##VIDEO ID:NCc3nM0Fnqk## at the location listed above which is 870 cfax Avenue questions may be submitted beforehand to natalie. singer bhas.org or presented in person during the public comment section as indicated in the agenda board members may be contacted through the emails listed below request for special assistance including for persons with disabilities may be sent to natalie. singer bhas.org I call this meeting to order officially at 6:07 p.m. we'll Begin by reciting the pledge of aliance i al to the FL of the United States of America to the stands indivisible secretary Tri can you please call the role president Robinson yes pres by president Bowen pres pres secretary triplet present truste rocket Martin present trustee Doyle present truste Gavin present truste Brad present all right so a quorum has been determined next we have administration of the oath of office so as you all are aware we recently had an election season in 2024 returning to the board of education is our former vice president Matthew Bradley our Uh current last current vice president uh Trenton Bowes trustee Rockette Martin and our last active secretary Ronaldo triplet because they have been reelected as board members they are required to do an oath of office for the new year so this time we're going to have the administration of the oath of office for Bradley Bowen rocket Martin and triplet you all can choose to stand at your seats Natalie take it easy this is Natalie's first time so we got you you have to stand BP and raise your right hand and um please raise your right hands and repeat after me I do solemnly affirm I do Solly affirm that I will support the Constitution that I will support the Constitution of the United States of the United States and the constitution of this state and the constitution of this state and that I will Faithfully discharge the duties and I will Faithfully discharge the duties as an officer of member as an officer or member of the Board of Education of the Board of Education of B Harbor area schools har are School according to the best of my ability the best of my ability congratulations again congratulations to uh Bradley Bowens rockhead Martin and triplet I'm so thankful that the community rein stored you to the board of education and I'm excited for what's to come so congratulations next up we have D which is election of the temporary chairperson so being that I was President through 1231 We Have Not Elected a new president at this time we have to elect a temporary chairperson which is the past president or highest previous ranking officer which is myself to actually run the agenda until the election of a president so at this particular time I would ask is there a motion Madam president go ahead I make a motion that we nominate you as acting chairperson of the is there a second or support the motion has been made by trusty Bowen and supported secretary triplet any questions comments or concerns hearing none secretary triplet president Robinson yes we still those got I'm technically supposed to be truste trusty Robinson yes trusty Bowen yes trusty triplet yes trusty rocket Martin truste Gavin yes truste Doyle yes trusty Brad Le yes motion Carri all right awesome next up we have approval of the agenda tonight is our special meeting that is for the sole purpose of holding our organizational meeting which is under board business as the first item of business so at this time I'll ask is there a motion to approve the agenda is so mov is there a second or support the motion has been made by trusty triplet and supported by trusty Bowen any questions comments or concerns hearing n oh you have the floor have a concern um I don't see on the agenda the addressing of Cape being um the moving of cape and we were told that the superintendent would address that so anticipate that would be in our Tuesday meeting our standard business meeting this is just our special meeting will the superintendent have comments in this meeting or we only doing organizational meeting yeah he has um comments oh you remove comments that was oh you didn't make comments okay so are you wanting to we that could be a topic under old business we can get an update under old business can we add that to Old business yes thank you I yeah I would like to okay so I'm just known it as as an um operational update all right any other questions comments to concerns okay so secretary triplet do you still U maintain your motion with that addition to Old business regarding the operational update from Dr bucks yeah okay and I believe it was trusty bow do you still support yes all right if there's no further questions or concern triplet can you please call the vote trusty Robinson yes trusty BS yes trusty triplet yes trusty rocket Martin yes trusty Gavin yes trusty Doyle yes trusty Bradley yes most car all right up next we have the review of our Board of Education norms for B Harbor area schools we will treat each other with respect we will listen to learn we will refrain from sign conversations we will use our time wisely starting and ending our meetings on time we will challenge ideas not people we will ask questions when in doubt there will be no surprises at the board table we will practice the seven Norms of collaboration those are pausing paraphrasing posing questions putting ideas on the table providing data paying attention to self and others and presuming positive intentions next up we have public comment on agenda items just as a reminder for the public the mass majority of what we're accomplishing today is the organizational meeting which is our selection of all officers attorneys that we use banks that we use things of that nature so basically all of our operational duties as board members are being a reaffirm today so at this time I'll ask is there anyone who would like to make a public comment on an agenda item all right hearing none we'll proceed um it's not noted on the agenda but I just like to remind everybody that we have a twom minute uh limit per topic for trustees president Robinson there's a oh I'm sorry I missed you you have the floor I'll read the public comment statement as you're coming up the B Harbor Area Schools Board of Education recognized the value of public comment on educational issues and the importance of allowing members of the public to express themselves on District matters today there are two areas for comment on the agenda of which you may decide when to speak public comment on agenda items and open public comment we request that each interested participant complete a public participation form using legible writing to ensure that responses are appropriate and properly focused for Ben Harbor area school's bylaw 01 16.3 which governs board participation at board meetings we request that you preface your comments with your name address and group affiliation when appropriate each statement made by a participant shall be limited to a three minute duration and per bylaws no participant may speak more than once on the same topic until any other persons have had the opportunity to speak on that topic participants May remove their mask when addressing the board participants shall direct all comments to the board and not to staff or other participants the board will listen take comments and questions under advisement and not respond at this time I as president will refer questions to the superintendent for research and response please ensure that your public participation form includes your contact information as requested if you have specific questions for the board or executive team that require followup please email those directly to natalie. singer bhas.org you have the floor thank you how y'all doing all right for those who Wen here last time last time we had a board meting my name is Bishop 35 I'm from here work here I'm a volunteer head coach at the uh FAIR Plan middle school last week we was here it was tossed around about there being a human element and dealing with students in the Ben harbard area schools they being removed and I brought my son my little cousin and my stepson here too my my stepson and my cousin both go here they going to come after me cuz they got some things that they want to air out and voice they concerned about with the school as well but just some backdrop about me I'm battling stage four colon cancer right now um I did 11 years of incarceration I chose to come home and be a solution to the society like and I learned that the average budget in America per student is $155,000 but for the state of Michigan is $122,000 I mean $253 and the local the local government is responsible for 45.6% of that and I bring that up to say since I've been back home since I've been interacting with the youth and cohesion with what these young people behind me gonna say I don't feel like the people Ben Harvey is getting their $112,000 worth for public education like incohesion with the staff the way the children been feeling and by me coming up here two or three times a week trying to volunteer I've been th pay wages to the side I've been trying to volunteer and me while incarcerated I facilitated classes and taught certain people how to read and write and I've been home trying to partake and do some of the same thing but I've been stone wall only been getting help from two people Mr triple and Mr Mor they've been encouraging Mr trip was my every grade teacher Mr Mor was one of my mentors and coaches back in South B Indiana and I was a byproduct of that school to prison pipeline because when I left my environment I moved to South band and the human element was taken out of dealing with the schools and I was a byproduct of that with some my own poor decision making and I feel like some of the children especially on Columbus and cross Columbus and Emory I feel like some of that same thing could possibly happen to them as well and I feel like the Ben Harvard area schools especially the high school got to be a hub for change for that I got three of them right here with me primarily my son and he in the sixth grade at Fair playan middle school thank you thank you I you call me of Gard notating Columbus and Emy that's my cross street you my neighbor like really my neighbor yeah okay um anyone next person for a public comment hi I'm Heather Mueller um um some parents had contacted me about Cape about the moving Cape over to the new building in a few weeks um over in care and their concern was the behavior and they had purposely moved the their students from the high school be before for Behavioral reasons for fights and all of that um and now putting them back in the parking lot of the high school doesn't make much sense so there are parents that are saying they're going to pull their students so I'm I was just trying to understand like I know you guys were going to move maintenance to Cape and then cape to Inner care but why wouldn't you move maintenance just to Inner care instead of uprooting a school in the middle of the school year or at least wait until the end of the school year so it can be presented to the parents in a way that would be acceptable to them so that they're not feeling railroaded and their kids being uprooted and put right back in the vicinity that they wanted to remove their CH their children from just if we're talking about safety ISS we we know that behavioral and biting and all of that stuff those are gaps that we have that we're trying to fill so jeopardizing it or jeopardizing enrollment um in the middle of the school year doesn't it doesn't make sense to me I'm just trying to speak on behalf of the parents that have contacted me I don't have answers for them so I don't know if you guys can provide those answers or have it make sense so that that we're making sure that our students are safe and that the parents are comfortable with the decisions that are being made in the district about their children so that we don't lose more students thank you anyone else for public comment on agenda items you have the floor hi my name is Elijah shamanda I'm uh the senior pastor at over you LIF the mic a little bit okay my name is Elijah sha I'm the senior pastor at overflow church hopefully this is the appropriate time to to bring this up I I couldn't really hear well so um I'm here basically uh trying to inquire about the property in between uh the middle school and our church um we have uh tried to figure out different ways that we can partner with uh the middle school to do some things um in in the community uh as well as uh trying to figure out how we can figure out some some ways to help our church um and so um we we thought about different programs um that we were uh been willing to invest in uh to see uh the kids flourish also that space hasn't been taken care of um in in years I've been the uh Pastor I took over as senior pastor there in December of 21 um from my understanding as we've been helping and working with the Middle School um it's supposed to be a a pathway um I think overflow is this is the safe spot in case of a a crisis situation that happened at the middle school um but it's it's I mean it's it's in shambles and so anyways uh we're trying to figure out how we can partner with the school to to do more there uh instead of just letting it sit uh unengaged so uh would love to find out more information how we can we can help all right if you could be sure to fill out a uh one of the forms so we have your contact information and notate what you've said so that they have a good contact number for you all right thank you all right anyone else for public comment on agenda items you all can choose to speak now or later all right so if there's no one else currently we're going to proceed with the agenda next up we we have board business the first item of business for today is our organizational meeting which is linked to the packet per board policy 0151 um it allows the board to conduct an organizational meeting not earlier than January 1st immediately following an election held on a November regular election date and not later than the second Tuesday in January at a meeting held for that purpose the meeting shall be called to order by the ranking officer of the proceeding board Who Shall Serve as presiding officer until the election of a temporary chairperson who shall in turn serve until the election of a president so we've already done that I'm currently the temporary chairperson we are going to begin with the election of officers for 2025 so I am going to go position by position and ask for nominations for those positions listed and then once we have everyone who's been nominated for Position will take the votes in the order of the nominations so n uh item a election of officers for the 2025 calendar year are there any nominations for the office of president president you have the floor I'd like to nominate trustee Des Robinson for the office of President Okay I accept are there any other nominations for the office of President yes ma'am you have the floor yes I'd like to nominate um truste Gavin okay truste Gavin do you accept I accept all right are there any other nominations for the office of President all right so right now our nominations for the office of President are Robinson and Gavin we'll proceed to Vice President are there any nominations for the office of Vice President Madam president you have the I would like to nominate um trusty BN for the office of Vice President are there any other nominations for the office of vice president president you have the floor I would like to nominate Bradley for uh vice president okay uh truste Bradley do you accept yes all right are there any other nominations for the office of Vice President all right up next we have okay you accept I'm sorry you accept bow and Bradley accepts were you did I miss something do or were you ready for treasur yes can I also uh nominee um trusty Gavin for vice president as well you can do you accept that Gavin I accept you do okay all right all right so we currently for the position of Vice President we have Bowen Bradley and Gavin we will now open nominations for the position of Treasurer are there m president you have the floor yeah I would like to nominate Mr Bradley for Treasure okay Bradley do you accept yes I accept Madame President you have the floor I would like to nominate trustee Gully um oh Lord trustee Gavin for Treasure all right trusty Gavin do you accept I decline you I do appreciate thank you you never text me back either but I have your answer okay so right now treasur nominations are Bradley go ahead you go ahead we only have Bradley right now any other nominations for treasurer yes Madam president I would like to uh nominate um trustee Gavin she just decl she just decl put in yeah I I I asked her before too but so right now we