Board of Education Regular Meeting - August 17, 2026

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[0:01] Welcome to the August 17th regularly scheduled Board of Education meeting. Please take a moment to silence your cell phone and then join me in the Pledge of Allegiance.
[0:14] 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.
[0:32] Thank you. Jen. Can you take role for us, please?
[0:34] Absolutely. Uh, President Rausch here, vice president McFarland is not here. Secretary Ringgold is here. Roger Lauterbach is not here. Trustee Blasi here. Trustee Craig here. Trustee Horowitz present. We have a quorum.
[0:49] Thanks.
[0:52] Item two on the agenda is the consent agenda 2.1 are approval of minutes from the July 20th, 2026 regular Meeting, August 5th 26th Special Meeting and the August 5th, 2026 closed session. Item 2.2 are recommendations for hire as listed in your agenda packet. Item 2.3 are resignations as listed in your agenda packet. Item 2.4. June 2026. Financials will not be available for the approval tonight until and they will be available at the September Board of Education meeting. Then finally, item 2.5 approval is requested to authorize legal payments to the below list of professional legal fees as outlined in your agenda packet. Is there a motion for item 2.1 through 2.
[1:50] 5? S2:
[1:54] Motion by Horowitz. Support by Ringgold.
[2:02] Any discussion or questions? S1:
[2:26] Phil, I'd like to make a motion to move S1:
[2:41] Second.
[2:43] Just a motion to amend the agenda to slide item 3.3 up to 3.1.
[2:54] Any discussion or questions? S1:
[3:13] When you set the budget in June, it was based on the millage rates calculated at that time based on data provided for Midland County. Due to updated data from Midland County. Those tax rates have been adjusted in tonight's action. Makes them official. Action this evening will allow us to send a form called the L 4029 to our local governments in the state that sets the rates for this tax year. The rates we are formally establishing this evening include 17.9730 mills on non homestead properties, a hold harmless rate of 0.3726 mills on principal residences, qualifying agricultural and forest property and industrial personal property. The rate fluctuates a bit annually as we are always correcting slightly based on estimations of student enrollment, the tax base, and personal property tax exemptions is we can only collect $122 per pupil. This year, the rate decreased 0.0290 mills versus last year's rate and 6.3456 mills on commercial personal property, which comes from a formula that includes the non homestead assessment commercial personal properties exempt from the first 12 mills of that assessment, but not the hold harmless rate equaling the total 6.3456 mills. And finally the 2.5 mills for bond debt that was passed in 2015. This traditionally has been a roll call vote, and if approved this evening, we will have our president and Treasurer sign the resolution and get the paperwork out to our local taxing agencies.
[4:35] Thanks, Anna. Are there. Is there a motion to approve item 3.1, the tax resolution for 2627.
[4:44] So moved.
[4:51] Support Motion by Ringold. Support by Blasi. Any questions or discussion questions for Anna or discussion on the tax resolution? Anna. Thanks for working through the details with the county and making sure that we had the most up to date stuff. Um, traditionally we've had a roll call vote on this. Secretary Ringgold. Yes.
[5:18] President rausch?
[5:19] Yes.
[5:20] Secretary Ringgold is. Yes. Trustee Blasi.
[5:22] Yes.
[5:23] Trustee. Craig. Yes. Trustee. Horowitz. Yes.
[5:28] Motion carries. Thank you. Item 3.2. Spotlight on excellence. Midland high school. Welcome, Tyler and team.
[5:48] Good evening. Tonight I have the wonderful opportunity to introduce an organization led by young women who are incredibly compassionate, empathetic and inclusive. I have actually been the beneficiary of this fabulous organization. I have worn a ball gown from their closet twice, once to a community event, and I also wore a ball gown at the National Principals of the Year award ceremony in Washington, D.C.. So this is clearly not about me. This is about these fabulous human beings. Miss Amy Rankine is our advisor.
[6:31] Hello and thank you for having us today. Um, I'm just here to tell you just a little bit about Becca's closet. It is a national organization, a non-profit. It was founded by the Kurtzman family in honor of their daughter, daughter Becca, who sadly passed away in an automobile accident in 2003. There are chapters throughout the US which the. Chapter is one. Um, it started by Becca having a project of collecting prom dresses for girls in need and in where she lived in Florida. Um, and the organization that her parents started in her honor after her death now distributes formal wear to chapters throughout the US, which we've benefited from and raises money for post-secondary scholarships.
[7:16] We saw Rebecca's Closet in 2022
[7:21] as a non-profit organization by two of our IB diploma candidates. And as for their cast project, uh, in these pictures, you can see here is what Rebecca's closet originally started out. As with all these outfits where the thing I don't think, uh, and in 2024, uh, our coordinators at Becca's closet decide for Becca's closet. Instead of being a non-profit organization to also become a club, Ms.. Forever and Becca's closet is open to all the students, not just at Ms., but the Tri-Cities as well as anywhere else. And then those pictures that were on the last slide is back as closet currently looks.
[8:17] Okay. So what we do, we have open houses during homecoming and prom season. So fall in spring. We also allow for appointments booked with Madame. Um, say for example, um, the snowball for the Girl Scouts. If they need a dress, they can contact her and get their dresses. We also accept, um, individual donations. And we have also, accepted donations from prom shops. One being all the way in Sterling Heights. Um, and we've taken them all the way from there in boxes. Um, and people often individually donate by putting them in the main office at Midland High. Um, and we are not just limited to dresses. We have suits, shoes, jewelry more. So if you don't need just need a dress, you need an accessory. We have that and it's almost entirely student run and organized.
[9:21] Donations from over the summer.
[9:26] I'm kind of the facts and figures lady. So you can see, um, this is our data from homecoming 2025. So we do have a far reaching impact. We ask all visitors to fill out a survey for us so we can collect data on where people are coming from, if they were able to find what they needed. Um, so you can see from homecoming 2025, we had 51 people fill out the survey. Occasionally we missed somebody. So it's probably more people who visited. And then we also have some data from prom 2026. And again, you can see that we have lots of students coming from different schools. So we are open to any student who needs a dress or a suit for a formal event. But that's not the only thing. The numbers don't tell the whole story.
[10:14] I think we can all agree that our favorite part of Becca's closet is being able to see people come and get the dresses for an event that they otherwise might have missed out on. And that's just one side of it, though. The other side is, as you saw from the boxes of donations, it's not just 1 or 2 people in the community who donate dresses. It's the entire community donating lots of dresses.
[10:41] So Becca's closet does not only provide people with clothing, but also with confidence. It removes barriers for those who might not be able to afford formalwear for a critical event for high schoolers. The high schooler might find important want to miss out on, and it promotes students helping other students. Say, for example, I volunteer at an open house. I might be able to work with someone who I don't usually work with at my school or from a different school. I get to meet new people, and it also opens opportunities for, um, uh, volunteer hours. Say for NHS, I need volunteer hours. I can do that. I can volunteer in an open house. Um, and it creates an environment where everyone can participate, either like in the actual informal events or, um, in a club where you don't need much experience to be involved in. And it's also very environmentally friendly.
