll find in the portfolio is beneficial for students and they have things on hand to apply for the scholarship so they don't have to write their essays over and over again they can recycle the essays and use and just tweak it um for the needs of each scholarship I do also want to mention that although we don't have a counselor part the team at Parkridge has been instrumental in supporting our students with the the the college and financial aid process so there is someone that will will come over to work with our students so they have the same
opportunity even though we don't have the same Staffing that they have at the high school okay okay thank you trusty hi thank you um really excited to see that folks are going to have this clear checklist and I'm curious at what point in time are you starting to have these conversations with students right so this is a senior project requirement but I'm assuming right for fesa obviously you want to be looking at that in junior year if you're talking about testing you might want to be looking
about that in sophomore year so when are students being introduced to this process and families are being when are families and students being introduced to this process we introduced at about 11th grade okay so at the beginning of 11th grade we start talking about senior project we start talking about what needs to go in there so that it's not the night before checkout there trying to grab everything under the sun and put all these things in there we've got our counselors meeting with student right now we've got some students that
pretty much have that already together because they've been working at it um they they've done the FASA they've done the scol the completion for scholarships they've done all of most all of the things that are there so their thing is I'm going to assemble it in my binder and when it's time to do senior checkout I'll go to each of the stations and check out yep you've got your FASA yep you've got your SAT scores you've got everything in here and now here's your
cab again beautiful yeah and I'm I'm really uh pleased to see that this is yes you have the binder but this is also seems to be something they're building digitally as well um which I think is really critical because I think it's particular with those essays or things like that especially with their modification that they're going to have to do and most of our systems are digital in terms of getting that information out um so really pleased to see that it's is this physical piece so you can like see it but also that
a lot of that's actually going to be taking place um in the digital space uh so yeah thank you for that and I mean I think just I I really appreciate the thoroughness in this and like the number of things in here I know personally I had spreadsheets going when I was doing applying for schools and things like that of what what things I had to get in and what deadlines they had and so this is really helpful um and I think just I'm and I'm imagining within that for example like letter of recommendation
are you all providing like context around like what it looks like to build a rapport with a teacher or get to the place where you're going to actually ask someone for a recommendation so that way they're not just showing up to like any person's office saying I need an adult to like write something about me even though I haven't been in your classroom that often right you know so those are things that you all are preparing the students for networking opportunities I don't know if you've had a chance to see any of the videos that came from Ace but we've had students that interviewed um for
the humans of Ipsy project the mayor and a lot of other you know significant figures in the city so they are working on it now in preparation for what's going to come later amazing thank you we do the something very similar we just um today had Wolverine Pathways come and they talked about completing an application and they um team up with the ninth graders and follow them all the way through the 12th grade so that support and those relationships are there but we also talked about in that meeting the importance of building
relationships with teachers so that you can go and say hey would you mind write a recommendation and what that looks like and what it looks like for you as a scholar to go and ask can you write a recommendation so keeping a good relationship open and even having a ninth grade teacher that you can go back to when you get in a 12th grade because the wonderful thing about it is teachers that are that have been your nth grade teachers and they get to 12th grade
and they are like overwhelmed with joy that oh my goodness look at your accomplishments look at what you've done so just keeping those relationships positive for sure oh trusty got rich sorry I just wanted to tag on to that piece about recommendation letters as an educator who's in the throws of recommendation letter writing season right now I really appreciate so much the value of the work that you're putting in in advance and and just making sure those students have that investment in their future potential
even if they decide to take a gap year even if they don't think they're going straight to college um you know to have those letters in hand and then to be able to go back to those Educators who can then can remember the wonderful things that student did and can really powerfully speak to that even if it's years later um so I really appreciate the the foresight um and the the skill building that you're doing there yes trusty sen Kennedy and then trusty fields and then trusty thank you
I see that um in the portfolio here it says uh that the students are creating an educational development plan through Z and I'm not familiar with Z so I just was wondering if you could share a little bit about what that means and what what the students are getting from that yeah oh okay so um so years ago it was called Career Cruising and it's an opportunity starting in probably Middle School for students to kind of look at what interests are where they lie
and what possible career opportunities that turns into for them so starting in ninth grade they work on in Z and they complete like certain tasks to kind of give them some clarity about who they are as a person what's what they're good at what things they don't like to do and turn that into a potential career um so in on the the other side of that um introducing having speakers coming into the building to talk to them about the different careers because one of the scariest things for for an 18yearold is to decide what they want to do for
the rest of their lives when they're leaving school so giving them opportunities to hear people and and have that experience through their eyes so they know if that's something that is feasible for them or not right is is this something I even want to do before I go to school and invest four years of time and all this money into this so um zel helps with that and it's something that's provided by the district and every student has that to it that's amazing thank you so much one of the things
just to piggy back off of what principal Davis said is that EDP when we talk about um creating stackable credentials when we talk about um creating career Pathways that don't fit into the traditional four years is that EDP allows us to create a um personal curriculum for those students that as long as it aligns with that educational development plan we can do we can
substitute some of those classes so that we can say okay you can go into Robotics and do D3 C3 robotics in the morning and then you can also dual enroll and do some of those liberal arts classes at the same time but that EDP allows us that flexibility so that we one still are able to offer them a Michigan Merit um certificate and also really really hone into where their desires and