only have Bradley as the nomination for the office of Treasury um now we're going to open the floor for nominations for for secretary are there any nominations for the office of secretary Madam president you have the floor I would like to nominate secretary triplet for secretary all right secretary triplet do you accept I do okay and Bradley did you accept Treasurer I asked you right okay are there any other nominations for the position of secretary Madam president you have the floor I nominate Stephanie ret Martin for secretary Rock okay rock Martin has declined any other nominations for the position of secretary all right so we'll close the floor for uh for secretary with triplet being the only nomination so as it stands for the position of President we have truste Robinson and Gavin Vice President we have trusty Bowes Bradley and Gavin Treasurer we have trusty Bradley secretary we have trusty triplet so at this particular time we'll call for the vote for the office of President we'll start with trusty Robinson you just call our names like a roll call okay trusty Robinson yes trusty bow yes secretary triplet yes trustee rocket Martin yes trustee Gavin no truste Doyle no trusty Bradley yes all right so for the position of President we have President Robinson thank you I know I said it last year but I'm I mean it this time this is my final year so um there are I know that there are quite a few people that are interested in the position of President so I will be ensuring that those individuals are within a president's training in the first quarter of the year and I'll be working with each of those individuals to ensure that you are aware of presidential duties because I will not um I will not be here in 2026 as far as this seat what the Lord say right here you go again all right next for the office of president the first vice president the first nomination um that was made was trusty Bowen so we'll begin there um secretary triplet can you please call the vote for Bowens for the office of Vice president president Robinson yes trusty bow yes trusty triplet yes trusty rocket Martin yes truste Gavin no truste Bradley no truste doya no all right what were the votes three all right so congratulations to vice president Bowens you will be maintaining your seat as vice president of the board thank you all right up next we have Treasurer there's only one person nominated but we're going to go ahead and officially take the vote for the record secretary trip King please call the vote for Bradley as the treasurer president Robin son yes vice president Bowen no trusty triplet yes truste recet Martin yes truste Gavin yes trustee Bradley yes trusty Doyle yes all right motion passes congratulations to Treasurer Brad Ley up next we have secretary triplet who is the only oh I'm sorry trusty tripler who is the only nomination for secretary can you please call the vote president Robinson yes vice president vau yes Treasurer Bradley yes truste triplet yes truste raet Martin yes truste Gavin yes truste Doyle yes motion carries so congratulations to the newly elected officers for the 2025 calendar year in the position of President we have Des Robinson in the position of Vice President we have Trenton Bowens in the position of Treasurer we have Matthew Bradley and in the position of secretary we have Ronaldo triplet um up next the board president shall not preside over the meeting so I'll continue to chair Item B is membership in the legisl um in and legislative de delegate to 2025 Michigan Association of school boards so this is the membership in and selection of the delegate to the 2025 Michigan Association of school boards so vote uh vote on membership to the Michigan Association of school boards MB cost is for 71 2024 and June 30th 2025 was $3,950 new rates are not available until 2025 so the way that I have it is I'm reaffirming that we want to maintain our membership but then I also like for us to take the vote for our Representatives so is there a nominated representative uh for masb Madam president you have the floor I'd like to nominate truste Gavin as our representative Michigan Association of school board all right trusty Gavin do you accept I accept thank you all right are there any other uh nominations for representative Madam president you have the floor I uh place myself as a representative all right so we have Bradley as the second option as representative okay um any other nominations for a representative I nominate myself as an alternate you nominate yourself as an alternate okay so I'll notate that there okay so right now we only have we can nominate ourselves you can nominate uhhuh okay I won't decline he's an active board member yes ma'am I can resend my um nomination if pres um if uh treasur Bradley wants to do that you sure yes are you wanting to serve as an alternate I think that um trusty rocket Martin already okay thank you okay so what Trust um Gavin just indicated is that she would like to remove herself her acceptance of nomination as representative So currently as it stands we have Bradley noted as the representative and the alternate is Trusty rocket Martin is there anyone else that would be interested in serving as the representative of or the alternate all right hearing none I'll read be as it stands membership in and legislative delegate to the 2025 Michigan Association of school boards which is masb we're currently taking a vote on membership to the Michigan Association of school boards masb the cost for 71 2024 through June 30th 2025 was $3,950 new rates are not yet available for 2025 but they're expected to be comparable um and that's just a side notation of mine representative we have Bradley and for alternates we have trusty rocket Martin secretary trip can you please call the vote for Item B as read uh I have a question Madam yes uh when it says for the alternate do we just have to have one person as an alternate I have no objection with having two yeah I think that we had uh uh great representation last year in truste Gavin well and U not to say that trusty Rob um rock Mark yeah she was there as well so I would like to um because that's those are important rool so you want to put an alter you want to do a a second alternate yeah okay Gavin do you accept the alternate I accept okay so um as it stands I'm not going to read it fully but we have representative uh as Treasurer Bradley and the alternate as trusty rocket Martin and trustees Gavin secretary triplet can you please call the vote president Robinson yes vice president Bowens no secretary triplet yes Treasurer Bradley yes trusty rocket Maron yes trustee Gavin yes trustee Doyle yes motion carry all right awesome so as it stands we are maintaining membership um in masb for another fiscal year and our current pause for a second we're getting Kickback so sorry for those in Virtual is that mic on okay y thank you thank you all right so as it stands we're maintaining our membership in masb our current representative is Treasurer Bradley and our alternates are trusty rocket Martin and truste Gavin up next is represent we did yes okay next up is C representation to the 2025 Baran cast School boards Association and Baran Regional Education Service Agency so as a reminder these are these are the individuals that are meant to attend those meetings attending the bean recent meetings as well as the Baran cast school boards Association and those are where the school boards collectively get together individually and discuss things so is there a nomination for a representative Madame President you have the floor I nominate trustee rocket Martin I accept any other nominations for representative uh Madam president yes I nominate trusty Angela Doyle trusty Doyle do you accept no ma'am would you like to serve as an alternate no ma'am okay any other recommendations for alternate Madam president you have the floor I would like to nominate truste Gavin as an alternate trusty Gavin do you accept yes all right any other get uh alternate Representatives okay so as this hands representation to the 2025 Baran cast School Board Association and burial Regional Education Service Agency we're taking vote on Rocket Martin as the representative and Gavin as the alternate secretary tripy can you please call the vote president Robinson yes vice president Bowen yes secretary triplet yes Treasurer Bradley yes truste rocket Martin yes truste Gavin yes trustee Doyle yes motion carried all right so we have officially our representative for the 2025 bearan cast school boards Association and the bearan Regional Education Service Agency are rocket Martin and our alternate is our representative is rockat Martin and our alternate is Gavin up next we have resolutions regarding committees and the calendar so as you all previously um remember there was a request received from truste Doyle to eliminate committee entirely and to go to Committee of a whole um we've also had conversations with other trustees indicating that they did not think that the work sessions were productive so what you will notice um I'll read it through but what you'll notice is number two there are two options the first option 2A eliminate individual committees as they stand and maintain work sessions which will serve as committee of the whole that's the option or there's an option to eliminate work sessions this does not impact the Committees that's following in a vote so I will read the resolution as it stands and then I will ask for a motion um and you select whether you're going with 2 a or 2 B and then we will take the vote well this the staff report D1 this is D1 so Madame President yes if I just heard you correctly you said you're going to read it and we say if we want to go with D1 or whoever makes the first motion they let me know whether they're going with 2A or 2B Okay Okay resolution to eliminate or retain work sessions the bid Harbor area schools baring County Michigan the district a meeting of the Board of Education of the district the board was held in Benton Harbor High School library within the boundaries of the district on the 7th Day of January 2025 at 6:00 p.m. the meeting was called to order by Des Robinson we would notate the members present the following Preamble and resolution were offered by whoever makes the motion and supports it your name will go there whereas the Ben Harbor Area School Board of Education May hold work sessions to conduct board business in accordance with board policy 0122 board policy 0122 provides that the board may change board procedures and any other matter related to effective functioning of the board two pursuant to board policy z122 the board May eliminate work sessions to ensure the efficient functioning of the board now therefore be it resolved that one in previous school years the board has held work sessions to conduct board business two it is recommended that the board and the person making the motion is going to choose one 2A eliminate individual committees as they stand and maintain work sessions which will serve as committee of the whole or 2B eliminate work sessions president oh I'm sorry um one second three all resolutions and parts of resolutions in so far as they conflict with the provisions of this resolution be the same and are hereby rescinded now I would like to also make sure that you guys are aware is there is a suggestion to merge the Committees that come in D2 so D1 is not if you do if you go with 2A then you're going to Committee of the whole and eliminating in committees if you go with 2B you're just eliminating work sessions it does not impact the Committees that's coming on the next vote okay truste Gavin Robinson yes okay so I would like to make a motion um to support D1 option 2A okay with the amendment that we structure the work session to um address committee needs so that's how it's worded eliminate individual committees as they stand and maintain work sessions which will serve as committee of the whole so you are making a motion for uh D1 with the selection of 2A yes is there a second or support okay so the motion has been made by truste Gavin and supported by trusty Doyle and secretary triplet um I'm opening the floor now for your question okay this seem this um this resolution D1 seems kind of loaded because on the other side uh we talked about uh the you you got uh D2 where you talk about committee and I um I think that it is critical that first and formost that we understand what it is uh what a committee as a whole is and how that look you know to just up and make that decision I'm I'm not against of um us eventually going to committees as a whole but I feel that it is imperative and it would be very irresponsible for us to make this decision as a committee of whole and this board has not been trained in such it does not have enough we do not have enough knowledge because committee um committee um of the whole requires training it requires understanding of what it is that we're doing and so and I think that it needs a little bit more discussion I we I've had an opportunity to talk to some of my colleagues about it and how it would look so I would be in support of it if we saw it if we if we if we had an opportunity to see how it worked if we you know because one thing that you have to have in order for you to do a committee as a whole up top has to be extremely structured and on point and the Board of Education must be trained or we're just going to have chaos and I do understand where uh um as one of my colleagues expressed that you know we're here for three four or five hours we're committeed and and and even in both of those structures we still need some work on them because I think there's some confusion when we talk about a committee because the committee met and said something does not mean because the Committees are designed to bring this information to the board of education for the Board of Education to make the decision not the committee it does not have that power to make any decision it just bring the recommendation to the board of education and the Board of Education its entirety make decision so we've been a little bit confused on all of that I think be a little more instructive I do say so myself all right any other comments from the board trusty Bradley um I I I look at it as an an efficiency thing um there other thing we could look at too is still have our standing committees but go do a committee of the whole meeting every other month so in that way we can come together as a board because I think from what I've been watching from some of the meetings is that there's been a Communications breakdown with the Comm commes and the different receiving the different reports so I think it would be we could look at the option of having a committee of the whole every other month and that way we all can come together and say okay this is what's going on X Y and Z but still also have our standing committees because our standing committees you know that's where our our um superintendent in the cabinet we can get you know talk to them and see what they're um getting ready to present to the to the general um population of everything in the district and um you know because we don't get that that view of what's going on from day to day so that's what I'm thinking with that that's how one thing my suggestion vice president bow and did I call you Treasurer Bradley Treasurer Bradley all right vice president Bowen so I support keeping committee um committees and um I will not support this resolution reason being when you look at the structure of government and our local government we have committees when you look at County government they have committees when you look at the state government they have committees when you look at the federal government they have committees um committees work it's just I think we have to make sure we're doing the work and we're meeting and making sure that they work but that how you vet stuff out you get it out there and you get it to the thing now as treasure Bradley said it could be a communication but I just think it the structure that we're in right now and what we're going through as a district it's vital for the Committees um and if I'm confused I thought we do meet as a whole correct a committee as a whole twice a month correct Madam president point of order Madam president my apologies so I'm sorry uh secretary triplet was asking me about 2A and and taking off the elimination of individual committees that is written in that manner because that was the specific request from trusty Gavin and trusty doy okay my question is don't we meet as a committee as a whole already twice a month so it depends on whether you consider that the work session like we do a work session but it's not a committee as a whole I think when we voted for the