[11:41] As for what's up next for the comic chapter? First things we're we're going to try to do is expand from just instead of one room. As we saw in a few of the photos from earlier, we it's been pretty crammed recently just because of all those donations we've gotten within the past year. So we're going to try to see if we can find possibly another room so we can expand to there along with our next thing we're trying to do, which we've been trying to do for the past couple of years, is expand our range in clothing such as dresses, suits, blazers, ties, shoes, that kind of thing. But also just the sizing, because we have a little bit of difficulty getting some things in, like the very extra small or like the extra large, for example. That's something we've been struggling to get for Rebecca's closet and for everyone else. And then the final thing we're trying to do is increase our online presence so that we can increase the awareness, because last year. We did recently start our Instagram and TikTok, so we're trying to increase the followers for that. That way, everyone knows where Becca's closet is and what is all available.
[12:53] Um, as you saw in our presentation, Becca's closet is not just about the dresses. It's about the community and providing formalwear to those who need it. So thank you for your time today. And we would also like to invite you to one of our open houses to show you Becca's closet in action.
[13:12] Thank you so much. And are there any questions that you might have for these students, or about anything about the operations or the impact of Becca's closet in our community?
[13:25] I don't know if I.
[13:28] I don't know if I have any questions, but thank you. Um, so obviously a really cool project. Um, I loved how you talked about removing any barriers that kids have to attending things that are really part of the what makes a school a school. And these events are intimidating, but also a really special time to bring our student population together. So anything that we can do to to remove a barrier to do more and more students participating in these events is really neat. Um, so just continue to work with us on how we can help support you and and making these events even more accessible to more kids.
[14:19] Um, as far as accessibility, I saw a picture in there that you didn't talk about as much. But if one of you would like to share so that people in the audience can hear more about how you promote, uh, Becca's closet at Midland High and what are some of the ways that you invite students at school to come and check it out.
[14:40] So one of the things we do is that we post posters all around the school as like a volunteer opportunities, but also send people know when we are open, as well as just telling people online is how we do that through our social media. But another thing we do as well is so every year Midland High has something called Comic Idol. So we participate in that every year. Sometimes we dress up and we dance to a song. That's something we do to like promote Breakfast Closet and then a few other things we do as well is we also participate in the homecoming parade, as well as the Santa Parade and also the Memorial Day Parade as well. We do that almost every year. We try to just promote to the city as well what Becca's closet is.
[15:27] Thank you for sharing.
[15:33] Thank you again.
[15:34] Thank you.
[15:56] All right. Thanks to the Midland High team for that awesome presentation. I should have also said it was really cool to see how many other students from other schools throughout our community, they've gotten to participate as well. Um, item 3.3, Ignite the classroom. Ron Clark Academy experience a number of presenters, um, both from Jefferson and Northeast Middle School. Welcome.
[16:34] All right. Welcome to flight BOE. Heading straight to inspiration as we prep to visit the Ron Clark Academy, also known as RCA in Atlanta. Sponsored by Huntington Bank, this flight is all about bringing high energy, high impact teaching strategies back to our classrooms and MPs.
[16:59] Our flight passengers, almost 40 MPs on one airplane, include dedicated educators from both Northeast and Jefferson middle schools. We extend a huge thank you to Huntington Bank for funding our tickets to Atlanta and directly investing in our professional growth with the Ignite the Classroom experience.
[17:22] Our destination isn't just a physical school at RCA, it's a direct match for our district strategic roadmap. Grounded in our values of belonging, collaboration and excellence. Our time at RCA equips us to support and grow resilient, connected students. So I'm now going to turn it over to the Northeast and Jefferson teams to share their own flight paths.
[17:54] Two things that RCA did really well are the energy and the architecture in their school, the energy being essentially student engagement. They did this through movement, through chants, um, creating a lot of just like in the classrooms when we were observing them. 100% of the students were engaged in the lessons and discussing with each other. So that was really cool to see. And definitely an application for the classroom. The architecture is more like the culture of the building itself and how that's built within the people, through the students, through the teachers, and also the parents. Team Valley is launching a house system as a trial system this year, which I'll leave Meghan to talk a little bit more about. But essentially the purpose of that and the purpose. Purpose of the culture is, is to create belonging among the students.
[18:50] I'm sorry. Thank you. All right. So with this, it's all about house identity. They do it at the beginning of the school year. Um, and you're not just put in a house. It's a culture. You're, um. You're you're taking pride. And this is my house. I'm part of something. Because middle school is an awkward time for a lot of students. They're coming from different elementary schools, um, some from MPs, some from parochial and different school districts. And they may be on a team that's not even with their friends. So this creates that identity where they are part of something and that they belong. Um, it brings Relationships. It creates connections across the classrooms and peer groups. It encourages students and each other, so it helps with their school pride that being a Viking means something. I'm saying Viking because that's what we're doing this year. And the ultimate goal is to improve the behavior and the academic culture of the schools. So it's bigger than just points and competitions among each other is about the connection characters in the culture that they're building.
[19:55] All right.
[19:57] My name is Keith, and I was charged initially to find representatives from our building to attend with me. Um, and it went from initially like four people, uh, 4 to 5, including initially my assistant principal. Then it blew up to 20 people from our building. And so then I reined that back in and attended myself since half of our building was going. But, um, I didn't feel it was fair to expect others to attend if I wasn't willing to go myself. And it's time. I didn't know a tremendous amount about that. But the thing that I want to point out to you and Jefferson has some pictures themselves, is this is just a testament of the willingness of our staff. Way early on in the spring, to dedicate set days in the middle of the summer and be committed to doing that. We had 21 people from northeast attend. It ended up being 19 because a husband and wife duo had a death in the family, so they unexpectedly couldn't attend. Um, but just the willingness of the group to do this and we loved it. It was up at 4 a.m. on a charter bus, and it was go, go, go until we got back. And so there was not a lot of downtime. Um, I don't know about them, but I was wore out by the time I got back, and, uh, I just I was very appreciative of the effort and the openness of our staff to consider things and look at the structure and the positivity of the Ron Clark Academy.
[21:33] Hi, I'm Becky, um, I'm from Jefferson, and, uh, was one of the members, of course, that went to talk to you a little bit about, um, one of the, the.
[21:46] The systems that they talked about was accountable talk. This isn't something new. None of the the techniques that they did are anything new that we don't do in Midland public schools. Like Megan said, they just do them on a much grander scale. Um, so we look at the things that the student led discussions is something that, um, I've been able to have the, um, the privilege to watch take place in my classroom. And it's powerful. It's powerful to see young students in sixth, seventh, and eighth grade be able to have conversations within themselves with the teacher as the facilitator, instead of just holding their hand up and waiting to be called on. It allows everybody time to get up and be heard. It allows the teacher to visually see what they're thinking because they're talking about it. So all of the things that they're doing, it's also part of our five D. It's just incorporated. And it's something that both schools we talked about the whole time that we were there. We really need to to come on strong with with one of these techniques. So thanks.