their passions are the individualized support for each student I think and that's what we're aiming to do provide an individualized experience not just a cookie cutter this is what everyone is going to do what's the retention like for that Port I like the digital um portfolio I like that how's that retained like say they they lost because Google we know it's access based um password base or whatever but if they lose it or don't have access how long do you retain
those for students when they they just contact you we keep it I okay so you have like a you know big storage of like because this is not the first year but so if they lose them or they need to have access and you know computer-wise or whatever but okay and we encourage students to create a personal email address so that they can transfer everything from their school email address to their personal email address to access once they leave us great thank you um so there's a a couple of things that
I feel need to be amended to this or added um just because it will influence you know possible opportunity in their portfolio one I think if they do have an IEP that information probably should be included in that in some way because of the benefits of what services come with that so part of when students go away to any place that they go um they
should know how to properly advocate for themselves um so if it's not necessarily in this particular binder for confidentiality at least there is a reference place they have it saved electronically for themselves okay um because that again goes up to age 26 as you all know um a list of course of honors and awards and if they have any type of community service that should be noted and then something where there's probably some interview Readiness um
some type of class or something that helps them to prepare for interviews whether it's for scholarships um whether it's for the institution that they're going that they're prepared they know how to dress how to present themselves I we offered that I know in a class here before but I think it's it's necessary here we still do that we still do the mock interviews and all of that we just didn't put it
here as a checklist um but we still that piece it's also something we do schoolwide we have a career fair um and the students have an opportunity to actually go through an interview with potential employers thank you yes trusty yes yeah I would like just to to add on to what uh trusty tonsen was speaking about um particularly that piece about for students who who are in who are accessing special services um I know
for example with like students who experiencing homelessness they may not have their parents fill this out if they are independent right um and so filling out a FAFSA when you are independent looks very different than if you were filling it out with your family um and even for those students you can still utilize what was documented in high school two or three years later right um and so where or how are you all making sure that students have those access needs
met I guess if they are in a situation where they're accessing special services um are there amendments or additional pieces to this that are available to students who who might need to have those other pieces checked right those other boxes checked or additional pieces around like advocacy work or um talking to like whether it's like someone who need to talk to like a Blen scholar if they were experiencing were in foster care or something like that so I think that the staff training and the professional development that we provide the
staff that's doing this work I think that will be covered in that area so they'll understand that each student may have individual needs um so they may have to reframe the conversation with the student based on what the living situation is for the family or what the parental situation is for the student and I just want I just I was going to say I see her squirreling in her seat and I just want to address the fact that we have a profession uh a a a secondary can you please stand Missy I I don't think because the parents might not know so
can you please stand we have a person in charge specifically of secondary Support Services who goes to every IEP who's in charge of every transitional service I think she wants to say because she was squirreling over there this is her entire job to do exactly what you guys said so we don't put the checklist is in general right so we do have and I didn't want to hijack the the mean um we do have we
do have a um modified version of this for students who do have ex who are exceptional Learners um that includes some of the pieces you were talking about um their summary of performance when they graduate their um accommodations list I also and at both schools the case managers help them in um applying for those accommodations when they apply for the college applications as well so when they receive their acceptance letters back um
we then go through and help them apply for those accommodations that they would get through college so there is um kind of an addendum to this for this special um ed students even after they graduate because I think that was part of your question too even after they graduate we have students that come in and out and I know you do too all day that we're still writing accept that I mean you know um recommendation letters we're still looking helping people find
jobs we're still getting people into college like they come with with the baby and we hold the baby and play with the baby and do the work at the same time so we never close like I know we never close I know we had I'm sorry I was just gonna say thank you for that and absolutely I know I've referred students to their counselor from years ago and if that person's not there the principal's working to figure out what what reports or what paperwork is there so thank you thank you for doing that but I just
wanted to make sure on that thanks y I know we had a conversation earlier just in regards to the FASA and I just want to make sure that we have supports outside of the district itself just in case needed for those special situations where students do not or parents are not going to fill out the form I understand they can opt out however um if the form still needs to be completed and there's still it's that
gray area so that student still gets that support because I was one of those students that was in that gray area that we need to just still make sure that we have other outside resources who specialize specifically in financial aid that can assist students in the district that was I heard yes I heard yes
any other yes any other board questions or comments I think this is phenomenal thank you for presenting this to us and expanding access and opportunities for uh our students um I think also what's important about this portfolio is that it because this process is overwhelming for parents and students and this really organizes it for them um and I think attaching deadlines to it as well
helps students to understand and realize that the quicker you get your fast for in right you have more access to available dollars whether that be grants um work study like so being able to kind of just package it and so students understand where they don't think like I just got to fill out another Form understanding the relevance and why it matters irregardless of whatever decision they they make postgraduation so thank you so much for your time and sharing this
and I'm so glad that we have dedicated resources to expand this support for our students thank you thank you thank you all right next that takes us we are at action item uh we are number six action item under student affairs and that is the approval of the ycsc Senor portfolio is there a motion at this
time Madam president vice president Lee move that the Board of Education approve the ycs senior portfolio thank you a motion has been made by vice president Lee is there support for this motion trusty Fields I support thank you supported by trusty Fields all those in favor those oppose that motion carries next that takes us to our public