work session I was under the impression that was a committee as a whole where we would get information and then that next week we were supposed to just come to vote right so the work session will the work the purpose of a work session it doesn't necessarily mean you have Committee of the whole because it is it is like a committee of the whole but because we have individual committees we haven't been treating it for as that purpose so we've been coming in and just going through things going through the work session materials sitting here for 3 four five hours that second meeting should only be an hour tops the regular board meeting because it's only for the purpose of taking votes what has made our meetings ineffective is that the second meeting is then another two three four hours with the same questions that were asked during the work session with the same concerns the same conversations so we have duplicate efforts that are being made and so that's why 2B is on there which I know we're just having a conversation about the motion for 2A but they're they're they're separate things similar but separate so I'm confused and what is a committee as a whole is that where committee as a whole is when you do not have individual committee meetings everything that okay when we have individual committee meetings we get foreshadow on things happening he tells us you know we have this coming down the line we have ad andc we may go into specifics of things in a manner that we don't address at the table when we get to the table we get the meet in the committee meetings we get the the siid the vegetables the bread and everything that may not necessarily be presented at the table if we did a committee as a whole every aspect of those decisions the meat the vegetables the bread all conversations we have that we've had as committees would be here at the table before the public and I don't think okay thank you for explaining that because I don't think some of that stuff I think if we have a finance committee and we're asking the voters for a bond or something they can vet that and say that before it comes here and we can say this is not something done that's why I support committees the committee structure so thank you okay any other comments from any uh trusty Gavin I believe um Tre Bradley's hand was up did he have an opportunity um I have he spoke yeah I have spoke but I go ahead and let I got something else okay so you only get one time and speak go ahead okay thank you um president Robinson but he ain't been here with the protocol go ahead what I'm thinking here is that this is actually an opportunity for us to create a win-win situation for everybody I believe that we have not um I respect um vice president Bowen's concern about committees being handled at the city level the state level and the federal level and I think that we should still as we structure our work session still make sure that we are are addressing those very important committee level issues in that way so I don't think that we should just throw that idea out of focusing on finance or operations or those things we should address those things but this would give us the opportunity to address them in a more streamlined effort right now we are stretching our staff to to too wide like they are and I know they're getting paid and all of that and I know they make good money some of them do some of them don't right but if we have five hours on a work session meeting five hours on a regular meeting and then they have you know each committee meeting is one to two hours in between that time that's time that the superintendent and his staff can actually be focusing on the work and then they can bring that work to the committee in a space in which we are able to flesh it out have a transparent process um make sure that we hire uh masb or someone to come in and help us structure it I think that we can get the proper structure in a retreat in one Workshop we can flesh out what that looks like right now we know how to run committee meetings so all it is is taking those committee meetings and having them in the work session as opposed to most of the work session being wait I didn't know that part oh wait didn't tell me this oh this committee knows that we're wasting time and so I think that if we do it this way it will give us the opportunity to streamline our efforts and actually have a better chance of all the boards showing up and getting the work done okay and so I just want to clarify also with for you all um if truste Gavin's vote passes um for the elimination of individual committees then the second option resolution consolidation of committee structures is not needed because she's eliminating individual committees if that makes sense so I just wanted to clarify that that doesn't impact the vote but I just wanted to kind of foreshadow that in the event that her resolution passes so I'm not taking additional comments from anyone that has already spoken so far I have Gavin has spoken triplet has spoken Bradley has spoken as well as bow trusty Rock Martin um I'm in favor of D2 for right now because I think like Mr Tri are you mean 2B or two two D2 oh you're in favor of D2 right now for the simple fact that we have not had the training and when you do a committee as a whole we're also inviting um it's a open meeting it becomes an open meeting and so that eliminates uh some of the it will stop some of the the confidential stuff that you know may want to the confidential stuff that you may want to discuss and go through I think if we could do D2 and restructure our committees uh facilities and finance you know they go hand in hand together um then you have this curriculum and student support they go hand in hand together that eliminates the meeting of all those curricul all of that uh those committees because because you would um you wouldn't have to meet as many times you because you're taking care of of multiple things well at least two things at at the one time that you meet but I I do think like Mr tripy said we need some training I think we would need some training uh just you know just to even see how it looks because I've T taken the committee structure training a couple of times and and they do say something about the committee as a whole but it would be nice to see what that actually looks like so okay I'm confused are we I got some questions I don't know about the two- minute limitation of this is the organizational meeting and I'm a little bit confused a little bit too so we got we got I understand the two minute I I really don't understand what the two I understand what the two minute is for to be efficient for particular comment but this right here is the organizational meeting and those things need to be fluted out I understand that I guess my um for me this is a conversation that started in December and we've had that conversation twice in the month of December so I I'm I don't if everyone is wanting to make an additional comment I'm not gonna defy the the expectations of the board okay just one second if we were needing to open the floor back up further conversation or further discussion that I will give everyone a second opportunity to make a comment but what I would ask is that you not reiterate what you've already said and that you only make comments that are concise and an in in in something that you have reflected on since you last spoke so vice president Bowen I'm confused so I thought the resolution that we were talking about is D1 Rockette Martin just kind of foreshadowed to say that she would prefer to not eliminate committees that's what she was talking about that's why she mentioned D confusing this resolution how it reads and everything is confusing so that's what I was expressing um my concern okay so to eliminate confusion please do not think about D2 at all at this time all right so while we're on D1 you should just be thinking about do you want to have committee meetings or not okay the other alternative option is do you want to have work sessions or not right now the only thing that you need to vote on is whether or not you want to eliminate individual committees as they stand and maintain work sessions which will serve as committee of the whole that is the vote that's on the floor now secretary triplet this is where it gets loaded it's almost like pushing it down Committee of a whole Committee of the hall is almost pushing it down when you pick because here it says eliminate individual commes as they stand and maintain work session which will serve as committee of the whole and then the second one is eliminate work session so we need to determine I I think that's why I said the first part needs to be are we going to have work sessions or are we not going to have work session because this right here if if if you vote for 2A that means that you have voted to continue with work session and you voted to eliminate committee so that's two or three things stacked up in this one I understand that and I will reiterate that is because that is the request that was made by truste Gavin and trustees Doyle they have specifically requested to eliminate committees entirely and do the committee work within the work session as committee of the whole so that is why it is written that way because there are two board members that are are interested in that if it is throwing you all off that I have eliminate sessions there I just tried to kill two birds with one stone because there are also trustees that communicate that they are tired of work session that they are time consuming and so if for example if the board was to go with elimination of work sessions for example then we would go with 2B and then once we get to do D2 we would decide if we want to merge committees or leave them the same D2 doesn't have to pass I just provided that as an alternative option for trusty gather Express concern about having pointless meetings that waste time okay so I I'll close with this and we talk about having uh those meetings that's a waste of time because this year I'm just going to move forward and keep it clear we have set at this table meeting after meeting where things were not prepared for us to be able to make the right decision over and over well we have to step out review redo we add the next week we come back we had we've had the work session the next week we come back is something that's been added that we didn't discuss so we just have to be honest that we're going to talk about this so the elimination of work sessions I don't think that we are efficient enough for us not for us not to have work sessions and discussion that's just my opinion that as a board as our Central Administration I have not seen us being efficient enough to operate without a work session before we make decision okay so as as stated the only vote that's currently on the FL right now is 2A which is to eliminate individual committees as they stand and maintain work sessions which will serve as committee of the whole trusty Gavin thank you president Robinson I think that you know honestly I think that there's some good ideas in both resolutions and I am listening to my colleagues and them wanting a workshop or some training so that we can make sure we do it right I really do feel like there is a way to take your idea of combining those committees and then also a way of having those committees structured in a way that we could get it done in a night and if we have some private things we have a closed session and then you know know there are ways for board members to discuss things as long as they're not violating the quum I just feel like I'm starting to feel like this organizational meeting might not be enough to really hash it out and I feel like in order to really do it we need a consultant who has done it along with the documentation that we would use to to facilitate it so I'm really in favor of it happening but I don't want it to be let's Rush take this off the table take that off the table I still want to do committees um I do want to get it done in a night instead of scattered all through the month like that and I would like to have a different a different avenue for us to be able to discuss kind of it maybe in a workshop environment that's facilitated so I would like to recommend tabling my motion um and if it's possible if we could have a retreat to pass it out a little better okay so I know that I have eliminate work sessions there um I am perfectly content with us choosing to table staff report D1 if that's what I'm hearing the board say um we could choose to continue as it stands with having work sessions we'll get to the committee structure in D2 but we can always come back at the end of February or within the month of February after we've gotten trainings on Committee of a whole and decide if we want to make these changes then we just wouldn't vote on D1 at all we wouldn't make any changes right now yeah no I was saying if we just eliminated from I was thinking what what uh truste Gavin was saying is that we put this on hold that's what she's saying so I'm asking is there a motion to table D1 just D1 yeah okay is there a motion that's your motion okay so trusty Gavin has made a motion to table d is there a second or support second the motion has been made by truste Gavin and supported by vice president Bradley there's no discussion on a request to table secretary president can we put a date on it like table it until yep what date do you want to set how soon can we get a retreat in I think we can get a retreat in this month if you guys are willing to have that extra meeting okay okay so table it until the 1 of February we can table until our February regular board meeting yes please okay okay so the truste Gavin has clarified that her motion is to table is until the February regular board meeting uh truste Bowens do you support yes all right so the motion to table has been made by trusty Gavin and supported by vice president Bowen secretary triplet can you please call the vote and this is to table D1 until the February regular board meeting President Robinson yes vice president Bowen yes secretary triplet yes treasur I got to get this in my head Treasurer Bradley no trusty rocket Martin yes trusty Gavin yes trusty Doyle yes motion Carri all right so D2 was just me it wasn't that I necessarily agreed with trusty Gavin but I just tried to provide an alternative option to try to be more efficient with the Committees so I'll read the entire um um resolution but if you would turn to the the back page in number two this is how I'm recommending we do the Committees so I would I would recommend consolidating facility and finance into facility and finance operations B I would recommend um joining curriculum with student Support Services it hasn't been its own committee but there's kind of been a gap in there I think that they go great together um we already have policy and discipline together and then three I know that this is a a Hot Topic so I did not I'm not making a recommendation myself the person that makes the um motion will either want to maintain or eliminate the human resources committee I know that trusty raet Martin has expressed some concerns about the HR committee um so because of that I left it as an option to either stand alone or be eliminated um I did request that Dr buts get feedback from masb because trusty raat Martin has always mentioned the training that she attended in masb where they um have concerns about human resources and so if you would look in your packet directly after your agenda um there was some insight um regarding Human Resources as a committee um and Dr bus if you want to speak to that just to I'll read um so one paragraph it says the most frequently cited argument against using staing commed is that they tend to usurp administrative responsibility and therefore interfere with the work in relationship of the full board and the superintendent and staff this is particularly an issue when a school board has an HR committee as masb has always advised school boards that their respons responsible for hiring and supervising one employee the superintendent HR committees tend to get board members involved in Personnel matters that are traditionally handled by the superintendent and other administrators and they continue but that that so what you're reading that email is directly from Brad B uh basnik bass bassic thank you from masb and so I asked Dr bus to get that because I know trusty rocket Martin has been talking about that maybe for two years or about a year and a half so I was really trying to be respectful of everyone's concerns regarding things that we've done in the last year and and just try to make sure that we have a year set up that reflects everyone's concern so that's why that