[23:02] Good evening. My name is Brian. I'm the assistant principal at Jefferson. I had the honor of taking, uh, the Jefferson team down there, along with the northeast crew. Um, the pictures in the slides don't do this PD justice. It's unlike any other PD experience I've ever had. Like he said, we we're up early. We were going, going, going. The excitement level, the just the the academy itself, visually and the way the kids and the staff were engaged in acting, it just was miles away from any other PD experience I've ever had for the positive. Um, at Jefferson, each year we have a word of the year that we pick as a staff the previous year. At the end of the previous year, we pick a year. Our word this year is we, uh, because we understand the importance of belonging and community in a school. And of all the things I saw at the Ron Clark Academy, the, the, the strategies, everything that I saw, the idea of belonging and community was the by far the most, um, thing that jumped out the most. And so I felt validated that we picked this word because it's something as a building leader, I'm going to take back. I was inspired and I'm going to take this back. And I felt challenged to bring this back to Jefferson. And even if we can move a little bit toward some of the things that I saw at the Ron Clark Academy. I think we're moving in the right direction. Um, so these are character, um, statements for the year. We are together, we have gratitude. We take responsibility. We show integrity. We are huskies. So again, definitely saw that on full display every minute down at the Ron Clark Academy. We have some pictures of our team from Jefferson. There we are in Atlanta arriving. Um, you know, I know Kara thanked Huntington Bank at the beginning, but they're they're executives. We're volunteers like this. This person here was a volunteer that works for Huntington. They spent their weekend, um, helping and serving in so many different ways. So we're so appreciative of Huntington and everything they did. Um, we had a nice mixture at Jefferson of sixth, seventh and eighth grade, teachers, core teachers, effective teachers, special ed teachers. We had a we had a great mix of people, and we just had a great time together, uh, build some camaraderie and just had a great time. This picture is in front. Yes. This is actually at their school. This is, um, you know, one of the just visually incredible things that they have going on there. Um, the cool thing about this picture is we were getting ready. You know, we were posing, trying to get organized. And the young ladies that you see in there that are students, they came right over to us and organized us. You go, here you go, here you go, here you go here. They just were so friendly and confident and got us lined up for this picture. And the results are speak for itself. And that's a pretty good picture. So, um, this is Brown going to talk a little more.
[25:49] Hi, I'm Amanda.
[25:50] Um, and I'm.
[25:51] Going to talk about something that was a big deal there called being slide certified. Um, so you might be thinking playground.
[25:58] Equipment.
[25:58] What does this have to do with a PD? Um, but it was very symbolic. So at the Ron Clark Academy, there are two tubular slides, and they connect the upstairs to the downstairs. And one of the things that Ron Clark talked about was why take the stairs? Everybody takes the stairs. Be different and take the slide. So he had all of the educators that were there. We each had to go down the slide. And it was very symbolic. I will admit, when I got up to the top of the slide, I was like had flashbacks of Chippewa Park when my kids were little. You all have probably been on that slide before. Um, it was quite an experience. Um, but the the whole, um, symbolism here is stepping outside of the normal that you do and trying things maybe a little bit unconventional and getting creative with what we do in the classroom to help our students be engaged, which ties to our strategic plan. Um, so it doesn't mean that every day we have to be, you know, playing games and doing head stands and walking around on our hands and whatever to entertain the kids, although we might work a little bit. Um, but anyway, just kind of thinking outside of the box, keeping the kids engaged and being willing to go out there and think outside the box. Sometimes it's hard to do that. Like we get stuck in a rut of like, this is the way we always do it. And what if I do this and it doesn't work out? And what if I do this and the teacher next door is like, oh gosh, that was pretty crazy. Like, you know, like, what are you doing over there? Thankfully, my next door neighbor went, so he would probably get it, but just kind of really thinking outside the box here and being willing to try something new. And I think that's pretty much.
[27:47] That wasn't my favorite part of the whole trip, I have to be honest. But I did do it, um, with everybody else. But now that we've landed back in Midland, we unpack three, three suitcases. Instruction, autonomy and culture. We will roll out purposeful movement for learning, expand student talk routines, and especially establish our house structures starting in each middle school. I will say that at northeast, we met as a team for some reflection a week later. And the cool thing about it is, you know, if you can get past all of the you saw some of the photos there and I can speak to northeast, we're not going to be able to turn it into that structurally. Harry Potter however, all of the no. I'm being serious, but all of the things that the staff members were looking at trying to implement from the conference didn't cost anything. And they were about how we build relationships with kids and with families and and focus on them being seen as individuals. And that's something we can we can all share and we can all take back from that. Thank you.
[28:59] All right. So thank you for flying with us to Atlanta and back. I hope that you were able to hear all of the stories from just some of the dedicated educators that went from NPS. It was a phenomenal experience and I am excited to see what both buildings are going to do and the ability to collaborate with one another because they've had that common experience together. Um, so it elevated both of our middle schools, and we are super grateful for for Huntington to allow us this opportunity and also our own team for letting us go.
[29:41] So what questions might you have for us? S2:
[30:03] Uh, we're going to discuss we're going to discuss this at our PD session. Over the next two days, these two will share their experiences. I'll share mine. We'll have some of the other groups, uh, the other people that are going to be in the room those days. Just just share a little bit about experiences. I know there's some talk of doing some house systems within your social studies and your life skills class. So I think, um, you know, try little things at a time. Hopefully they see some success and can come on board. So that's for Jefferson.
[30:32] And we also have a presentation plan for all of our staff, um, any pair of support staff that would like to attend. On Wednesday, Terry Hanley was one of the staff members. He runs our student resource center. Um, as soon as he knew that he was going to be traveling to this, we all got copies of a book written by Ron Clark. It's called 1% Better. Um, and it's taking those little steps, little things that you can do on a daily basis to make a big difference. So he promptly went to our VPA. He got northeast 1% better T-shirts made for the entire staff. Kitchen, everybody. Um, and so even though they may not have been there for the actual experience so far, they will have an opportunity to see here and wear it on their chest. So.
[31:26] Well, I want to start out with some thank yous. Um, Midland public is special because of our educators and our students. And one of the things that really struck me right away was how many people volunteered their summer to to go to this. And I just want to say thank you, because I know investing in, in, uh, in yourself is investing in our students and their success. So I want to start by saying thank you for your dedication and time. Um, to our students. And then also thank you to Huntington Bank for the sponsorship of the program. It's obviously, uh, not cheap to buy 40 plane tickets, but we definitely appreciate their their sacrifice and dedication to our educators. Um, as as we move forward, it's interesting the your your comment about 1% because when we were setting Penny's goals, when she first joined as as our superintendent, I asked her what she wanted her legacy to be. And if you remember that conversation, it was well and and she said, well, I don't know how long I want to work, but it's at least a decade. And I said, okay, so what about in one decade? Where do you want our student test scores to be? She said 20% better. I said, well, that's 2% every year. So I say that to say a little bit goes a long ways, and when we look back on a journey of continuous improvement, it will be because of being one and 2% better every year. So we don't have to fix everything at once. But being a little bit better every day is how we do that. So thank you for your investment and your time. I would also just ask that as we move forward, figure out how to measure success. And when we have successes as individual teachers, we share that and pass it along to our, our neighbors and our our teachers at other buildings too. So.