comment section the first one for this evening and I have a few public comment cards that have come in so I'll go ahead thank you Miss Haynes I'll go ahead and read the uh public comment protocol which reads as follows pursuant to Board of Education policy 0167 point3 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 let statements to 3 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 first we have Jeremy is it Haley can you come up please thank you all for having me name
is Jeremy Haley ATC Township it's great to hear what you're doing with the CTE program and stuff like that but you also need to think about you know amongst all those things we need people to be able to help blush our toilets keep our water running you know wire our houses stuff like that as well and those are your non-traditional College path because you don't really go to college for those things things and I was wonder if you all could think about how you
can incorporate that into the schools because we still need people who can do those things we still need people who can drive trucks bulldozers those aren't your normal routes to college you know I have personal experience had a friend early on went to WCC hey I'll go to college right after high school didn't work for him got to work for the n Republic school bus system now then he went on to
you know washing County Road Commission the CDL and now he's actually a supervisor of position at Wasing County Road Commission with only two years to retire saying so there are other paths that you all need to look at and not focus on pushing everybody to hey go to school go to college go to college because some kids will Buck on that and go I don't want to do that so I'm going to do something something else and they might not show up for school because all you're trying to do is push them to
go to school go to college they don't want to go to college they might want to do something else so I just I want you all keep that in mind and what I like to bring up on that is I was at the IP recent ipsl city council meeting where they recently gave a gentleman and his wife a $5,000 Grant and resolution number 2025 D 021 approving a many granted trades program for Youth and adults in the amount of $5,000
to support programs assisting Community youth through their efforts that would be a great man to talk to he mentioned his story he worked 3 35 years for U ofm as a carpenter amongst that time at ovm he went and got his human resources degree and said I could do human resources and he looked at it said I'll be making less money doing that if I was to kept doing what I'm doing as just an example of you know the different path that you
all should look at and try to incorporate with your CTE program and stuff like that and that DOD if you want I gave you the resolution number I'd contact and just talk to this man see how he can help you in the community schools because he has experience and he might be helpful to some of the youth what he has to say thank you thank you Jeremy Haley next we have Veronica uh
o I'm back did you miss me just kidding um so I wanted to talk about special ed of course um I wanted to ask and actually it's more a thought for the board to keep in mind why
should a parent have to go and file a state complaint because of services not being received as a parent you feel that you are supposed to be trusting your school district and trusting your school to give you exactly what your child is supposed to have in their IEPs and for their
special education that is not happening that is not happening here in ipsa I hate to say it my son has gone without speech and language pathology Services all school year I'm not okay with that that means that the district has to pay for compensatory Services whether outside or during summer but it cannot
be done during the school hours so that is money possibly extra coming out of the district's pocket that would be something that you would have to look at in your Finance books that's for any compensatory service he's owed 40 hours
of compensatory services in I believe it is social work he went a year and a half without Social Work Services we're still working on that compensatory Services he went now a this year would make a year and half of a year last year of compensatory services for speech and language that is a lot of compensatory
services that is 30 hours just for SLP that's a lot of services and when they do the compensatory the kids have to go to them so if my son because he does not exactly fit into the grizzly learning camp for the high school because a lot of that
is Credit Recovery he doesn't need credit recovery where is my son supposed to go because he also doesn't qualify for esy either he slips through the cracks unfortunately so I ask you just to keep it in mind please thank you thank you Veronica next we have John
wise good evening everybody um I am a 30-year resident of ipsan my son miles my eldest is a graduate of ipolani schools 2014 um I come this evening to offer some remarks that are a little atypical which is to thank you um I read the recent letter that Dr Zachary Ross um shared about Ian community schools policies and procedures in regards to
ice and grateful that the district took such a strong position to ensure that students regardless of national origin or immigration status are guaranteed access to education and I was heartened to see that we don't check students immigration status nor would we coordinate with iice unless we're forced to do so by a Judicial warrant and I also appreciate appreciated the reminder in the letter about Mental Health Services um
I am disgusted and saddened as I'm sure many of you are with the federal government's cruelty targeting our most vulnerable students especially those around immigrant identities and lgbtq identities and I just urge ycs to continue to be courageous and to do all we can can to protect our young people and I wanted you to know that people in the
community like me stand behind you thank you thank you John wise and last we have Eric Roberts hello members of the Board of Education my name is Eric John Roberts I am a former School Board member for Kena Hills Public Schools where I went to high school outside of
Grand Rapids I moved here a few years ago to attend the University of Toledo law school and I picked uh greater was County um for a reason uh was county is putting a lot of money from the arpa recovery funds into expanding uh Wi-Fi and will likely become the first county in the state to connect all residents to internet access um today I'm talking with you about my campaign to become
a member of the washingon ISD Board of Education this is something that you'll vote on between May 12th and the end of May and then at the ISD a representative from the board will vote on Monday June 2nd when I was a board of education member um just a month prior to covid shutdowns I attended a Schoolboard training in DC where we learned about the homework Gap app this is a
term coined by an FCC commissioner and it means or it applies to the about 12 million public school students across the country that go home to not having Wi-Fi access when I learned about this I went home to my superintendent and I said Mr Hopkins do you know what this is like in our district he didn't know but he made a good faith effort to give that a shot the whole month of February and when when school closers shut down all schools
in March of 2020 we had the data it showed about 200 families in our district lacked at home Wi-Fi access and so we immediately partnered with Sprint to connect students um all of my students had Wi-Fi access throughout the co pandemic um I share that because it's just one of the many great things that local um elected officials can do and I want to thank you for your service to Salan schools uh in this packet of