option is there um so I'll take a moment just to read through the resolution and then at that point I would ask for a motion and you're going to you're going to determine whether or not you want to eliminate or maintain Human Resources um so the bent Harbor area schools baring County Michigan the district a special meeting of the Board of Education of the district the board was held in Benton Harbor High School library within the boundaries of the district on the 7th Day of January 2025 at 6 o'clock in the PM the meeting was called to order yada yada y so I'm going to jump down to the whereas not trying to be disrespectful whereas one the Ben haror Area Schools Board of Education is authorized to form board committees pursuant to board policy 0155 the president is authorized to appoint as soon as the organizational meeting as practical board members to standing committees where they shall serve a term of one year two pursuant to board policy 0155 the board May merge or eliminate committees at a board meeting not therefore be resolved one B Harbor area school's Board of educationally currently has the following board committees facilities Finance curriculum student discipline and policy and Human Resources committee two effective upon approval of the board it is recommended that the following committees be Consolidated facility and finance operations curriculum and student support services and policy and discipline three it is recommended that the board maintain or eliminate the human resources committee for all resolutions and parts of resolutions in so far as they conflict with the positions of this resolution May resolution B and the same are hereby rescinded so at this time I would Madam president you have the floor I would like to make a motion on staff report D2 uhuh I would like to it is recom I would like with that resolution it is recommended that the board maintain the human resource committee okay so truste uh vice president Bowens is putting a motion on the floor to support D2 with the restructuring of the committees as noted with maintaining the human resources committee is there a second or support the motion has been made by vice president Bowen and supported by secretary triplet questions comments or concerns I'm opening up the floor um right Martin yeah Madam president I would just like to say with the human resource committee we have only one employee the other part of that is um those committies are public and when you discuss Personnel issues uh they are private and so to have the that committee uh dis discussing because public private issues in public uh is a problem it's a problem all right uh vice president Bowens Madam president the reason why I support staff report D2 is you know we don't just discuss Personnel matters um well let me rephrase that we discussed like improving staff morale the of making sure that this is a learning environment um not just not just making sure it's a right fit and before they bring things to the board we're trying to find ways how we can improve the mind body and spirit of our staff members and when we have complaints or situations we discuss it it's been time since we've been on the committee we have not really to discuss it and I hear it's not our job however the taxpayers have voted us and these are our teachers um when they when we walk into buildings where the first ones they're not reaching out to the superintendent they're reaching out to us whether it's a Facebook message um if you walk into the building and that's where we're able to make recommendations and stuff to them so that's why I support it I understand the concerns that it can be breaking laws and I understand that if we try not to do that or discuss the person I understand that and I think that that committee is needed especially with the time that we're in right now as a district time I'm so I would prefer to allow any people who have not spoken and then I'll if there's any second comments secretary triplet I I again first of all I don't think that um the office right now is strong enough um within itself the Personnel for the last two years majority of our issues has come out of Human Resources uh major issues have come out of Human Resources um the the when you look here where you got to read it in its entirety and I want to say to the Board of Education that the Michigan Association of school boards only make recommendation each district is different so just because they say it does not mean so that is so if you go down and it says following and they talked about how the board uh with the human resource committee it says following a trial court decision that favored the school district because they were incompliant so you have to read things in this entirety and not just on a Surface the the the if and and from what we're talking about as a committee a committee of the whole we must inspect what we expect I think the problem that we have is people struggle with accountability people struggle with confidentiality and how that look and so if we're going to have these conversations let's keep it real yes there are things that are confidential there are things that the board might not might not have a privy to that's when committees come in and discuss with the superintendent and they talk about it before it is brought before us as a body because we've identified those people on our board that we have confidence in saying this is what we this is what we can bring what we cannot bring and if it go to another level we do have a president so there are things I'm just saying you you you I just see a pattern of wiping out I see a pattern of a a failure and and and um for the Board of Education we must we must take it to the next next level as it related to accountability and we know this as a board all right trusty Gavin um thank you president Robinson um before I really go into my thoughts um this says where they shall serve as a term of one year so if we vote on this is it something that cannot be amended if we decide later yeah we can always Al so the thing about a vote any vote that we take and this may be something that everybody at the board may or may not know any resolution that this board takes let's say we decide we want to take a vote and we want to change the school colors to blue and white if we take that vote right and then later somebody that voted yes and it passed decides you know what that was a horrible idea I then that person can request for that vote to come back before the floor okay but it has to be one of the people one of the majority members that caused it to pass does that make sense Goa okay okay thank you so I I first want to clarify something I don't feel like committee meetings are a waste of time I feel like calling a committee meeting and then not having the meeting for several months is a waste of time okay waiting for the meeting and it not happening is what's been happening that is what I feel is the waste of time I appreciate committee meetings I want to be able to have those meetings and flesh out the details that are needed so that the staff can make the decisions that they need to move forward so I just want to be clear on that I am all for meeting when the meeting is done um the way it's supposed to be done um and in a timely manner and consistently um I think that this is actually the consolidation idea is actually a great idea as long as there is an element of transparency and I know that sometimes we are uncomfortable about the public seeing ex they already see the problems right but if they're able to see what's going on they actually can provide very important input and we can make better decisions our best decisions come from the public when we actually listen to them and we have a philosophy of allowing the public to know what's going on so I'm in favor um as long as we commit to having that Retreat and figuring out a way to incorporate this in a program that streamlines our efforts so you didn't the only thing that I think is questionable right now was whether we maintain or eliminate HR did you have a comment as to that I'm not sure I don't like the idea of HR meeting behind closed doors and us being in the dark in terms of what's really going on my problem is transparency I don't have and I actually think that some HR issues can be addressed in finance operations or curriculum and instruction and student Support Services okay so that's I don't know I'm I'm open to having a conversation but I think a workshop setting would really give us the opportunity to really talk it out um in a better space okay so the current motion on the floor is to maintain it right okay vice president uh I'm sorry Treasurer Bradley we gonna get this together yeah it's cool just call me truste um I'm sitting here and I'm listening and I want to say we need let's try to stay efficient as possible and for you all have been on the board with me in my previous term you already know where I'm about to go 25,000 to 50,000 foot View and you know I know sometimes we need to come out the clouds um but when it comes to the human resources committee and I do agree with vice president B yes there are other things in there besides Personnel decisions that are talked about but at the same time I do understand the concerns of truste Rocket Martin and I do see the legal opinion from Brad Brad brasket and looking at that we do is you know there's different ways to reinvent the wheel and we do need to look at possibly eliminating that because that that committee is always a hot button topic when it comes to our meetings where we're here dragging it out for a decision that they've made in central office because they see the day-to-day operations remember we were not elected to run the day-to-day of the school we were elected to make sure that the tax dollars are you know spent properly for the students education so please let's stay out the weeds and you know um that's probably one area where we can look at as a committee as a whole if people feel the certain way about certain things because hey you know um the superintendent you know calls the shots on the day to day and he reports back to us and says hey this is how I felt about that decision this is how my human resources department felt about that decision okay so where I am currently I would be okay with supporting maintaining it if we can re if we can reconsider it in the February regular board meeting just as we are doing with the um Committee of a hall by that time we will have had our committee training as a full board we will have understood uh work sessions will have more clarifications about the danger of HR and things of that nature and then we we can maintain it for the month of January and then take that vote for February to see if we want to alter would be my suggestion you want me to table this no I'm not I'm saying I would say maintain it as it stands now and then we revisit it we can always revisit in February okay so I'm I'm letting you know that I am voting to I will vote to support you with maintaining it but in February after our training I will have a resolution so we can determine whether or not we want to go to Committee of the whole or whether we want to limit you know however we decide to go okay all right so if there's no other discuss discussion we are currently going to take the vote for staff report D2 the motion was made by vice president bow and supported by secretary triplet with the selection in number three of maintaining the human resources committee as a reminder we will be creating one facilities and finance operations committee one curriculum and student Support Services committee one policy and discipline and we will be maintaining the human resources Committee just the clarification policy and discipline can meet as needed there's not always a need to meet on a monthly basis for policy so I just want to make sure that that's a clarification all right so secretary triplet can you call the vote for staff report D2 president Robinson yes vice president Bowen yes secretary triplet yes Treasurer Bradley no truste rocket Mar no truste Gavin yes trusty Doyle no motion Carri okay so we will revisit that conversation after we've had our training and we'll take a vote on whether we're going to choose we'll revisit whether we're going to go to a committee of a whole structure or if we as a board feel as though we need to eliminate the human resources committee entirely all right so we are moving right along offici ly thank you um to the board for working through letter D and um making decisions that reflect the will of the board up next we have approval of our bylaws our dates and times and place of our meetings you will see that your current your the bylaws are the bylaws as they stand there's been no updates to those your regular meeting dates are reflected in the same manner that we've done them you'll see today we have our special session January 14 regular session and then we have the fourth Tuesday of each month currently as the work session date for the months of November previously we had issues because they were so close to the holiday the 25th uh of November is actually the Tuesday before Thanksgiving and then the 23rd is the Tuesday Before Christmas school is out during those time um during that time but Administration still works so I do not foresee that to be a conflict however if we decide that we want to alter any of these dates moving forward we can do that but at this time I'm action is there a motion to approve the see how it's written sorry guys okay is there a motion to approve item e approval of the bylaws dates time and place of meetings for the Board of Education Madam president yes I like to make a motion to approve the bylaw dates meetings and all that R but I have a and I don't know if this is the time in the bylaws AB B CDE E I mean can we add a e that um or does that NE necessarily have to be that on a committee two members can call a meeting and hold a meeting if well that's already a standard it is standard yeah so you don't have to have all three present okay you're not required to have your chair present can I recommend that this be posted in central Administration it says post outside main office but that's just the calendar correct you would like to post the you you just want the bylaws post it or the calendar I believe all staff should have this posted okay that's fine Dr BL he can you post the bylaws for yes ma'am okay the board okay anything else that's it okay so are you making a motion to approve oh you said item e you already made the motion is there a secondary support he didn't make a motion yes it is he did make the motion he was gonna add another letter but he just wanted to clarify that you don't have to have three members present for a committee to meet which is a given and I think sometimes we've tried to have all three members so that no one is in the dark but the work has to continue so is there it would not be a committee if one person person was present but it could be a one-on-one can't technically be a committee meeting but if you have two that could be a committee I also clarified I thought that there were certain trustees that communicated that they didn't want to serve on a committee and I thought my bylaw said that you have to but they don't so I realize you don't even have to accept an appointment to a committee per bylaw okay so okay so the motion has been made by vice president bow and supported by is there a secondary support support the motion has been made by vice president BS and supported by Treasurer Bradley questions comments or concerns trusty Gavin hey thank you president Robinson so a couple questions if we're having a retreat I'm wondering if it's possible to have it during that work session date as opposed to having 1 two 3 four meetings in January um and then just wondering if it's possible to to have that option and then the other is is it possible to just go ahead since we already know that December 23rd is really an awkward time to be trying to meet to just meet December 6 you know for the work session and November 18th instead of right up on those holidays I have I have um so right now there's a motion on the floor but Gavin is making a recommendation um so she's recommending that we so if we were to use January 28th as the training date then we could use February 4 as the February work session date it would just only give us a week in between Y and then um for November she suggested what date was that trusty Gavin was it the 18th 18th yeah like that following and the 16th of December it would be the 16th if you want it on a Tuesday okay um trusty bows are you comfortable with those suggested recommendations yes is it too late for me to ask a question no go ahead