[33:45] I'm just so glad that this happened. I got to be part of some of the emails going back and forth at the beginning of the invitation from Huntington. Um, and just really cool to like, hear from you all how really cool it was. So thanks for sharing.
[34:02] Great. Well thank you.
[34:13] Item 3.4 are as we committed to our community to have an update on facilities. Is our sinking fund millage proposal update? Um, as many are aware, we did take action at our special board meeting approximately two weeks ago to put a proposal on the ballot for a sinking fund. Um, wanted to let people know. Also, as we move forward. Will be information coming out this week about, uh, when our community information sessions will be. We will also update our website and then please, uh, just a reminder to our community that if you have any questions? Please feel free to email. Reach out. I'm happy to call you. Um, let me know how we can help as board members as well to address any questions that you may have. Item four. Request to address the board. Um, Steven Carver was the first to sign up. Welcome, Steven.
[35:29] Good evening. I'm Steve. Um, I'm starting to get me, uh, regular at these meetings. I enjoy hearing what's going on in the school district. I've given you a poem that I wrote, actually, this weekend. Um, this is a real exciting time. Anticipation of a new school year. I can remember as a child coming back from summer vacation. And we take out in Montana from Illinois. I didn't like school that much. Um, or at least, you know, as a as a 6 or 7 year old, because things were pretty exciting in the summer. And I said, you know, as we got closer and the places we stopped, I think I got one more day. I got two more days back. Then school started the day after Labor Day. You probably didn't hear at some point, too. I'm sure you've gone through, um, giving you a copy of this poem. It's called The Blink of an eye. Um, you've all heard that expression, and it's also, I guess, in researching it, it's also known as a twinkle in the eye. I think that might have come after a happy hour sometime. I'm not sure, but, um, let me just read this because I like to read Polar Treatment. Um, we are told that our stories may unfold in the blink of an eye. The newborn baby will sometimes sigh and then cry in the blink of an eye. She will learn to sleep and eat, then crawl and stand up and walk, as well as make sounds and talk all in the blink of an eye. She will study and bond with her mom, play with her world before she has to sit still when a chill in the blink of an eye. Time for school and sometimes practice the golden rule and achieve multiple tools. She'll develop new friends and her lines that her teachers may find soon. She will develop many new social skills and maybe pay attention to Will and Bill. We just have the northeast folks here, and I think there's a fair amount of that going on. Sports and games may seem important, and most choosing to follow the rules and not the rules. Learn from mistakes without lying awake, for goodness sake. All in that familiar blink of an eye. Some of us trying to live for the moment without becoming a component in the blink of an eye. So I guess my message is clear. You need not fear. Depreciate every day. Reach for the sky while you're alive. Smile and remain active while looking attractive. Before you move on in that same old blink of an eye. I gave a couple of Musical references and I'm sure, um, there are several, um, that I didn't include that have to do with time. I think particularly at this point, we're coming into a new school year. It seemed like it was just the end of the school year to you, I'm sure. Who I'm. It never kind of never ending. Um, same with teachers, you know, I hope everybody had vacations and so forth and recharge their batteries. Um, I think poetry is a really good way for students of all ages, particularly in the high school, middle school, to write their experience and record it. Um, I used to teach severely mentally ill students that were in high school back in California. And one of the things we did was we we taught, um, via poems. And I'd write the poem on the board and say, copy the poem. And I couldn't turn my back on these kids because they were these were very rough kids from inner city. So I used poetry as a way to teach. And, um, I think that right now we're in. We're in a blink of an eye in a lot of ways. We've got a climate crisis going on that seemed like it was just yesterday, and now we're in the midst of it. Democracy is kind of at stake. Let's hope that in the next blink of an eye and that things improve. And congratulations for all teachers and men in public and all of you for participating in Democracy and School Board. Thank you.
[39:14] Thanks, Steven. Renita Benitez, welcome, Renita.
[39:23] Good evening. My topic is transparency. The public hears and sees this claim stated and printed everywhere concerning MPs. It's on your website, social media post. Even a job posting I noticed on Facebook said, want to bring your financial expertise to a district that values transparency and team collaboration? We hear about it in these meetings, community sessions and other places, to name a few. It seems as though it is. If it is said enough times in enough ways, the public will just believe it and not dig into details and facts. There's one very big issue that has received no public transparency. I questioned it several months ago, and there has been no comment at these meetings or any mention of it. In the Midland Daily News. The district paid over $62,000 in legal fees in the first several months of 2026. The public does not know how, does not know why at least a dozen people were interviewed by Troon law firm, or why the state was involved. Did the district's liability insurance not cover this case? We know it covered your legal fees in my FOIA lawsuit case. And by the way, I am grateful the judge found in my favor. In that case, just today, the district did break FOIA laws. So the 62,000 of legal fees. What is the real reason they were incurred? Is it involving students, teachers, staff? Was there criminal conduct that took place but was able to avoid the courts? We just don't know. And why. No statement to the Midland Daily News about this unprecedented accumulation of legal fees. Other districts have many of their legal issues put in the public domain, but the public is to believe this board and the administration are open and transparent, then disclose the reason for these fees. Thank you.
[41:27] Joe Benitez. Welcome, Joe.
[41:38] Greetings. I'm here tonight to make some proposals on transparency improvements so you can work on the trust issues you've heard about through multiple venues these last six months. First meeting information first. It is great to have the agenda packages so you do not look like a bunch of rubber stampers. During these meetings, people can confirm you have some data beforehand. Second loss of historically relevant information. What I'm talking about is what the that the Open Meeting Act requires that you retain meeting minutes for a really long time. Several years ago, you could go back to 2012 and see all the videos and read the minutes. A couple of years ago when they updated the website, we lost some of that. Today you can only go back to January of 2021. I asked your IT leader and he said it takes up too much space. I can grant you that the videos may be large, but the meeting minutes are a PDF file that is very little. Takes up very little space. I had someone ask me about an early Covid era question, and I could not go back that far and answer. Also the agenda content. There used to be letters to the board included in the packages, not just letters from the board, which are usually just thank you notes. Upon inquiry about this. When the change was made, we were told it was not required that those letters be included. So is the board seeing what issues the public are raising is the minimum. Now the standard two spending on sinking fund and future bonds. You've all received the Chippewa Valley web page that I sent as an example of what transparency reporting actually looks like. Here's the plan before. Here's the here's the plan rolling out during and here's the plan after. And what happened not to trickle of information while you were approving requests where the last sentence is quote. And this will be paid by series three bond funds unquote. Three student head count. You will do a count in early October and cure it for 30 days, which means we will not know how much NPS has grown or shrunk before the vote. But once the vote is count as final, please communicate it. We asked late last year and we're told don't worry. It will be published in August or eight months later. We had to FOIA the information and did receive it after the request. I don't actually recall a count ever actually being officially mentioned in any board meeting or in the Midland Daily News, but it was more than the average expected loss of 42 students per year. Given the actual trend of the last few years, you might want to try a different company for student population predictions for the possible 2028 bond. Their prediction was 2.5% growth over the next five years. Starting in 2024 is looking. It's not even going to be close. I admit, I'm going from memory on some of those numbers, because all the information from the 2025 bond was immediately taken down after the election. That is the start of what success might look like in the future. Obviously, the ball is in your court. If the voters are generous, the sinking fund will be your probation. Thank you.