information I provided uh I'd invite any members to uh reach out to me either by email text or there's a calendly link there I'd love to get to know more of you to talk about um more issues that are going on here in Ipsy schools and how the ISD can be a resource um and partner more with the schools um today uh this meeting I'm really grateful for some of the Pres presentations especially to get a a more full
understanding of CTE in the county and I'd love to chat with more of you um prior to this may School Board election for the ISD um to get to know you um to get to know folks that I that I'd like to partner with and uh to walk through what are the needs in Ipsy what are the needs that we can think strategically for the county thank you thank you Eric Roberts next that takes
us to item eight which is our consent agenda is there a motion at this time Madame president vice president Lee move that the Board of Education approve the one January 13 2025 regular board meeting minutes to Personnel matters as per the the presented list dated 2425 new hires resignations and others thank you a motion has been made by
vice president Lee is there a support for this motion trusty Fields I support thank you supported by trusty Fields all those in favor I I those oppose that motion carries next that takes us to an action item under businesses Finance which is the acceptance of the sis4 teachers proposal is there a motion at this time Madam president this is truste gri I
move that the Board of Education accept sis for teachers proposal for professional development and coaching for K5 teachers for $293,600 thank you a motion has been made by trusty gutrich is there a support for this motion truste suon Kennedy support thank you supported by trustee Sutton Kennedy any discussion on this item see none all those in favor I
those oppose that motion carries next that takes us to the acceptance of the sis for teachers proposal instructional coaches is there a motion at this time trusty Townson moved at the Board of Education accepts the sis for Teacher proposal for professional development and coaching for instructional coaches for $177,000 thank you a motion has been made by trusty Townsen is there a support for this motion trusty second Kennedy support supported by trustee Sutton Kennedy
thank you any discussion on this item see none all those in favor I I those oppose that motion carries next that takes us to the acceptance of the First Market the first maker space professional development proposal is there a motion at this time trusty Townson move that the Board of Education accepts the first maker space professional development proposal for $323,800
of director's region 7 representative um I will open it up
for discussion at this time um we received information about candidates who we um as a board need to decide want to put forward and then uh Miss Haynes will submit that vote on our behalf and there are some papers coming around if you want to take a look quickly I know everyone had an opportunity to re review it in their email but if you just want a quick refresh you can take a look at the candidates and um we can
have a discussion and then move to a decision
and we are looking at Region seven three candidates and one is an incumbent e
whenever board members are ready the floor is open for
discussion you're just looking for who we individually support um Mr Lopez the incomp for me Mr Lopez the incumbant for me okay thank you trusty Townson that'll be the same vote for myself okay thank you trusty fields yeah I think we have three strong
candidates here um but trusty Lopez is the person we've seen the most from of course as the incumbent but he's also been in communication with us and I've been I think reasonably pleased with his leadership thank you trusty gutr trusty go ahead
trusty suton Kennedy yeah I was going to say the same for me trusty love this perfect um and I was just going to add um that I I also support um Mr Lopez um and I believe of the candidates at least for me he and I don't know about the rest of the board he was the only one who did Reach Out by email to the board members talking about why he wanted to continue to remain in this seat um and I know that part of
his work in all the years he has served he's had a uh focus on Equity yes yeah thank you vice president Lee I would also offer my support to Mr Lopez I appreciate the um highlights in the uh other two candidates um particularly in Cory Walkin around the CTE however I do
think uh Mr Lopez has been um invested in building relationships and I think that I I would like to support him any other comments for okay I think we have a consensus um is there a motion at this time trusty Townson moved that the Board of Education chooses Geo GMO G Mo thank you Lopez
for the masb board of director region 7 representative thank you a motion has been made by trusty Townson is there a support for this motion trusty FS as support who wants it who both of you were speaking at the same time okay so motion was made by trusty Townson supported by vice president Lee all those in favor I I those suppose that motion carries thank you board you have what
you need Miss Hayes from us perfect next that takes us to our second public comment portion for this evening have any uh cards come in that the board okay okay thank you uh now we are at uh our item number 12 which is under discussions are there any subcommittee reports at this time um trusty Townson have operations and
finance uh subcommittee report uh we discussed uh we met last week and we discussed a number of things uh tax rate for millages uh moving student services uh bids on furniture and then the Tyler Drive passenger is that the program I believe it's a lot to that one um but um everything looks like it's um pretty
much moving fast the presentation was submitted to the board I believe um in regards information in regards to that um also I'm trying to think with the wasb um I'm sure uh trustees Sutton Kennedy will report more out on that uh we did have our legislative breakfast on January 27th where we were having direct conver ation with legislators and pretty much majority of them were there
that represented the county and had specific conversations on the CTE special education and a number of other things uh just to highlight a couple of dates that should be communicated to you we will be having our annual meeting on March 13th and that's where we will be voting for the new WB um leaders board member executive committee um we will also have um our
next legislative breakfast on May 19th and that's 7:30 in the morning at the ISD and then the ISD budget meeting will be April 17th um at 6 PM via Zoom so please make sure um that you all tune in to that because of course that's the time when we review the budget see how much predicted F uh projected funds we're supposed to get and all other things um also the during the annual
meeting in March we typically have some type of professional development training or educational training so um that information uh will be discussed and I believe one of the other things we talked about with operations and finance was the financial training that board members are required to take uh so additional information um will be out about that but just making sure board members um are trained they have to take
so many credits y a year so you know what to do all right and um we also talked about the debt relief funds that we will be getting in but they're outlining the plan for that um making it formal formally written what we want to do with those funds um and that will be present it to the state correct yep okay plan
thank you thank you trusty Townsen trusty yes trusty field y trusty fields we uh met with the communication subcommittee on uh February 3rd um we talked about the together Tuesday videos that are still going on um still a couple of them um that need to come you know mine's included um still working on that um so we talked about that we also talked about um they they've added the athletic spotlights which I'm excited about that I'm glad we're recognizing some of our student athletes as they're you