so I know we've been meeting at 6 o'clock last year I mean this year is that still okay or do you guys want to move it up to 5:30 no six works best for me okay 5:30 is hard because I get off at 5:30 so I would never be here on time okay just asking okay did you have a comment no okay trusty BS are you willing to amend your motion I amended it okay me well I support the amendment okay B do you support the Amendments It's Bradley I'm sorry Bradley it's gonna guys be patient with me I'm gonna have a hard I got two vice presidents here I gotta get it together vice president I have a current and I have a former right it's no different than him calling him treasur Katon or catching himself every time so just be patient with us um I I'm I'm in I'm in favor of that um and then the other thing also um real quick um because I need to um try to get this calendar in as quick as possible to my management team so they can work with me to get me back for meetings um other thing I'm I'm okay with the six o'clock time um I'm not gonna push it no later I was gonna say seven o'clock okay so just to reiterate the the adjustments that are being made to the calendar that was originally presented we would be using January 28th as a retreat which I think was an excellent suggestion our February work session would be February 4th 2025 and then in the month of November we are editing the work session noted to November 18th and December we're editing that to December 16th all right so uh vice president bow has supported the amendment of the calendar Treasurer Bradley has supported it any other questions comments or concerns all right and Miss singer go ahead I just had a real quick comment and I do support that idea you know using work sessions as that because in that way for us who work we don't have to you know request an additional day off okay all right um Miss uh singer you caught all of those up updates okay there's no other convers secretary triplet can and we are going to really try our best to stay within that six to eight time frame um I don't want us to experience burnout so let's try to make sure we stick within two hours okay secretary Tri King please call the vote president Robinson yes vice president Bowen yes secretary triplet yes treasure Bradley yes trusty rocket Maron yes trusty Gavin yes trusty Doyle yes motion Carri all right up next is the bank depository and agents resolution I will read this um through sweet Jesus okay Bank depository and agents resolution presented for approval January 7 2025 a that the Ben harbard School business office account for the business office the Elizabeth Griffin Herman trust fund the federick Sim scholarship fund the Joseph opalski memorial fund and the Les is that bu gu briet Mr right oh athletic oh okay athletic scholarship program and two that the business office account be continued in operation at the Horizon Bank and further that the superintendent and the board approved Director of Finance be authorized to jointly sign checks on the account and three that the food service fund continue Horizon Bank and that the superintendent and the board approved Director of Finance be authorized to jointly sign checks on the account B be a resolve that Horizon Bank B and is hereby designated as the depository of this District general fund payroll and invoice accounts and all other accounts listed below and that fund so deposited may be withdrawn upon a check draft or wire transfer be resolve that funds so deposited may be withdrawn upon a note or order of the district be a further resolved that all checks drafts notes or orders drawn up against the said accounts be signed by their respective authorized signers as indicated below and that no checks drafts notes or orders against drawn against the said Bank shall be valid unless so signed the general account is at Horizon Bank signatures of course are Dr bus and Angela Brock Carter for all um the Albert Nisha Ellington memorial fund is at Horizon Bank Food Services account Horizon Bank H account H account Horizon Bank invoice account Horizon Bank B Harbor area school superintendent scholarship account Horizon Bank 2017 syncing fund account Horizon Bank BCBS account Horizon Bank payroll account Horizon Bank scholarship accounts Horizon Bank debit card accounts Horizon Bank be a further resolve that the Horizon Bank is hereby authorized and directed to honor and pay any checks draft notes or orders so drawn whether such check draft notes or orders be payable to the order of any such person signing said checks drafts notes or orders or any such persons acting in their individual capacities or not whether such checks drafts notes or orders are deposited to the individual credit of any of the officers or not this resolution to continue in full force until notice to the contrary and writing is duly served on the said Bank two resolution pertaining to the designation of depositories and authorized agents for the payroll and invoice fund for the school District be resolved that Huntington Bank be and is hereby designated as the depository of the district's general fund and payroll fund and that fund so deposited may be withdrawn upon a check note or order of the district be a further resolve that all checks draft notes or orders drawn against said account be signed by the following persons Dr Kelvin bus and Border approved Director of Finance and then no checks draft notes or orders drawn against said Bank shall be valid unless so sign be a further resolve that all checks drafts notes or orders drawn against said accounts be signed by general fund at Huntington Bank Dr bus and the director Finance B Carter payroll account Huntington Bank Dr bus and director Carter B Carter Student Activity fund Huntington Bank dual signature Kelvin bus and Director of Finance Angela Brock Carter all right uh be it further resolved that Huntington Bank is hereby authorized and directed to honor and paychecks drafts notes orders are so drawn whether such checks drafts notes or orders be payable to the order of any such person signing and or counter signing say checks and I think you all can get the GIF because it's pretty much um it's a bit much then there's a resolution to invest idle funds Madame President yes I make a resolution to approve everything you just said and I support you make a motion to approve the bank depository and agents resolution yes okay is there a secondary support I support all right so the motion has been made by Bowes and supported by Bradley any questions comments or concerns Madam president yes I have a question there was a fund and I don't know if it was the field trip field trip or fund that it was money that was used that was supposed to give history or information yeah what is that fun I'm not not familiar I believe a couple of years ago about six or eight years ago they did calendars and they educated people about the history historic Okay calendar and it was a special fun I don't about the history of who I think a history fund a fund that they they and there there there was money involved in it and um it was a partnership also well some of the when prella kayas they did they work came in and worked with our student did an amazing calendar a powerful calendar and um it was paid for through that fund and so we can find out uh exactly what it was but it was it was it was something that was left to the district thousands and thousands of dollars that was left to the district the other question I have um are we just holding on to some of these counts like the abber Miss Ellington Alisha sorry Ellington memorial fund um the superintendent scholarship fund when's the last time we gave scholarships out and how many much money is that when's the last time the superintendent gave that the other question I have is why are we using Horizon Bank have we ever thought about using like honor credit union or United and we don't have to I just just wanted to know that's a bank that's based in and let me be careful Indiana I just I don't know I mean when we ask for people to invest in our communities I'm G shut my mouth before I get myself in trouble but I just want us to be that was a few questions okay so as it relates to the funds and things of that nature in the history account I'm not I'm not familiar with that um with what you're referencing and I know that I'm sure Dr bus can not name out the last time that something was drawn from some of these older funds that were determined prior um but that's a followup that can be made to the facilities and finance operations Committee in the meeting if that's a concern if we want to look at looking at alternative Banks and things of that nature that's always a a conversation that that committee can have with Dr bustler he can have with the board at the table I wasn't so right now we have any other questions or concerns all right so on the floor we have an approval for the bank depository and agents resolution made by vice president bones and supported by Treasurer Bradley if there's no other questions comments or concerns secretary triple King please call the vote president Robinson yes vice president bow yes secretary triplet yes Treasurer Bradley yes trusty rocket Martin yes trusty Gavin yes truste Doyle motion Carri all right so our next item of business within the organizational meeting is the approval of law firms this is item G approval of law firms our current law firms are Clark Hill PLC trun Law Firm PC secret W Lynch Hampton truck and morle which as a reminder is that um was a lawsuit that we're merged into with multiple other districts we rarely um do anything ourselves with that but it's a attorney comp uh attorneys that we've maintained because we're currently within that joined lawsuit with other school districts in the state so is there a motion um to approve item G with the approval of the law firms as noted Clark Hill PLC and TR Law Firm PC and Secret wo Lynch in Hampton I make a motion to approve the the AFF mentioned law firms okay is there a second or support I support the motion has been made by vice president Bradley and supported by rockat Martin questions comments concern I'm sorry Tre what did I call you VP okay sorry Treasurer Bradley and uh supported by trustee rocket Martin any questions comments concerns I I do have uh question you have the floor last year we you know this was a very sticky and contentious a contentious uh part of of discussion I don't know if that's the correct word but anyhow was uh we were supposed to do some work as it related to the um in particular uh these two law firms that we're using first of all I want to get clarification these are law firms of the Board of Education these are not law firms for the superintendent of been har area people and so I I I I am very concerned and would like more information because if if if nothing else they they too know what their role and responsibilities are as it relates to the board of education and so for us to have some clarification I I I I still we did not do the work that we said we were going to do um I really want to know um I've never seen a bill from any of the uh law fir how much are we paying these people and who has summoned these people to represent the Board of Education how many times have K been called how many times Clark Hill been called because if anything ever come up as as as as as we as we know has been stated a thousand times that we have one employee but it's a conflict of interest when the employee you the district attorney the school board's attorney so I want to know uh I just want to put that out there and and and and get some clarification and have some understanding of how that work how much money has been spent from uh with both of these two organization that we've had since I've been here four years and nobody has ever given us a report and I know just for me we've had several meetings where these law firms have been caed to the table um I'll leave it there but I just want to put that on the record trusty Gavin thank you president Robinson I had to pause a second because I think secretary triple was talking um I just want to say that for me and it's not anything personal I'm very much I've looked at kind of what's happened um over the years and I've just observed a gap in terms of services for this particular population I think there is a blind spot when it comes to um protecting our civil rights um and ensuring that we are making the best uh legal decisions in certain areas um I'm concerned about that and I and I wish that we had more options to weigh I'm grateful for their time and their services and things of that nature but I just believe that we can do we can look for um a law firms that can represent this population um with a with a better eye for what our community needs I know that some of these firms were you know present when we um you know when the district turned itself over to a CEO structure I've also you know heard some advice in certain times that just did not I just don't think they had our best interest at heart so um I know that we need an attorney and and I'm not you know um illogical or you know um in that regard but I just feel like we need to do more due diligence um in terms of looking for someone that can better meet our needs thank you vice president ban so did we um go to these individuals again just saying hey it's our organizational meeting and we would like a quote from you uh quote from you or did we put a RFP out looking for different attorneys and this is just the only ones that apply Dr bus as they were standing law firms we did not put an RFP out uh there was no Direction given for a new law firm so we went with the we got the updated uh fee structures for the ones that were on the agenda for tonight so so to if if it's if it's the will of the board I'm trying to um and I don't want you all to think I'm Rush it but I know us and so we'll sit here and have this conversation and we'll ultimately make a decision to table so I'm going to just ask right now is there a motion to table the approval of law firms because they're under contract through June 30th and we can come we can revisit this conversation I move okay so the motion has been made by secretary triplet and supported by trusty Doyle secretary triplet call the vote this is for tabling of item G president Robinson yes vice president Bowen yes thank you for getting it right I haven't met that up all night secretary trip I me on my own name Secretary trip I be everybody name for my secretary trip I either call my name name and don't say nothing say my name and then secretary trip yes treas Bradley no trusty rocket Martin no trusty Gavin yes trusty do yes motion care all right so this conversation has been tabled I want you guys to know I know you very well I did tell Dr buts that this would be tabled but we would we would go forward with it or make the effort regardless um so we are now at item H and so according to the notation from Dr buts this is for appointment of Auditors for the 2024 2025 fiscal year currently we have gabridge and Company which we voted on previously is noted no contract is needed the we're in the final year of the contract it expires physcal year in 6:30 2025 so Dr bus my question to you is are you planning to at a later date come with another firm or are you going to what are your plans as it relates to 71 2025 have it RFP okay okay so at this time we're acknowledging that the Otters for 2025 2024 2025 are currently gabridge and Company so there's no vote coming you're planning to submit an RFP when no later than April okay so that we can have it in more than enough time for next year to take the vote okay and so we have officially finalized our um organizational meeting portion of the meeting just as a reminder our president is Robinson our vice president is Bowen our Treasurer is Bradley our secretary is triplet we have renewed our masb membership our representative for masb is Bradley alternates are rocket and Gavin for representation to the Bering can School Board Association and beran Rea we have rocket Martin as the representative and Gavin as the alternate we tabled uh D1 and approved D2 with maintaining HR e we approved the dates meetings and times with those amendments made to the calendar F we maintained our depositories authorized agents and various funds as suggested we have tabled approval of law firms and then there was no vote necessary for H Dr bus is planning to bring that to us no later than April um as a response to rfps presented so I would ask Dr bus based on what uh truste Bowens has indicated if you could also put out an RFP for a law firms because we've kind of had the same conversation maybe two two years in a row and then we ultimately get to the point at the last minute where we haven't