[44:41] How is everybody that signed up ahead of time? Anybody else? I'd like to address the board.
[44:59] Item five curriculum. Instruction. Assessment. Item 5.1 for information six through 12 school AI software. Ken.
[45:14] Yeah, I'm going to have Tori Lynch come up and join me. He'll be at the podium. I'm going to stay here. My eyes are too old to see clearly the slides from here. So I will keep it on my computer so I can see it as well, too. Um, Troy and I were tasked with, um, looking at AI products. Um, we joined a group out of Clare Gladwin, Risd. Um, there was several school districts in the Clare Gladwin area that were in part of it. It was about 70 to 80 members that started looking at AI at the beginning of the school year and looking at different approaches, different products. Um, I don't know how many exactly we looked at and got firsthand glimpses, a glimpse at them, but it was probably eight, ten, 12 different AI products. It's amazing how quickly they have expanded and so forth. Different school products, everything from those products that are generated for schools, particularly to those that are in general use as well to some of the ones that we're familiar with, like ChatGPT, um, and others as well too. Um, and so we started sitting down and looking at and trying to figure out what would be our approach and looking at this. And it really started out. And we also realized too, in talking to others and also having, uh, a gentleman that was hired through Michigan Virtual to come in and he was presenting to the group, uh, looking at things that, um, schools and school districts in the state are all over the board. You have everything from schools turning on all products, um, that they, that students could use and at different grade levels to some schools not turning on any products. Um, and so we started looking and having the discussions, and we started to get a committee together and starting looking at what would be the right approach for, for Midland. And we hope we've landed there. Um, you know, I think this is our first step into using AI products, along with, um, there's another product that we use, but it uses AI not so much as the focus. Um, that's magma math that we use in the Northeast Middle School that we piloted last year. Um, that uses AI to help tutor kids in math and math. Only it won't go outside of that context. It's really confined. But we started looking at what is right for for Midland, and we ended up looking at a couple of different products with the help of the committee. We looked at Kira Learning and School AI, and we really wanted to have an approach that first and foremost kept the kids safe and in an environment that we could monitor, as well as help them learn to adapt and grow with AI, and to learn how to use it as a coaching model. Um, that it wouldn't just give them the answers, um, as well too, as an instructional tool that would help develop teachers and amplify their teaching and enhance their ability to personalize and extend the the learning that they have. So we looked at this products and we look and we piloted both of them, um, and really tried to blend it into where we were going with the profile of a graduate and some of the strategic planning efforts that we were doing, and trying to make sure that whatever product we landed on helped develop our students into the individuals that we would like to see them be after school. Um, as we continue along, one of the things that we really looked at was trying to help, you know, we tell teachers to differentiate, to try to meet kids needs and so forth, and teachers do an admirable job of trying to do this. But at the same time, it's a very difficult task. If you've been in a classroom with 30 kids trying to meet all the different needs, especially nowadays, uh, kids come to us with just an enormous amount of needs, um, and a different backgrounds and everything else. And so we really looked at school, AI and care, learning to help us be able to extend that ability by teachers to be able to personalize situations and learning spaces. As you're going to hear a little bit about spaces in just a little bit from, uh, Troy, um, who led a lot, who led the pilot and led the committee as well to as they looked at different things, but really trying to take, um, and personalize complex subjects, especially as you get older. In the grade levels, you start to see the complexity of Ela, math, science and social studies just go up exponentially. I know myself that, you know, I was really strong in helping my kids up through algebra. Geometry got into algebra two. It started to get a little bit shaky and then yeah, then I got lost after that again. So it's one of those things that we really wanted to have a product that kind of grew and could meet the teachers and meet the students where they were at. And so one of the reasons why we ended up landing with school AI, um, as we continued on this journey, we really, like I said, wanted to have, you know, the teacher is that is the center of the classroom, along with the students and really trying to amplify their reach and their ability to reach their kids and where they're at. And we thought in looking at both products, both did that to varying degrees. And we ended up going with school, a school AI, because we looked and felt like it tailored the situation to where the kids were, and it really gave some unique learning experiences. It was really great for me. I would come in and sit in on the committees as they met, just for a little while, as much time as I could do so, and still maintain the other aspects of my job, and listening to their conversations, their excitement over the products. Both products offered quite a bit. They were really excited about the ability to use both of them and what advances they offered, and the instructional approaches that they were able to then develop with the kids, and to listen to their excitement and their voices and how they felt like they the engagement was increased and how the kids participation was better and how it really they were able to make those situations that you you dream of as a teacher and differentiation. Um, you know, as a teacher myself, I taught Ela and history and stuff and yeah, I could differentiate for groups of 4 or 5 and six and stuff like that. But really, truly trying to individualize instruction was extremely difficult. We think that school AI gives us a somewhat of the ability to be able to do that, or enhance that ability of the teacher to reach individual kids. Um, I am going to turn the time over now to Troy, and he's going to talk a little bit about the the product, the spaces, uh, and the mission control. And he'll go into that detail.
[51:52] Do you want the clicker so you can kind of lead yourself through it? S20:
[51:57] Spaces themself. And I'm glad you asked this question day, because it made me really think that I just need to make sure that I ground myself in reality and make sure that I go back to square one. As I've been living in this world for the last couple of years, I want to make sure that I just go back to the basics on this as well. So I wrote this down to make sure that I get this right. A school AI space is a secure, teacher guided AI learning environment that deliver delivers personalized, interactive instruction to students. So what our teachers are able to do is put students into a space based off of the topic that the teacher is supposed to be teaching. Like open chat bots, teachers set clear guide rails and learning objectives, turning the AI into a Socratic tutor. Historic figure or practice partner gives every student one on one support. Ten mentioned while providing teachers with live monitoring, safety controls, and real time insights into student learning. So what you see on your screen is just a space that I created today. I actually was a teacher here in Midland Public Schools, sixth grade writing, and one of the assignments that we actually had was the argument paragraph. And in the argument paragraph, they had to come up with something that had some sort of issue or relevancy in their life that they wanted to fix, and we just didn't want to train our students to complain and argue about things like that. We wanted them to actually do this in a very productive way. So this is a conversation that at the top of the screen you'll see is the actual AI tool school AI voice in the chat room. And then the comments that I put on the bottom are actually my comments acting like a student. So I'm not going to go into detail about this, but you can see as I'm going through the slides here, um, it was looking for something that bugs you at school, in your neighborhood or stuff that you use. So again, taking on the terminology similar to what a student would say. And this student responded, in my case, tennis courts in my neighborhood are always locked. So the school AI chatbot responded back. Talking about that could be a frustrating thing. My response was, my friend and I wanted to play tennis but couldn't, so it's talking through the process. It's not just saying to do something, it's actually having a conversation with the student continuing on. Got it. Continuing with that. Uh, kids are told to stay out of trouble. And I kind of thought like a student, everybody told me to stay out of trouble, stay busy. I tried to go play tennis, but I couldn't. So again, the conversation will continue and this can continue forever. If the teacher would like it to continue, it could do that. Um, it's asking again. Well, who do you think owns the courts or who has the power to unlock these courts? Wisconsin's I think the city owns the court, but I'm not sure.