know yes as they are um doing their thing and it's I think that's important I think parents like that too to be able to you know your students being recognized um so we talked about that we also talked about the um the media regarding the book vending machines which is also was a great thing added um thing for our schools and I love that idea you know but we we talked about how they were um instrumental and getting you know the media out for that um there was um interviews with concentrate as well regarding the vending the vending
machine books um so they highlighted that um we have some upcoming things we are talking about Mr Kim with the nc3 you know we're talking about you know that and the list of the different certifications we which we talked about a lot today so um but their part we did they have the Napp it so I'm going to be looking to see what we have after that cuz that was today so we don't know you know what that looked like yet because today was Napp it so we just be looking for some other um feedback and what kind of um uh what kind of information is
going to come back from Med media relations ASP um conc and then um all schools were that we talk about the teacher action research team and professional development opportunities that are upcoming and then we had some information regarding signing dat which was last week as well which was awesome you know I heard it's a nice turnout I hate I miss it if was at work but that was a nice thing so and all these things that we're talking about I'm interested I'm excited about looking for the media what kind of feedback we're going to
get from those activities that took place last week okay um what else we have one we talked about the U ofm road project so we're going to be looking for um information regarding that the Strategic plan which we talked about earlier but they were talking about our feedback on that and I think that's I think that was it we had a nice meeting nice turnout and looking forward to our next one next month all right great thank you so much trusty Fields other subcommittee reports yes
trusty suton Kennedy um so for the legislative relations Network um as trusty Townsen just mentioned we had the legislative breakfast um at the end of January where we local school district Representatives met with our state representatives and legislators um to discuss education at both the state and federal levels U so many legis Lors presented expressed um they expressed their concerns about the future of public education and emphasized their commitment
to protect it um a key issue that was discussed in that meeting was the proposed Road improvements plan which proposed um proposes diverting funds from the state tax to support road work um so this proposes or poses a significant challenge as Michigan's uh K12 education budget is largely funded by the school aid fund which relies heavily on sales tax revenue um some estimates suggest that this road plan could
result in a loss of 700 million to 1 billion in school funding for Michigan schools um so School leaders and uh education professionals and I would also include our community as well um are strongly encouraged to engage um with legislators to advocate for preserving um our school funding across the state um and then also at that meeting um the wi D shared an informative presentation on Mental Health wraparound services
in the district illustrating how State funding was being used um and uh to support our students across the district um and that presentation is really helpful to allow our legislators to know um when they're looking at budget lines and they're looking at um funding how we're using it and they have that information to um be able to Advocate um to keep those funds for our students um additionally a brief presentation was given highlighting the talent together program um which is our grow your own
program um and I believe that um even here in this District district um in Ipsy that we are part of the pilot programs that were highlighted there um especially with um growing your own um Educators for ELP programs as well um and so they highlighted the work that we're doing here um at that meeting as well um for our legislators to have that information as well thank you truste Sutton Kennedy
for that update on all things legislative any other subcommittee report yes I left my notes at home so I'm G try to remember all right um preschool we had a meeting um it wasn't a Corum they're still in the uh process of finding a secretary okay okay um so we wasn't able
to vote on anything uh they did open up a new classroom I believe that was at the Early Head Start at baby yes okay it was but um he did not give us any information on it because he wanted to be a surprise so we have to wait until okay this meeting um this month and we will find out everything about it and I can't wait so great we're um
I'm waiting on that and um also they gave us information from December information okay this meeting for January was on December so um everything was the same all the numbers was the same and everything so and then um I think that was about it because it nothing really changed because it
was a short month everything so yeah so we'll find out January's data this month perfect okay thank you vice president Lee no any other subcommittee report all right we will move on to board superintendent comments comments from the board Madam president yes trusty C rich uh I just have a couple quick things I
wanted to express my appreciation for the um webinar that was uh hosted by Mesa and masb on the executive orders and thank Dr Zachary Ross for sharing out the resources from that that was um useful and and and uh yeah well grounded advice as we move into this next chapter um I also really appreciated the open meetings act Workshop that the MHC hosted um and that Mr Roberts presented um it was a really
useful I found it a useful review I'm just helping to make sure that we stay carefully open meetings act compliant here in our work here uh and then I just want to apologize in advance that I'll be missing our next meeting this month and it sounds like I'll have some catching up to do on Financial Training um so forget with Miss haes to make sure I'm on top of that thank you thank you trusty good Rich that's trusty Townson um it's been
a busy month I want to congratulate all of our athletes that um did the signing day last week it was a great event very super proud of our athletes as well as um I'm trying to think what else I attended Nappa today with the coffee and conversation with Dr hugan that went very well um and learned a lot about what was presented here tonight and some other thing great things that they're doing um I also
want to give kudos to our two new board members uh trusty Epsy Epsy am I saying SB okay she is now um on our Board of Directors for the WB um and she represented the or Don rep trusty espie represent at the district very well um and
then truste Sutton Kennedy her notes she made you proud trusty good Rich they were very thorough but she came right on in at the um legislative breakfast and did her thing so I just wanted to acknowledge both of them because they did an e they're doing an excellent job and they're a great addition to the team um and there was something else wanted to say but I'm lost it so it's
gone but it might come back to thank you thank you trusty Townsen other board comments uh trusty St Kennedy yes uh so I wanted to thank the um District cabinet and administrators and everyone who has taken their time to on board uh myself and Trust SB and and all of the meetings that we had and just sharing