done the work and we have no choice but to go with the law firm I would like for the board to have some options and in the RFP that was a good suggestion that might be the best way to have some items presented to us or individuals presented to us yes ma'am and when would you like to have these RPS for the law firms can we have them do you think is it turn around quick enough so we can have them by March is that too quick or April I would say April okay so April okay can I can I say this to it when you put that out there make sure that they're giving us all the services that that that Chuan law form firm has listed here it's kind of like when you get your car you have a accident somebody will do it cheaper but if you take it to the dealer let somebody else look at they find all the other little things that they'll do so I just want to make sure that if we switch law firms we're gonna get the same services in detail uh that because I've read through the things that there are offering us and have been offering us with the um with also being included what they do for us free we want to see how many freebies we get out of there too yes ma'am and also with with i' just like to make a point if if there's an attorney that we're not pleased with with the current law firms we can always uh uh request a different attorney for representation we don't have to keep the same attorney right so we can keep the law firm but we can change attorneys within the law firm so okay that that's an option as well okay uh Treasurer Treasurer Bradley and I was going to say real quick I know we had the we had tabled that with the law firm discussion but um if we're going to be looking at rfps with everything coming up on a federal level and it's going to definitely impact probably urban districts um at some extent let's look at somebody who has experience dealing with Federal educational law as well secretary triplet and and and let me make it clear that this is not to say that we won't that we don't want to continue who we have currently but I do think um that there are some conversations some serious conversations as the Board of Education the newly elected Board of Education it is our responsibility to make sure that we take care of the business of the school district of our constituents and that our citizens are getting what they deserve to receive and this District as well and so I think I'm I'm I I don't want it to be like well you know he got this feeling towards Clark Hill he has this feeling towards TR but there are some things that we need to we need to get out there because we we need to make sure that we're represented and that this board of educ a and I want I want this to go on the record I want this board of education to know that I'm saying we there's a warning and we have to understand what these roles are and who we are as a board of education we we we are not friends this is business people voted for us came out for us to represent the interest of the community and so we can't get caught up into IND individual relationship is is is very very serious and as uh treasur Bradley said there's a lot of things that getting ready to come down the line you know as it relates to public education within itself so we need to be on top of it and as trusty G said there's been several times where I if when I feel that I have to ask who are you representing are you representing this board of education or are you representing the superintendent so if that comes to if that has to be act then that should be a red flag that there's some concerns thank you okay so I just want to make a comment to that um I just W to kind of comment on secretary triplet statement because the the attorneys are the attorneys of the district right so the way that you the way that it's I want I don't want anyone to misread what he's saying because he said the Board of Education and not the superintendents but the superintendent and the Board of Education are one yes they are the district's attorneys and so I think that sometimes guidance is received from district attorneys for things that the superintendent may want to recommend or not and if the attorneys are coming and they're supporting a recommendation that differs from what the board is wanting then sometimes it feels as though the the attorneys are being used against the board but I think that we need to be aware that if if they're coming to the district and they're giving their best professional legal experience sometimes we have to humble oursel and decide maybe we're wrong it should I don't think we should receive it as an attack on ourselves if the attorney is supporting what what the superintendent or Administration is saying so I don't I don't want anybody to think that we see the superintendent is separate from us what one District they're the district's attorneys right Madam president that's what I want to clear too yeah was this but this this is also the board must be aware that if ever there is a time and we've experienced this with our with our only employee right from previous years that we had to have our Representatives our lawyers to represent this board ofre okay and so we don't want it to be convoluted and again this is not personal this is business and so you know there's like Clark Hill make recommendations suggestions as it relates to human resource matters and stuff like that but TR has something completely different and so if if you're representing uh it's just like we we we have to be clear on that line our expectations of our of our legal attorneys or what have you that's for just that's just business so yeah I don't want you to think and anything that I say is not personally against any individual is the business of the Board of Education because if ever in the future there's a time when our employee has a problem or has a situation and and then our attorneys have been IM mesed then we got a problem so always keep that at the Forefront of what it is that our roles are and what we do okay and I just want to remind the board that I I I asked if it was the will of the board to table because I didn't want us to get stuck 20 minutes on topic and so what has happened is we're still discussing a topic that we're not taking a vote on and so I don't want to be I don't want you guys to think I'm being rude or anything but you all have challenged me to make our meetings more effective so you will see me be a little bit more tough at the table because what we're doing right now does not make any sense we've continued for 10 or 15 minutes having a conversation about a topic that was tabled so I'm gonna go I think Gavin had one last thing to say and then we'll move forward thank you president Robinson I'll be brief I think my my concern is also the process in which we access the attorneys I would love for us to be more proactive um I think that there is um validity to having an attorney zoom in to our meetings I think that sometimes that feeling of oh the attorney is partial to this person or that person because the information is related to us third party or it's just a um email response as oppos cl to him him or her or them being present and us being able to um ask questions or get the information together unless there's a closed session which is rare so I think that it's really important for us to consider um if there is a firm that can support us while we're making the decisions before we make a bad decision or a good decision just to have that confirmation and that wisdom on the front end as opposed to the reactive uh responses or you know just the superintendent receiving the information or just being forwarded to us I think that we need an opportunity to have a little bit of input from the attorney if if not both work session or regular meeting at least the meeting where you know one of those so that we can assess um so I'm I'm re I've been saying it you know over and over again because I understand the value of having that legal opinion on the front end so I'm hoping that we will kind of reconsider how we access attorneys moving forward thank you all righty thank you so much so we're going to continue with the meeting um thank you guys for doing your due diligence and working through the organizational meeting um next on the agenda we have the conflict of in disclosure forms that you all have yes you weren't on Old business nope there's a conflict of interest form right before old business my apologies okay um so just as a reminder this is a form that has to be filed by the board by June 30th of each year so you all are going to sign just indicating whether or not you are in compliance with all provisions and policies and regulations or um and whether or not you have any personal financial or professional interest that may trigger your obligation to report a real or potential conflict or to seek guidance on any situations except as follows um so everyone needs to make sure that they plug their name in notate anything needed and then sign and date and return those to miss singer when we leave um this evening all right so next up so make sure you turn that in to her I just put that I want to cheat she just needs the top page president Robinson truste Gavin are there any additional pens available thank you okay up next we have um old business the we wanted an operational update from Dr buts we're doing pretty good on time we just now hit 8 o' so we're doing awesome Dr Butz thank you madam president I'll give a full operational update at the regular board meeting but I would like to say that Cape is a virtual alternative school so no students will actually be moving it's just staff uh so um again that I can give a full comprehensive operational update at the next board meeting I I knew it was a uh work an organizational meeting and I was just planning for the organizational meeting I didn't bring it in my notes that I've taken M secretary triplet president Cape is more than just that okay and I think people need to understand that for at the last oh at the last board meeting the president gave a directive for the superintendent to research what it is as it relates to to going being able to go over and just change a move a school and make a decision to move a school that is a community that is a safe place for our kids virtually or not for parent we have students that we have moved from this campus for various reasons because it's providing alternative education we're going to bring them back on this campus in a building and that's sta in a building that we don't have any information on even the conditions of the building it has been brought to my attention that people have been told to move prepared to move there has not we cannot lose another student we I I just don't understand how it's even considered for us to make and and and why does have to happen right now at this very moment no parent meeting no community meeting no meeting with the staff no meeting with the Board of Education nothing presented to us and I want to know which law firm advis our superintendent to say that that was okay to do and we hear this in the street that is not the way you operate in the community I want it to stop I want whatever has been done I want it to stop because those people have picked a a brand has been established our students sometime come in our parents come in I'm I was on the facility committee chairman of the facility committee nobody said one word to me never even seen how the back of that building looked if you're going to move somebody you could move those people who are from The Other Place move them there it it how do you again if we lose one student it's a loss for us and so I I I professionally and as a member of this board of education I cannot believe that this has even happened with us not having the information that we need there is no way that parents have not hang in had an opportunity to come in and discuss what it is I our correspondence to that staff it needs to cease that's the way I feel and I'm going to stand on that 10 toes down I do not like it I don't appreciate it I don't appreciate hearing it in the streets I don't appreciate it hearing from people it it doesn't matter because in anything that we do you're gonna have people that say I'm gonna take my kids out but if we have not made a sound unless somebody gave the superintendent the directive to go forth make this move having not contacted parents having not met with anybody in this community and this board of education knows nothing about it c those kids when they are on that field graduating they have pride they love they are proud to be graduates of Kate they made conscientious decisions they do not want to be on this campus it is one of our alternative schools and it should not be on this campus even if there was something made it should not be on this campus thank you okay Dr bus I just I can't remember did you ever send us the feed the attorney feedback I did can you refor that yes ma'am okay mad mad Madam president I I do want to say this this has it it it the direcor was to get the feedback the director was not to make the move I don't remember seeing it but I could have overlooked yeah but yeah yeah president Robinson yes point of information when did Dr bu send that I don't see anything in my email uh loop about anything from the attorneys in regards to this matter nor any updates about how Dr bus will be moving forward can you let us know that that that was sent he's trying to look forward so he'll either you did get you got feedback from the attorney okay so he'll check to make sure that was sent to us if it wasn't he'll for the feedback whose phone is ringing I keep thinking it's mine it's buzzing way down here for me oddly um if you did not forward that to us can you forward it okay I did have some okay you have a floor um ditto everything I'm not going to repeat what secretary tripler said because I'm in full agreement with that um I guess my questions are for Dr bus you indicated that no students will actually be moving just staff um are you aware as the superintendent that students do have the yeah I'm sorry no he was he was he didn't know the question was to you go ahead you you found it Dr bus I can wait I can pause on my time yes ma'am I sent it on December 23rd but I'll resend it again to everybody yes ma'am [Music] um and School Board yep yes ma'am yes ma'am Matthew Bradley now the singer Angela Doyle trip oh so it's the it's framed as questions and requests from vice president bows and president Robinson so you more than likely opened it saw how long it was and maybe didn't even take a moment because I wouldn't I didn't know that's what that was either I just saw all the writing and wasn't about to read all that on two days before Christmas I'm sorry it's in green and it's kind of well not purp yellow you can barely can you just refor did you already re forward that to the board I I'll reformat it okay you can give us a summary of what your interpretation is of this data so in the beginning it was um vice president Bowens ask for student data student discipline data no I'm sorry just as it relates to Cave please as relates to cap um take a b the the attorney's reference policy 1210 1220 3130 4130 um and that was the responsibility of the superintendent uh to achieve maximum benefits towards the attainment of educational goals and prior to that I had sent an email prior to that I had sent an email in reference to cost savings to the district no I'm sorry what I'm asking was was there a attorney response in terms of your right to move that building without board consideration yes ma'am it's that's what I was reading the different policies that I was reading 1210 1220 3130 and 4130 clar Hillel okay yeah and so it doesn't from your understanding was the I'm not seeing where the attorney said that you didn't need to speak with the board I think that the information indicates that you have administrative rights but not to forego the board did he did they specifically say that this can be done without board consideration just from my understanding but I can I can do a followup with them okay so that's my concern there the other thing is I feel like I'm hearing information from you that does not connect with the truth um you indicated that Kate is an alternative school and that students would not be moved but my understanding is that on Tuesdays and Thursdays students are able to come into the school building to receive Direct Services and so with that being the case it is actually a hybrid alternative school that allows them to have online opportunities as well as in-person services and so if you move them back to the high school um to the high school location you may actually be displacing them especially having not spoken with the