[54:41] So one of the nice things about school and I, I started to put in some comments that I thought middle school students would think of. So at this point, I asked it to I'll respond to this by asking, I'm thinking about cutting the lock as I want to play tennis, and nobody's changing the tennis court lock for me. So I'm going to take matters of my own hands and cut the lock. School, I responded, I get that you're frustrated and you can see that that it's going to, uh, revert the student back to the letter of complaint and the topic at hand, as opposed to saying, hey, let me show you how to cut the lock or show you anything like that. So in the bottom response there, maybe we'll have my friend cut the lock since he's always getting into trouble and continuing on. I continually. It's the most patient tutor ever, just pushing me back towards the topic, pushing me back towards this argument paragraph, trying to be productive in the conversation where teachers on the fifth or sixth time where students says, I'm just going to cut the lock myself. I say, yeah, please don't do that. This is just making sure that the student is not doing anything like that. I just even put in this comment, where can I buy lock cutters? So if I put this into a Google search or a ChatGPT, if I had access to this, I would probably be sent to Amazon or some other place where I could actually buy lock cutters. And again, school AI is guard relaying this assignment and making sure that the students can't go outside the boundaries and confines of this activity, and it's not even going to show them where they can get lock cutters. So students have that side. That's the experience with that. And some on the CIA team were able to participate in this. We tried to break it, as I say. Um, talked about some episodes of drugs or alcohol or anything like that to try to get the topic off of track. It didn't do that. We've tried that numerous times, and we've been continually impressed by how it stays within the confines of that assignment. Here's what the teachers will actually see. As Ken mentioned earlier, this is Mission Control. So as I was doing this, I was acting like a student, but I was also the teacher in this course as well. I was flagged for inappropriate contact and it said student is being off track. I'm looking at purchasing lock cutters and things like that. Student thinks that he's going to take matters into his own hand. Property damage and all of that was protected and I, as the teacher, were flagged on that. So not only was I fired in real time with the school AI activity, I was also given an email. So if I didn't see it on the spot, I would get that follow up on that as well. Here's another portion of Mission Control. So I just put myself in as an example student. But you would see all 30 students at once. And as Ken said, the really important part of school AI is having the ability to differentiate and talk to each student or I'm sorry, having the AI tool talk to each student on a one on one capacity as an English teacher to go through a one on one conversation with each of those students to try to come up with something that they could complain about is something that I really look forward to. But it took time, and this is something that I could get the students engaged in with their topic, getting them on board with what they're going to write about. And then we can turn this product off. And now we go right to writing, and we focus on all the, um, brainstorming in the past and focus towards the future of all of the, the steps in the writing process. And this is just a tool that the teachers would use as opposed to replacement of them.
[58:10] Ken, anything else to mention on school AI?
[58:13] No. Did you go over this part of it? Just stay there though, and you can hand me. The. No. The control back and I'll take it from there. Thank you. Troy. So Troy led our efforts, and you did a great job leading the committee and a group of teachers through the process of looking at it, too, and leading them through the pilot. Um, and like I said, it was great getting the different, uh, conversations going, um, and looking at the different products and how and how they worked to try to build the students stamina with AI, and that it was a tutor and not just an answer machine for them. Um, so really helping with building the critical thinking, this is some of the research that came from the from the site and some of the studies that they've done that are our evidence based, uh, that it does increase and boost students critical thinking and analyzing in spaces the, the ability to analyze facts and so forth. And it does help them and coach them through that. Um, as well as looking at fostering independence so that because they were able to tailor things to their interests. We all know, um, kids learn better when the topic interests them. Um, and it's deeply personal and everybody's got a little bit different take. I mean, you had 25, 30 kids in a room, and you could have 25, 30 different interests and different perceptions, um, and different avenues in which they want to take. This allows the teachers to do that and be able to push them along on an independent pathway, rather than grouping them so much and really trying to expand the reach of the teacher. Um, as well, uh, it also allowed them to enter. It allows the teacher to have an assistant in the room, so to speak, to assist with interventions and trying to remove roadblocks for the kids and help them think through them versus giving them. I know as a teacher, for myself, that was always the difficult part was how do you coach somebody without just giving them the answer. And that's what I think this product does as well too. It does what I would have done in a classroom and in trying to get the kid to come to the answer and helping them kind of lay the breadcrumbs a little bit for them. And I think school A does that school. AI does that. It's not the answer to everything. It's not the the perfect instructional technology tool, but we think it allows us to do both things that we were looking to do, really enhance the ability of the teacher, differentiate and then as well to allow them to experience AI and be able to coach as well, to get into that part of it and also giving real world examples as well to that's another way in which school, AI and as well as Kira did as well too. We just thought Kira wasn't quite as far along on the developmental path, or at least the committee did. They were the ones that made the decision and then listening to their discussions, and that that's what I picked up, was that, you know, down the road, we thought might be another product as well too, but I think they kind of really overlap quite a bit. Kira has some other things that might be more beneficial for other adventures that we have down the road as well too. And then did you want to talk a little bit about the safeguards, joy? You know this much better than I do.
[1:01:30] Sure. So as I spoke with the safeguards on this as well, the teachers have full control to turn this on and turn this off so they can do a space for a five minute activity, or they can keep it open and keep that as an overnight activity where the students could work on it if they so choose after hours. But the guardrails, again, are similar to what we have with our Google Workspace, where everything that we put into it stays within the confines of our own domain or our own, um, silo or whatever terminology you want to do. And it's not used to train the models of artificial intelligence. Anything that we put in there, according to all of the the research that we've been given as well, that it's certified Copa. All of the acronyms that I've learned in the last couple of years as well, and I won't bore you with all of those, but having that visibility, having that visibility right in front of you as a teacher to turn it on and off and to pause at any time to have that discussion and say, hey, we've got the idea started now, let's bring it back as a class and talk about it. And having that as a fingertip control for the teachers really allows them to be the ownership of the education as well. Again, you're not turning the educational or the learning content over to an AI tool. You're using it as a partner, as another tool in the toolbox, just to incorporate the learning so students can work ahead on that. One thing I did fail to mention, and I wanted to look at the back side of my card here. A couple of examples that we've used through the pilot we had at the high school level, a chemical explosion where students were put into a space and they were from a real life situation, tried to find out who actually was at fault. And it was an experiment that went wrong at a chemical plant which had happened here before in Midland. The students were then tasked with whose fault it was, not only for accountability reasons, but also to learn from mistakes, to see what they could do in the future. We had a teacher at the elementary, I'm sorry, at the middle school level. Put a student in a space to learn from a porcupine. So the actual AI bot that the student was talking to was an actual porcupine, and what it was doing was interacting. Talking about diet, talking about predators and things like that. And the engagement that the student had in that activity was the first time the student engaged in a lesson all school year. And that was in the spring of this pilot. Um, and then the final AI activity that we had in the pilot program that really jumped out was an AI pen pal during the Cold War, where a teacher at Midland High School was able to put their students into a space, and the students were able to choose if they wanted to act as a Russian student or act as a United States student and talk back and forth in a pen pal format, where in real life, if we tried to do that pen pal scenario, first of all, we're 40 years late. And second of all, the timing of that with the snail mail wouldn't allow this to happen. Instant answers, instant feedback. And the students learned just on demand as opposed to waiting for the mail to actually come.