so much information about the district and how the district is supporting our students um and I really appreciate everyone taking that time out um and especially John and I think it was Randy who gave us the the district tour and took us around to all the buildings so that we can see all of the facilities that are supporting our Scholars and it was just uh an amazing experience to walk around um seeing the students in the building and seeing everything that was
going on um and so first and foremost I wanted to thank everyone for um who was a part of that for taking the time out um because I know you all are busy um and so I appreciate that um and then second today um I attended the napit events at Ford um as a parent for my uh my student and so I just wanted to um just highlight how amazing that event was in attending it um and all of the wonderful information that principal young
shared um with the parents that did show up there I thought it was a pretty nice turnout um the cafeteria there was pretty full of parents who showed up for that event today um and um principal young shared information about how the parents can be involved um about the upcoming enrollment for the next school year so parents have that information and they're able to um get on that you know as soon as um applications and things open up um and
then also had the opportunity to attend the coffee with um principal Harris hugan at the high school um earlier this um afternoon um along with trusty Townsen and trusty fields and was able to see once again the um amazing uh podcast um studio um and talk a little bit with the um New instructors and the um recent instructors for those programs and learn about the credentialing that that
affords our students um and to see that um great facility so I just wanted to highlight um some of that work today thank you trusty Fields yes um I wanted to also note that I attended the Cofe in conversation today which was nice um I think that's a nice Forum um like trusty Townson said maybe we can do that like once a month or something like that just to get the parents involved just to get that knowledge and and um and really get out there I'm hoping we going to see more parents that's the idea but it was really nice to
come to and hearing the information from dror hugan about what's going on and about the fast and just different opportunities that they're trying to put in place for um for the students um second I wanted to also say to the administration and board I so appreciate the new process for on board and the new members so how I wish I had that in place when I came it's not bad but I'm just saying I like it I like like to be able to get those videos of just coming back that information I really really truly appreciate that and getting that knowledge
feel like I was there cuz they gave me stuff and I'm like oh my God this is right I really like this you know so I am so really honestly appreciative with that new process I think that'll be really instrumental down the road for everybody coming in new and just save that in that presence of what it looks like so um so thank you Administration whoever all the people that put that together I'm like oh that looks like they had a long week you know every time I look up I was getting one I was getting one I'm like Oh my God they over there jamming I'm like you know what's up but it was nice I'm just saying though I really do like it I
appreciate it and I really do wish I had had that to be honest I felt like I missed something I'm here now because I've been here for a while but I really do feel like I missed something when I first came on board because we didn't really have all of that knowledge you know we went on tours but just seeing everything how it is now I like that and and keep that in place you know keep keep doing that I guess only thing you can do is just keep adding to it to make it better but keep kudos to that process and that's what I have I didn't have
neither did I so you in good company yes but but we realized how important it was and so I I'm glad that this board be being part of this board that we collectively came together and decided that this was something that we needed for new members that would help them to get acclimated to board service so it is a welcome Edition and it is there always and who anybody can pick it up and we can just add to it and update it so I agree it is a wonderful tool and I know it's a lot of work for our
administrators to take the time to on board um our new trustees but it's well worth it so certainly I have deep appreciation for I was just looking at all the emails and I was just like I was like perhaps I should jump on one of these zooms but but it it was a very robust and it sounds like when I checked in with with both trusty Sutton Kennedy and uh trusty espie that they both affirmed that was a absolutely phenomenal way to get acclimated to board service and they're very appreciative
so yeah I just want to Echo that appreciation as well uh truly it was a feat I feel like by Dr Elena Zachary Ross and uh Miss Haynes over there coordinating everyone uh every evening and all the late nights that all the cabinet members uh devoted to onboarding us we greatly appreciate uh particularly I think yes those facility folks uh who took us around for hour hours um and during that visit not only were we able to learn about the facilities um but we also had the
opportunity to see how uh our our Educators our principles each one of them uh took the time to show us around their buildings celebrate their schools and it was wonderful to see the joy and passion that each of them had um in their buildings we were oftentimes trying to get more time in the building uh than we even had at the time uh because there was so many exciting things to to to look at and to learn about so again thank you so much both to the facilities folks uh and principles who
were willing to take that time with us um and yes through those uh those onboarding conversations it was really amazing to not only hear about the things that we oftentimes think of as part of the education experience um but also the things that maybe we don't always think about um and I saw beautiful Innovation coming from folks in transportation HR um facilities and so it's beautiful to see that it's it goes beyond what's happening in the classroom that the community is all
connected and um all holding that same mission in line uh so thank you again for that opportunity and thank you to the administrators and cabinet who were willing to display that that Joy with us thank you can I ask a question I looked on the calendar and I've noticed that we don't have school on Frid why the calendar is negotiated the day we
are we are able to choose the start day and from there we have two team we have teams that represent the staff at all levels and the calendar is then for the length of the collective bargaining agreements is decided upon between the um our EAS and administration so they look at at the days they look at what teachers and staff members say what works for Best
in terms of how many P professional development days we are able to have by the state so we have um our state person look at it through the WD and Michigan Department of Ed and then we really get impa input from that committee and they bring it back to leadership and then the unions vote on the calendar for the twoe and then that's voted on with along with the collector agreement don't y realiz That's valentine
day and you taking away kids pleasure for candy and cupcakes and cookie they don't need and to be my Valentine now I can't even do the cookies with my grand baby oh well well you can celebrate I know a lot of the buildings are celebrating the day before on
on the Thursday or Wednesday so were they talking about there's still time for celebration that's snow storm coming we'll see we cannot as much as we' like to any other board comments um I just have one um I'll try to be as brief as possible um and just wanted to and