families or anything and find out how that impacts them and then you may also be putting them in a situation in which they are now close to the other students that they have some issues with that could create chaos you know unsafe environment things of that nature and it makes it more difficult for the board to approve this alternative environment knowing that we might be putting our students in harm way Harm's Way if they're not off campus not to mention our Alternative Program actually receives even more dollars per student right and so now we're shaking up something that was working we we took something that was actually working their test scores were up they were in appreciating the Project based opportunity they were appreciating that autonomy and now we're disrupting them once again breaking something that was already fixed I guess what I'm trying to understand is why would you elect to move them and the staff uproot them in the middle of the year as opposed to waiting until the you know after school after the school year is out to actually get input from the rest of the staff and the students and the impacted community and the board one of the things the urgency I'm sorry I didn't mean to interrupt one of the things I looked at was the cost savings that it was going to cost the district and also the streamlining of the services one of the concerns that was brought to my attention was uh for special ed and making sure that we had the continuation of services by having uh the campus on this campus would allow us to streamline those services through through the high school and the the attendance requirement for for two days a week was last school year this school year after I spoke with uh Mr Roseberg the attendance was as as needed by the student it wasn't a mandate for this year it was a mandate for last year it has not been a mandate for this year they come in on the as needed basis and or for testing so with that we will be able to streamline and also with having clock running W Dr bus is talking I would like to reclaim my time if possible thank you you that'll be Miss Natalie um also with streamlining that and then with with testing they come in on an as needed basis so those students when you say displacing they were so it's it's elementary through um High School right for so for the high school students they're not displaced because they were here prior to so when they go to the uh alternative school that's more of a displacement also when it comes to the counseling services um AUD credit audits credit uh uh scheduling Etc we have counselors here at the high school that can that will be readily accessible also since we've had um one of our APS to transition to transition to an ad model um it would also help help supplant of the the some of the the the administrative roles that one of the aps was were doing with the director of the uh Cape Center so it would be more of a support system to the high school as well so again I can give a more comprehensive report as to the savings and and everything else when I bring my notes because again tonight it was just an organizational meeting and I didn't have all of my notes with me I'm not finished um I still had time it's just that the clock ran while Dr buts was talking um thank you for that so I guess what I'm wondering is when you were asked to wait and then decided to go ahead and tell them to move anyway is that is that correct am I mischaracterizing what happened I don't remember being asked wait you don't you don't remember at the board meeting when I your understanding of the requests my understanding was President Robinson asked me was it she asked me was it an update and to get clar clarification from the attorneys and that's what I did and and do you recall also being asked to give us kind of a full overview of what you intended to do and how that would work in the previous email that I had sent that's that was that was an explanation that I was given in the email that I sent and on that one I can have to go back and look at when I sent it to the board on cost savings okay just wondering um when you look at um a superintendent's duty to engage the community engage the parents um engage the staff in decisions that impact them um are you interested or open to the idea of before moving forward on this actually informing them and getting their input and finding out how this would actually um impact them them um are you open to that I am open to that thank you so that's actually a excellent idea um it could even be something including the the the staff and the parents of the students that attend C I think it's what you're thinking Gavin so Dr bus can you H can you schedule that and get that feedback I can and then share that with the board can prior to making the move yes ma'am I can okay trusty rocket Martin so St that's so they they have a chance to move back into their regular classrooms speak M please doing whatever they need to do at at Kate oh you can hear I I can't I'm sorry I can barely hear you because the the things are so loud sorry so for the for K being an alter program but I'm I'm um familiar with it at any point in time are those students able to come back to the high school in their regular classrooms while they're at Cape they're not I know but I mean after are they are they there to stay forever or can they eventually do what they need to do if they do what they need to do you know and and they say well now I want to go back to the high school in my regular class classroom setting uh you know and not be virtually anymore yes ma'am are they allowed to do that yes ma'am the the goal is to always transition back to the if if if they so desire to transition back to the general population Madam president secretary I have a question first of all what you what what the superintendent was told was to go and get the opinion from the attorney okay this is hidden deep down in something it never came back to us because that is very that that's that's very serious I want to know and then this information no disrespect you said it was sent to trusty Bradley uhuh everybody okay and trusty Bradley just got sworn in tonight and so that information in December if anybody should have been sent to treasure Katon who was still on the board at that particular time I want to know who gave the directive to the superintendent if that happened that he could send these notices out to our staff and tell them to prepare to move and this has not been presented to us the adjustments of the of of the athletic director SL assistant principal the high school principal and the assistant principal with 400 500 students that is no cost saving we do not need another administrator up here sta I think for me it's a red flag it is that was not what that and and I think tonight it needs to stop and all that information that was sent to that staff at that school it needs to stop we cannot disregard our parents our citizens and you can be 700,000 feet up in the air but you something needs to be presented here I think it needs to stop it does not feel right it's a red flag for secretary triplet because if we're going to start losing we already have a 100 students who was going to another alternative school in this community I am not stupid at all and this has nothing to do with anybody y'all can take it individual or I mean personal make it personal if you want to because that's the way you think this is the business of Ben Harvard area school that is not the way we operate we now parents are just hearing this through the through the woods that is not professional and that is not business and these people came out here to vote for each one of us sitting at this table don't forget about them because we have got to recruit kids to be in that alternative the program and they're not going to bring their kids back up to this High School none of us have seen that building none of us we don't even know how that building looks and so if anybody go to move from a building that they say some leakage maintenance and facility can move over there but not our staff not our students who've been working for years on a brand for that school in that building it's not going to save us just because people say it's going to save us money and we have that data we can't just jump on that plane okay so we're gonna um move along from that conversation the only thing that I will add is that it is very important that the Board of Education reads his emails including me because I saw that email and I didn't read it I'll admit to that because it was responding it was responding to my request but I think he had already told me something that I asked about and I just continued along I never read that so I will take ownership and I'm asking no no I think okay so this is where I am we are fully transparent with holding people accountable we got to be willing to hold ourselves accountable so if I say that we need to read our emails I don't I think everybody would agree that we need to read our emails true and have we read the email that he sent us on December 23rd then one of us could have responded and said absolutely not or however and I don't know that either of us I don't know that anybody read it thoroughly or read through it it even notice that he gave us the information that we asked for I understand that but what I am all I'm saying in this moment I'm not I am not disagreeing with anything that you guys are saying and for some reason when we come to this table if I'm not if I'm trying to make sure that everybody sees every side I think everybody at the table feels as though they have a right to an opinion but no one has a right to disagree with them I respect everybody's voices no it's not you I'm not talking about you now I'm not talking about you okay but I would like to be able to make my comment when I have the floor without people from either side speaking because I don't because you're the only one to interrupt me okay we I'm gonna move forward as I stated I don't think anybody at any point would disagree that we need to read our emails that's all I'm saying so for what reason a person would have to disagree with that I don't know I don't think that's a false statement and I should be able to say that as the president if I'm acknowledging I fail to read an email I should be able to acknowledge that and tell you all to do the same and so I sit here and I let people talk for three minutes two minutes multiple times everything and and I'm here and I'm quiet but every time I say something if I am saying something that differs from particular people at the table then it have to be all this side conversation and disagreement with me my voice matters too it's not a personal attack to anybody but I'm going to stand in my reserve and say what I have to say as strongly as everyone else does at this table and I should have a right to do that even if you don't like what I'm saying I'm just asking that you be quiet and respect me because it's always a lot of back and forth when I talk that's all I'm saying and I want you guys to do the same thing for each other just wait your turn trusty Gavin thank you president Robinson um I I think it's important for us to read our emails and I think that there's a good point that this response is borrowed at the bottom of a very long that multiple issues and it doesn't even address head on whether or not the superintendent and I agree you know has the right move that building it's spoke to his ability to move staff which we are already aware of and he and it identif certain policies that we already aware of but it was not an email that addresses what really what you asked for um and I haven't even read it so I don't know what it says and what it doesn't say it it speaks to that it speaks to the ability to move staff and even there it says that it needs to be vetted through the board right and so I think of the bigger issue I think it's important definitely important to read emails it's also important to make sure that the email is concise and that IT addresses the issue that we ask for especially when you're talking about moving a building you know that's going to impact the community um especially the most vulnerable population and so I think that that's really you know where the where the concern is um and then also just moving forward without connecting with the board first those are some serious concerns but I I do agree that we do need to be on top of these things and I like I said haven't even read it so I don't know how detailed or concise if it answers the questions or not but he's re fored so I will open my email this evening and um ensure that I go through that um so if there's no other discussion on that we'll expect an update did I go ahead brle no I got something new okay um we'll expect an update at next meeting's regular board meeting up next we have new business the only thing that I wanted to mention I have a piece of paper going down the table I don't know if it made it if you guys could just notate write your name um I've just notated the four committees the committees as they've been structured before you leave if you could just write your name under any committee that you're interested in serving on if there's one for certain that you know maybe there's three you're interested in but there's one for certain you absolutely have to be on or want to be on St that for me I want to make sure we get committees assigned as soon as possible um so that was my only new business but it's on this side I'll make sure it comes back down to this side if you need more time to marinate let me know um because you you can let me know at a later time yes okay um I'm gonna be real quick um there's two things uh the first thing is I don't know if we have a mission and vision statement for the individual board as an entity but is there something that I could possibly start spearheading or we could start working on we need to have something to kind of keep us on in our lane and keep us you know moving forward as a board and I think that we need to have a mission and vision statement and once we get that crafted I know the district has one from the Strategic plan I think each school has a mission and vision statement but we as a the as a body the board we need to have a mission and vision statement and then we need to make sure it's posted so we can know what we coming in here for and then the other thing I would like to see if we can work on is um because I know a lot of people saying we're you know we we emphasize the sports and the other curriculars but um we're having challenges with our academics and what I would like to put before you is that we look at a truste reading plan and basically how we used to have the reading challenges back in the day we kind of look at doing something to boost the students interest in reading and trying to do a contest and see if we can get the kids excited about literacy um I was listening to Dr Greg Carr and Karen Hunter um this past weekend and they were talking about how this country is starting to not become critical thinkers not reading no more we just go and get you know digital information and you know we don't that information and we've seen a lot of that misinformation here as of late so that's the other thing I would like to put before the board if we can all kind of you know put that out there and do something it kind of be a challenge and you know helps the community and the students get to know the board and we probably get the parents on board too okay now what the I heard reading plan what was the first part that you said what was the first word of that a trusty read reading challenge yes okay now as it relates to mission and vision of the board I know that we set board goals were you on the board when we did that or were you was that within your two years that you've been gone or um I think I was on the board it may have been after maybe a little bit so I have to go back and revisit the that because we set goals but I do not remember whether there was specific Mission or Vision so if you I have no objection with you spearheading that I can forward that information to you okay thank you is that in our vision in our strategic plan stat yeah he's wanting specifically for us okay which it should be similar but maybe it's something slightly different that we want to change okay if there's no other new business next up we have open public comment thank you for your patience hello oh okay um I just want to address a couple of things so as far as the resources go we do have um a sped your niece Jalisa is assigned to our um building and that is no longer an issue she is wonderful she's been a great service to our students as far as speds so she's specifically dis like um she