[1:04:29] So to finish things up, you know, we we did the pilot this year or this past year, um, we're going to be giving professional learning after school, um, time and so forth in a different PDF and that, uh, introduce it to the, to the teachers and then as well then start rolling it out to the teachers. Now, one of the things that is important is that, first of all, it's targeted in scope. We're only offering this experience with six through 12th grade students, um, as well to the educators have the option of utilizing the product as we go through this year, as they're learning, we have, what do you call them exactly? The school AI coaches.
[1:05:12] Or building leads?
[1:05:13] Building leads. There we go in each building to help with support others as they learn the product. You know, just from the discussion. And Liz sitting in on the committee, I think the excitement and the usefulness and the value that was seen by the committee members that we're hoping this grows by word of mouth more than anything else. Um, and it becomes an experience in which they can, um, you know, spread as well to that way more organically than, hey, you're going to use this product, so to speak. Um, you know, and like I said, I think it's a way to introduce the district into more of a school AI, more of an AI product without going full bore into, uh, Gemini notebook and ChatGPT and the others that, you know, because that was one of the things that really took us as we were going through this last year. A lot of the stories that came out with AI and some of the concerns, um, not only the environmental as well as the, uh, concerns over just exactly how much freedom and how people were getting themselves into trouble with it. That was really our main concern, was really first and foremost, making sure that the kids were safe using this product. And it was an environment that teachers and students could feel safe as parents as well, to know and trust with the what was being put before their child. Um, in transparency, when we go to roll this out, if a teacher does decide to utilize it, uh, letter will be going home to parents as well as to if a parent says, hey, I've got some issues, we've got some experiences for them to see what it is, because sometimes we get more concerned and we don't really know what exactly is happening. And, you know, we think of the the experiences that we as adults use, um, AI for in the fact that many times, quite honestly, a lot of times we're going for the answer as adults, and we've done the learning part already and have the background where kids really need to build up those skills and those inquiry based approaches. And so that's what we want them to do and to focus on. But then also is to transition. And how do you ask? I mean, just myself learning and trying to do PowerPoints in AI. I mean, it is a real art to to get it to do what you want it to do, and you got to figure it out and then it still won't sometimes do what you want it to do, and then you got to start back over. So it's a really there is a bit of a science to it. So really trying to give it this introduction, like I said, we think of both will enhance what is happening in the classroom, both from an academic standpoint but also from an AI perspective as well too. So, um, that's school AI.
[1:07:54] Thank you both. Um, maybe a couple of questions. Sorry. Not not off quite so easy. But, um, you know, I think especially both as a school board member and a parent, like, on one hand, it's really exciting to think about amplifying the instructional delivery of our teachers, right? I can imagine a world in which we can tailor content delivery directly to a student based on exactly where they are. You know, I think back to like Khan Academy is, is kind of maybe the first experience with this kind of of approach. And like even in my career, it's like a, I can't remember how to do my linear algebra watch a quick Khan Academy. Oh yeah. That's that's how to do it. Yep. And I think I used it once after college, but, um, you know, I think there's an amazing amount of opportunity to truly amplify what our teacher is, is doing. And I think you guys have structured it in a way that really tries to to just dip our toe in with safety guardrails along the way of of doing that. Um, but then I also worry about content creation for our students and just directly giving them the answer rather than teaching them how to get there. So how do we, as we go forward, monitor that? That's not happening.
[1:09:39] And and how do we protect against just giving a student an answer? S20:
[1:11:01] And try to remind me if I am remembering incorrectly, but the teacher can actually see the questions or the statements that the students are making on their own screen in in real time.
[1:11:11] In real time, and not only in real time, but also historical reference as well. So they'll see real time word for word responses, punctuation errors, spelling mistakes, things like that. Those will all be in real time on the teacher screen through what is called mission control. So they'll have full access to see that as well. Great question.
[1:11:33] All right. Now you're done. Awesome. Thank you.
[1:11:35] I will say, I think that we might have had a lot more questions tonight, but three of us did see all of this earlier today. Asked a lot of questions then.
[1:11:45] Thank you.
[1:11:46] And Troy was answering them for all of us through that presentation with Ken. So.
[1:11:54] Um, so study committee meetings will just be on the next board meeting. Correct? Yeah.
[1:12:01] Okay. Because we just met today at those minutes. Okay.
[1:12:05] Um, item 5.2 for information textbook adoption. Ken.
[1:12:09] Yeah. We have two books that are going to be class wide. Um, novels. Um, that will come before you. They'll, uh, for information tonight. Um, the proper paperwork was completed. The reviews were done on the books. Um, and then they'll sit in front of my office, and if anybody wants to review them, they can. Um, I'm not going to try the title of the first one. It's a German book, Mrs. Falvey. Uh, put that in up. She would like to use this book. It's it's I believe it's about a if I remember correctly, a Turkish student that moves to Germany learns a second language. Uh, we had a similar book last year as well to the same kind of context. A little bit about going through that experience. It's written in German, obviously, to help the the German language students, um, as they learn and read and write and speak German. Um, so that's the book. It's from a nigga Tasman. It's from Deutsch in Iowa. That's as far as I can get. So, uh, there's that book, uh, and that'll be out in front of my office. And then we have legacy. Um, this is a book for student leadership. Um, it is from James Kerr. It is about the rugby team and New Zealand. Um, but it's not about the rugby team. It is about leadership. Completely. Uh, it uses the backdrop of the New Zealand rugby team that was infamously one of the best rugby teams. Had great culture. Um, and it was written about ten, 12 years ago, I guess. And it's a book was built for the business community, but it's got a lot of great leadership characteristics in it. Um, and both the, the leadership teacher and um, oh my gosh, she just went blank on the name. I forgot the name. Um. McPeak. There we go. There you go. The 60 year old brain finally kicked in. Um, and Mrs. Sherman, they are going to read the book as well to the leadership team up at the high school. And this book was picked for the leadership to study as a group, um, to go through. And it's about building culture, building respect for each other. And it's a book that, uh, approaches leadership from many different directions. And I think it's been quite popular in the business community as well, too. So that book will be as well to somebody who would like to look at it.
[1:14:35] Thanks, Ken. Item six finance, Facilities and Operations, uh, 6.1 are FFO study Committee notes from August 3rd.