I have just to make sure I stay on task with the things that I want to say um I just want to say thank you to this board for their engagement um and always advocating and keeping at the front of their mind the needs of our students in this District um we know that as a board that we are in some really uncertain times and we know know that we will be probably inundated in the days to come with um information coming to us um
about a variety of different things um so I just wanted to say a few things about what I feel like affirms or reiterates our commitment um to not only this district and this community but really just having a pulse on what's happening around us and wanting to express some compassion um for that um so I'll just go ahead and read what I have prepared and then after I read it I'll just open it up for any other comments from the board
um in ycs we know that we are not moved by what we see we are moved by what we know we know that we can often be viewed by our community as anchors during times of chaos confusion and crisis we know that it has not been e an easy few weeks and with all of the proposed changes members of our scoop Community are likely feeling feeling uncertain or anxious yet we will continue to take good care of ourselves
each other Embrace Joy hope and make space for Grace flexibility patience and show up every day with an Unapologetic commitment to our Scholars and caregivers we know that no matter what is going on around us we have a responsibility to cultivate develop and nurture the genius Brilliance Talent creativity comp passion that lies in each one of our Scholars we know we are grateful
for our educational leaders our entire educational and student Support Services team of Educators staff counselors social workers custodians Food Service employees bus drivers coaches and volunteers who stand in the Gap we thank you because you already know we know our Community Partners help us Advance the educational goals of YC s and we say thank you we know as a district we will continue to Center students in every
decision we make we know distractions are detours so we will stay focused because we have work to do we know that A house divided against itself cannot stand we know that Dr Elena Zachary Ross her sentiments that we are stronger together and Dr Lopez's powerful words which are our Scholars need to be heard valued seen respected are More Than Just Words it is who
we are at ycs at our core we know that when we lift each other we all rise we know as an eight-member team our Board of Education and superintendent we are sagacious leaders who are committed to serving idious advocating and activating to support the needs of our Scholars and everyone who was part of our Educational Learning Community we know
that advocacy matters for our Scholars our staff our Educators our caregivers and our community we know that what we do every day and what we say matters we know that we occupy these seats because of the trust this community has in us we know that we have weathered many storms together and will continue to stay the course and will always Center students and commend and appreciate everyone for their engagement
and actions in the months ahead the floor is open I just needed to say that because I know we're in such tumultuous times and as a board it has been my honor to serve and to be on a team where we are laser sharp focused on doing what's right for students so no matter what is happening and swirling around us we will stay the
course we will stand firm and we will make sure our Scholars have everything that they need to be successful you look like you read go ahead oh I'm ready um thank you uh Dr Hawkins for your um words of encouragement um I think the key thing in there is we know um
we have a very high functioning board the past board was a very high functioning board we're very intentional um how we fight may not necessarily be accustomed to what people are used to but trust and understand we fight um there are several conversations we have um with our leaders directly we sit at various tables um every person
on this board is um Works in education Social Work housing uh medicine whatever it is we got jobs and we deal with um the things in this community that we know are major barriers um we have several several conversations um an action that we do before we even come to the table um we have a very active superintendent
um we have been very um diligent and strategic um and you know you don't get $25 million erased overnight you have to then once you do that you have to negotiate to sell buildings because the community wanted a community center you have to negotiate contracts to make sure that all of your employees are
taken care of and so we're listening we watch we do what we need to do um so again the key word for me is we know um and we're listening so we don't take what's going on in this community lightly and that just needs to be understood and um like we said we know what's going on um on a federal state and local level and we are doing the work that's necessary and
sometimes when you work in silence people don't understand that but you can't get misquoted when you work in silence as well so I think just people need to provide Grace and support and just help us fight and be the voice that we need you to be to advocate for our babies that's all I have thank you yes thank you trusty Council other board
comments no trusty um fs and then trusty goodr so I didn't see her over here and then trusty Sutton Kennedy did you have something or no okay just want to say thank you for those encouraging words that's what I'm saying um we could have said it better um we uh I just truly appreciate that we have a president who can voice for us and say in the words that we need to say it in you know cuz sometimes we can think a lot of things but sometimes you can't put it in words so thank you again for putting that out
there and that represents us you know as a board and you always have been able to come up with the right thing to say you know and and supporting us without us having to say anything so again thank you for that those encouraging words thank you a I'll also express my gratitude for everything you articulated um and I just acknowledge that we're in challenging times um many of us came to our positions here because we care so
deeply about being able to advocate for the scholars who we serve um and that is a a really important part of our role and every time that we go to meetings with legislators to meetings with other members of the community like we're we're standing up we're standing up for each of our Scholars um and especially for our most vulnerable Scholars um I know that we're all we're a well- trained board H and we're also really cognizant of the line between where we
stand and what we do as individuals um and the where who can speak and how we speak as a board um so I know that many of us have a lot of work to do and wear a lot of different hats um and that we're going to be really thoughtful about how we navigate the work we need to do in the coming months and years um and of course at this table and in so many corners of Our Lives always always advocating for the scholars we serve here that's right
thank you trusty good Rich trusty S Kennedy uh first thank you uh president Hawkins for your amazing words and trusty Townsen for highlighting um some of the many ways that we are as a board have been in the past currently are and will continue to Advocate on behalf of our students um and Scholars in our district um and I just wanted to also thank our other partners as well you know we are advocating for what we
need here locally in our district and our other partners like mejc student Advocacy Center are advocating as well so for example mejc has a letter um that they're Drafting and are requesting support to our legislators um urging them to protect funds for for our schools and for our districts and so I just just wanted to highlight that you know we're all working together um to ensure that all of our students have