just handles our students as far as the sped cases go she's great that is no longer an issue so we wouldn't need the services from high school um and as far as students coming in students come in all of the time that they're required to if they're falling behind or they're not showing up for the virtual courses that's part of our whole um lure is that we have a small staff and they can come in and if they start falling behind they're required to come in because they're on an academic um probation if they start falling behind the classes they're required to come in they sit with us we work individually with them I mean I'm not there anymore but they work individually with them until they get back them back on track and then they have that individual attention that's why it it just works so well and we did lose a student today to to bridge because of this move so we're already just from Word of Mouth are losing kids so um it's just something that we really need to take in to account um our enrollment and it's our it's like supplanting we can't plant that's against the law so you said supplanting with the because of the um ad um needing like I don't know if you needed help with the assistant principal you said supplanting but if they're Grant funded they can't be supplanted they you can supplement you cannot supplant that's illegal so I just want to clear that up thanks all right thank you um if there's no one else for open public comment we'll go to board member announcement and comments um we'll start with trust uh she stepped out okay truste rocket Martin hopefully everybody had a very nice holiday glad to be back at work um also I'd like to compliment your uh custodial Department uh for how they have cleaned the buildings the floors well the floor at the floor at MLK was like glass it was like shiny glass so you know everything looked fresh and new and so I would like to give a shout out to the custodian over there because he is really a very hard and and and um conscientious worker also uh I like to um encourage my board members to let us work together and that if we do disagree um we can we can do it in dignity uh there's no reason to put anybody down there's no reason to um make anybody feel small we all have capabilities and so that's what we will do we will use what we have to make our district the best District possible you know and I believe we have our I believe everybody at this table has our districts best interest at heart you know um and so uh once again I would like to thank Dr bus for for his cabinet who works so very hard and for um the services that he also renders to our district um you know when you're an authority you do have to make decisions and everybody doesn't always agree but it's all right to disagree and get information and find out what you need to find out before you go further so um I I'm thankful for my board for that because they will uh Dev into um questionable uh dealings or interests that they have to find out what's going on and there's nothing wrong with that so um I'd like to also um you know just thank everybody for the work that we've done thus far and that if we could continue to move our district forward forward in a positive manner uh we have to always remember the Press is always listening and um we want people to send their kids to our district because it is a good District to be in uh you know and it's it's nice to go to school here and so with that being said um I look forward to working with you all uh this coming in the next four years I look forward to working with you and to representing you in yeah you got four years to do he forget you forgot you thought it was like one more year you have four more years no you got four more years to do this uh you're young you don't have any gray hair yet you're fine so so um yeah you know I'm pretty sure though after this four years I probably will be done but uh maybe done with this part of of of my life and doing something else maybe I'll be your bus driver I don't know you never know but I I've done everything but drive the school bus so that's good but anyway uh with that being said I look forward to continue working with the students at B Harbor you know um whatever capacity I'm available to work at help and what I've been seeing is that the more Direct Services we do a lot of work here at the board board table but the more direct services that you where you actually touch a child the better help you're giving him I'll say it again the more direct services that you can give a child where you're actually sitting next to touching reading with doing things with the better Services you are rendering to that student this is fine but that's better thank you trusty Gavin thank you president Robinson I was sitting here thinking about what to say um it's always challenging because I I want to focus on the positive right I want to focus on the strides that we're making I want to focus on our beautiful children our amazing resilient staff and I also want to make sure that we're creating an environment that's consistent for them I remember when someone was paid it was some company there's always some consultant company but they were paid to assess us when I was a teacher here and the um consultant he said you know I've done all this assessment I've done all this you know I've watched all you know I've monitored observed all your classes and what I found it's really nothing wrong with you are you have an issue with consistency right consistency if they can distract us they can destroy us if you're moving on a certain path and you're doing well and then that path is disrupted and then you got to start over and then you start over and you try again and then you it gets disrupted and then it's this musical chairs thing and then you move when we do that it especially in vulnerable populations when they're already many of our students and families are already dealing with their own disruptions in life not saying that everybody is vulnerable but this is a vulnerable Community when we do that without thinking about the impact on them we create a a a situation in which we can destroy the positive strides that we have and so I would just ask I think this was a great meeting I think we had an opportunity to safely share our IDE ideas and collaborate and talk about what might work I just ask that as we move forward this year can we make sure that we're making Student Center decisions and not disrupting the staff and the in the community with quick um decisions can we just make sure that we're putting them first and not putting them in a situation where they have to advocate for themselves in the middle of the Year thank you thank you trusty Gavin trusty Goyle I don't have anything at this moment thank you Madame President all right up next we have Treasurer Bradley um good evening everyone I'm Gonna Be Quick um you know um I'm glad to be back and i' I've missed this um and it's call me crazy but I've missed this because I love Benton haror you know born and raised here I've traveled all over the country everybody's like why don't you move somewhere else I'm like this is home I I you know I've been the all the Lord 48 I've touched every state I just touched the state of Maine back in August and there's no place like home and there are people from Ben Harbor and all these states out here I've hung out with people in Maine from Ben Harbor I've hung out with people in California you know so there's no place like home uh class of 2005 proud um I want to start this real quick and I want to say um be quick to listen and slow to speak be quick to listen slow to speak um don't think that if you're feeling a certain way about things you're not the only one um we we have that that fire too there's things that we see um and then um remember you know I started this on this journey in 2019 and when the state was threatening to shut down the district and this I would tell you this this battle is not a one man or one woman show this a team effort and we have to stand United um everything that we do at this governance table and I've been on both sides of the table now I've had a two-year break everything we do at this governance table is going to flow back down into the thing District you've had people in the community come back and say it as well oh you know I wouldn't bring my child here because of the way the board behaves so we need to make sure we stand United yes we may have a difference of opinion but but just remember be careful let's be careful how we disagree Madam president I'm going to say this to you openly I respect you but use the power of the gavel because we got to make sure our meetings are efficient and we got to make sure that we are moving fast and everything um we don't want to be stepping over people and getting everybody F and let's I would say this to the board real quick let's be respectful of other people's time let's stop dragging out the meetings I'm not saying let's don't ask questions but let's be respectful of other people's Time study the information read the emails y'all be blessed all right next we have secretary triplet yeah did did respectful go over their time other people time did they just go over at the bell ring and respectful kept on talking but anyhow let me go forth with this one thing that I'm not gonna do I'm not gonna play all right I am you know I I I've sat here for four years and I try to learn the ropes and you know again I'm not going to go on this tangent about nobody checking Mr trip because ain't nobody G to check me no more okay let me tell you something I have the utmost respect for my president I have the utmost respect for my my my colleague but what I'm not g to do and and whatever whatever kind of counseling you need to uh get the support that you need to be able to go forward if Mr triplet did something that you didn't like when you were in elementary y'all need to go get some help this year okay because whatever it is when you bring it I'm bringing it back to you okay that ain't personal that's just out there on the floor that's number one the directive the the situation with Kate I am very very concerned I uh Madame President that is not the way we operate if we do uh then we need to adjust that the the director was to go get the information from the um attorney and then bring it back okay was to have a discussion and so I it needs to stop because it I want to say this as well I've been doing this a long time I was doing this when you all were in school so I know the mode of operand okay and and and why do it have to happen this week why can't we have that discussion and and do it in a proper way why why what I mean what is what's what's the urgency that this had to happen this got out and it's throughout our community that is not the way we operate so I'm not 200 feet up I'm 10 toes down everybody got the way in which they operate the way in which they do but I I I I I'm asking that this stop that this be stopped and that that in closing that we don't move in that direction until we have done it the proper way and right now we have not done it I want you all to have I'm here to work I love y'all I'm not going to disrespect y'all never okay I promise you I won't but uh yeah okay so let's have a wonderful 2025 I'm here for it all and thank you Madame President all right so I would like to say um welcome back to the Board of Education I'm grateful to sit at the table oh it's your turn vice president bow thank you um Madam president um so earlier I asked about a fund and from my understanding the fund had over probably a quarter of a million dollar in it and if it's still not used that fund would be exceeded over that and it was called the hobber fund Miss hobbert was a graduate um of Bitten Harbor High School her name was Alice Hobart I hope I'm pronouncing it right I'm thinking of kchen but that was the fund for the history um Grant so if we can look and see where's that money how much it is what is it being used for and why aren't we using it um you know I do have a question for the board I know we say we give directives but is it different when it's a directive and a resolution that's voted on we give so much directives I can yeah we give so much directives and stop and all of that I I it comes confusing so I'm stating this do we have legal ground by saying this was a directive or is it legal ground when we say this was a voted resolution that we told you to do this and I hope I make sense what what I'm stating with that um I you know am glad to serve with you guys in 2025 but these next four years I hope that we focus on improving the academic returns of our students Let's Get Serious um one of the first things I told people was to read the other side of the book River and Dr Sherman was the superintendent then and they did Saturday school and our test scores started to raise they were going into the projects they were doing this they were really working on it and I think we as a district if we really want to make a turn we have to really focus on the academics and I want us to see that um I also would like to us to do an investigation on whatever happened at fairplane junor High um it's noise on social media um who leaked it is it some violations on student privacy I think that's something that we should be concerned about um but besides that I look forward to serving you guys oh by the way we lost two people important to biton Harbor one was Kimberly Thompson she's a graduate of 1998 uh vit Harbor High School she was the city clerk and then we also lost George weisinger he was one of the City commissioners back in the 1960s um when it wasn't African-American City commissioners he was one of the first with lul Le and all of them so I send my condolences to those families and that's it okay so I'm gonna close um just like to say thank you to everyone um welcome back Treasurer Bradley to the board I look forward to the excitement of our conversations at the table I just want to make it very clear to everyone you guys know that I am a non-confrontational person it is never my it is NE no seriously it is never my intent to intent to make anyone feel small or minimized however what is important for you all to know about me is that anytime I feel as though my voice is not being respected it's going to trigger something in me so and that's the only time that you guys are going to see me kind of change in my spirit so um to secretary triplet I was not offended I I want the public to know that secretari triplet and I may spat back and forth and then in two seconds we gonna be laughing and giggling with each other so never be confused about um any debate that we have at the table whether that's secretary triplet or either of the trustees at the table I support you all I really try to make sure that I reflect the will of all trustees and allow it to come down to the will of the majority of the board and that's what I attempted to do in today's organizational meeting with the resolutions and the schedule and work sessions and things of that nature look forward to working with you guys in 2025 and I will follow up with you um regarding details of our training I did send a list down asking you all to sign up for your committees but I don't think that it's been passed down or it made it oh so if you know the committee that you'd like to be on if you could tell me before you leave today day um and then I'll try to get those committee assignments sent out by the end of the week and that's all I have so if there's no objections I'll ask if there is a motion to adjourn Madam president make a motion to adjourn is there a second motion the motion has been made by vice president bow and supported by trusty rocket Martin any questions comments or concerns hearing none secad Madame President I I I I am I am so proud again that the board saw for for you to be our president of the Board of Education know we've had our conversations and what have you and and again to and to the public you know we are all passionate about what it is but we just cannot dismiss what other you know it's not just one person feelings being dismissed either so the things that we often time accuse others of doing it we're not aware that we're doing it right you know and so I've sat here for some time but I want you to know that I do support you to all of my colleagues I do support you uh and uh I'm looking forward to us really really all working together and doing a good job like we did tonight all right so if there's no other comments secretary tripy can you call the vote for adjournment president Robinson yes vice president Bowens yes secretary triplet yes treasure Bradley yes trusty rocket Martin yes trusty Gavin yes trusty Doyle motion Carri our meeting is adjourned at8