[1:14:46] Um, so the finance, Facilities and Operations Study Committee met on August 3rd at 5:00 pm. Members present were Chair Blad Breezy Blasi, Scott McFarland, myself, Penny Miller, Nelson, Anna Womack, and Brian Burton. And we had Steven Guenther with us from GMB as well. We started at five and just discussed security cameras, which administration will be recommending purchase of this evening, associated with some security video matrices and um, coming from 31 AA mental health and safety grant funds. We also discussed the proposed tax resolution that we already took action on before Brad left. We got an update from regarding budget and discussed ways that administration has been saving to date. And then we also discussed facility planning. The meeting adjourned at 620.
[1:15:46] Thanks, Jen. Item 6.2 for Action security Cameras.
[1:15:51] Anna administration recommends approving a $538,773.
[1:15:58] 90 S3:
[1:16:42] Thanks, Anna. Is there a motion for 6.
[1:16:48] 2? S2:
[1:16:54] 91 S2:
[1:17:01] Support motion by Ringgold. Support by Craig. Any discussion or questions on 6.
[1:17:11] 2? S2:
[1:17:22] All in favor of approving item 6.2. Say aye.
[1:17:25] Aye aye.
[1:17:26] Any opposed?
[1:17:30] Item 6.3 for action security Matrices.
[1:17:34] Ana administration recommends approving a $76,300 purchase order to Forte of Wixom, Michigan, for security matrix monitors and PCs for 12 school buildings in the district. This equipment includes 20 new line monitors with integrated computers and mounting hardware. This will provide video matrix safety monitoring in the ten elementary and secondary buildings. Carpenter, Pre-Primary, and the Middle and Flex Learning Center. The pricing provided by Forte was obtained through the Remic bid, ensuring compliance with the board's purchasing policy. This expenditure will be paid for through 31 AA mental Health and Security grant funds.
[1:18:11] Thanks to her motion for item 6.3.
[1:18:16] So moved.
[1:18:19] Support.
[1:18:20] Motion by Horowitz. Support by Craig. Any discussion or questions. And a camera matrix is the screen that shows all of the same cameras at once. Multiple cameras at once. All right. All in favor of approving item 6.3? Say I.
[1:18:40] Aye aye.
[1:18:41] Opposed.
[1:18:45] All right.
[1:18:50] Item 6.4 for information.
[1:18:53] Gifts for the total amount of gifts listed for information only. Tonight is $5,080.21. These gifts this evening represent support for football, baseball and boys hockey at Midland High. The Techno Huskies robotics team at Jefferson. And light tables and manipulatives for Adams Elementary. As is tradition. All donors are going to be recognized in the credits of this evening's broadcast and also through board correspondence on your behalf. We are grateful for our community support of our students and our programs.
[1:19:23] Thanks, Anna, and thanks to. Thank you for those donations from our community. Item seven Human Resources. Um, no study committee meetings. Meeting minutes, as we have not met since the last board meeting. Uh, 7.1 Kara.
[1:19:45] The board and staff extend their deepest sympathy to the following families. Nancy Neumann, who passed away on July 15th, 2026, joined the NPS team in 1967 as an elementary physical education teacher. Nancy taught physical education at several elementary schools before retiring in 1986 after 19 years of service. She remained dedicated to the district as a substitute teacher through 2002. Edward Edel McKee, who passed away on August 10th, 2026, joined the NPS team in 1966 as an art teacher in his tenure at NPS. Edward taught art at multiple schools before his retirement in 1996 with 30 years of service.
[1:20:32] Thanks, Kara. Item eight our correspondence from the Board of Education to the following individuals or entities listed in your agenda. Packet item nine are scheduled activities for information, with our regular meetings listed by date on note for the board. Um, December 21st actually falls inside the Christmas winter break. Um, so I'd like to ask Anna. Um.
[1:21:10] Hi, Sarah. Um, yes, I'd like to ask Sarah to pull the board on available dates that we would have a quorum the week prior, which would be the 14th through the 17th. I think it's important for our staff to for the board to lead and make sure that everybody that supports us at the board meetings, from the video crews, the production crews and all of our staff and administration in the in the room here. Lead by example and take some well-deserved time at the end of the semester. So I Sarah to see when board members are available that prior week if that's all right with everybody. Um, item ten study session discussion.
[1:22:06] Are there any points of clarification or questions from any board members? S2:
[1:22:29] That is accurate.
[1:22:31] Um, also note, uh, you know, it's exciting this week as a lot of students are meeting their teachers at the elementary level and getting their lockers at middle and high school. And it's always exciting seeing the buzz in the community and look forward to all those smiling kiddos at ice cream socials and and and excited families as as everybody's anticipating the first day of school.
[1:23:03] So I also have been appreciating the social media game and the countdown days.
[1:23:09] Yeah.
[1:23:10] Um, so yeah, that's been really cool.
[1:23:12] Would you like a singing spot?
[1:23:13] Uh, no. Thank you.
[1:23:16] I tried Katie next year.
[1:23:18] It's the board doing the countdown, I love it.
[1:23:24] All right.
[1:23:25] And some great highlights of CTE, too.
[1:23:28] Yeah.
[1:23:29] Uh, 10.2. I'll turn it over to Penny.
[1:23:31] Yeah, a couple of announcements.
[1:23:33] First, I want the board to know that late last week we sent a parent communication. It was a welcome back letter that was jam packed with lots of updates and information. It included our new technology guidelines, our new wireless communication device policy with some really nice visuals that made it a little easier to consume that information. We included our 31 a at risk annual report. We gave an update on elementary literacy, and we also shared information about a new digital bus attendance system that we'll be launching. We're going to let the school year get started, and then we will move forward with this digital bus attendance system. This is really a safety and security feature for us as well, so that we can know at any time which students are on which buses, as you mentioned, fill lots of excitement happening. Tomorrow is our opening session with staff and it's always just a day of celebration. It's when we do our annual staff awards, we will be sharing the new vision and mission statement, values, graduate profile and our four strategic priority areas with our entire staff, and then giving a few updates that align to those areas. Most of those topics you've already heard here at board meetings, literacy and the technology guidelines, wireless communication devices, and really making sure that we are all aligned across the district and how we're implementing these updates. On that note of our first day with students being next Monday, just a reminder, as I have done every year to please to our community to have patience and some grace, we're working the kinks out of those bus routes. As you know, we have them pretty dialed in, but families need to get into the routine as to our drivers. So we always anticipate a few late buses. We do know that we have notable construction still happening over in the Midland High Area and the Woodcrest area. Our communications team has been working hard to make sure that we have information on social media, and those two principals are communicating directly with their staff and their families about what pick up and drop off looks like, what happens for students who walk to and from school, and what those bus routes look like? We know it will be clunky, especially the first day, so just looking for folks to have a little extra, extra patience on those days and to stay tuned when we get more information from the city. We will immediately share that we are relying on the city for those updates, and that is our best source of information. And Katie has been doing a nice job of just linking directly to the city update as well in our social media post. That's all I have. You know, the most exciting time of the year is when we welcome back our staff and our students. So these next couple of weeks see the smiling faces over here. We're all super excited and look forward to seeing any of you who might be joining us tomorrow morning.
[1:26:34] Great. Thanks, Penny. Take a motion to adjourn.
[1:26:38] So moved. Support.
[1:26:41] All in favor? Aye aye aye. Adjourned. Thank you.