access to high quality education and so I just wanted to say that and just to say thank you everyone for all the work that they're doing here and across all the other organizations as well other board comment yes okay I pres Lee just want to say
thank you president Hawkins for your words thank you board thank you it'san Community Schools thank you it'san community we gonna be all right yes we will I just also want to uh thank you uh say thank you and say I I am feeling connection and resonance with many of
the comments shared today and what you've shared Dr Hawkins I deeply appreciate that and knowing that as a district um we continue to show up for our students and do what we've done every day so thank you and and the last thing that I'll just say and then I'll pass it to Dr Zachary Ross is that um and this kind of just piggybacks on what trusty Townsen said is that we as a community
probably often don't know that the the seven board members who are seated here we don't necessarily know the connections or conversations that are happening right and the ways in which we advocate for um this District every single day and so I think it's important to to not only um do the work but it's important to just pause for a moment to say that I'm proud to serve with all of you and I'm proud of what we accomplish individually and I'm a even prouder of
what we accomplish together so I'm just thankful that I'm part of this District that I live in this community I get to serve in this community and and that we all get to advocate in a myriad of ways seen and unseen Dr Zachary Ross thank you Madame President I just want to again say thank you for that statement um I think it's just an indication of how all of
us partner together we've seen letters come out by by the school district from Administration about what our statement is and what staff is to do and to see this collaboration at the board table is another example of what we know we know that we are stronger together we've seen this um during unprecedented times before during Co when we came together and although we are appreciative of other organizations we had to lead the
way that's right and we will continue to lead the way because our students are here with us every day that's right we've seen last week unfortunately where they've taken away funding in other places lost staff members and we still had to stay steady it's important for us and I appreciate again shout out always being here Mr President said always being here because it's our students and our families that need to see us unified with the collective message because there's
going to be things going back and forth and policies if you can recall that time during covid when things were were changing every single day and we had to sometimes be the ones to decipher what the health department meant on a day-to-day basis and what was coming down and so during those times we provided that stability and saying the big we the Partnerships uh from as they talked about collectively from those who
are serving food to those who are custodial staff that were cleaning those who are technology staff the teachers the teacher assistants the psychologists the parents the everyone who wrapped around and it's going to take that same Collective effort that we remain on point we have to double down and stay focused and so I appreciate today just that support um because I know that our
our our staff our folks who do just really look to the board for direction appreciate it and needed during these times so I just want to say thank you for your resolve and fortitude to continue to move forward um and for us to continue to and I heard in your statement about the joy because we talk about Goldie Muhammad's by Pursuit and the work that you that we do and
I appreciate you trusty as we reminding us that there's all those things and we still go back to instruction and in that five Pursuit that fifth Pursuit is joy and so our students as much as we can continue to stay keep the the most of this away from them and that as we're cultivating the genius that we remember the joy and continue to lift up those joyful things so I'm appreciative of the fact that you're supporting through attending napit day and all the families
that came out cuz we've got to continue to look forward and to think about those Joy the pieces of joy and the fact that you supported the um the portfolio because we have the student uh scholarship platform coming up I appreciate even the comment about the um applied an experiential learning man you know people see it as as just that whole yes we're going AI but that's part of experiential learning that yes our students are learning about welding and all those things at WCC because we're
going to need CDL folks that's why we support the the the driving school right next door those are parts of what this applied and experiential learning is all about and that we're going to see the vodcast um that we had the vcast um about so it's coming out the end of the month we we recorded the Early Head start cuz we've got to start even younger CU it's important that we really start with the youngest of the young and
continue on to like you ask the question of what happens if they're 26 where do they go right so we have to be thinking about all of them and we do know that we have gaps in transition of services we've been talking about special education services all the time I know that uh talking about mat as a TC she's been going and doing extra work everywhere because we we're still filling in spaces and so we just got to continue working with those people and caregivers in our classrooms and so um
just again thank you to our new board members who are have gone through all those hours because it was definitely it was like a going through sity all the night all the nights and evenings of um working and listening to all the directors and hearing from everyone and again thank you even our our mea folks folks came and met for one of the evenings and so that sacrifice of time is going to take that so um and
even going and giving your input to the Strategic plan so board members know that they had an opportunity last week so that work is finalizing it's not just sitting there they we want to make sure that those voices were heard so we know that we're if we continue to work together that um our students that's where you talked about remaining focus on the students our students our Scholars are the ones that's going to benefit we've had our opportunity to go through school they've got to they've got
to maintain and we've got to stay focused on them so thank you for that and yes vice president Lee there's PD this week professional development day on which there's some wonderful professional development that not only we have outside folks but inside people who are well trained is going to um work with our staff members and then no school on Friday and Monday those that staff they need that they talked about they going to need that break they're
they're looking forward to it so um thank you there used to be a a a countywide break right there around that time so they talked about the they they I'm sure they would love to share why we want we we want to um ask make sure that our staff really do take that time to take care of themselves um on those days uh cuz you certainly do deserve it there's so much that you pour into our staff members and again Bor I cannot thank you enough I think
about the extra time that um many of you just talked about with fasta and just the all the other things that you add the extra pictures and support that you give um to the the Stu The Scholar without being asked you just offer it so thank you for all the contributions that go beyond this table thank you Dr Zachary Ross we're we're at the end here any anything else
that anyone needs to say before we adjourn all right the time is 9:02 this regular Board of