LASD Board Meeting, June 20, 2022: Quite a Drag

[XLFD]

Going to school in the summer is a bit of a drag, so one would expect going to a school board meeting during the summer would be the same.  That's not the case, however, as the agenda for the board meeting was stocked full of 18 action items for the board, along with 7 more items on the consent agenda and a couple of presentations.  And that's not counting the additional budget hearing 'meeting' that took place before the regular meeting.

That hearing would have outgoing Director of Business Services Jesse Rickard give a presentation on the $26.6 million budget for the upcoming school year and comparing it with the past year's $26 million budget.  The coming year they plan on saving a bit of extra money from the switch from certain contractual maintenance services to assigning those duties to district maintenance staff and considered strongly doing the same with janitorial services in the next year, while passing the Enviro-clean contract renewal.  They hope to improve on a fund balance that shows only 6% of their annual budget.

The regular meeting started with a presentation by Ludington Police Chief Tim Kozal talking of collaborations in a recent exercise of school safety and for an active shooter training event happening in August.  Board member Scott Foster asked whether they would see more truancy enforcement now that Covid interruptions seem to be in the past, and Kozal and the rest of the board considered it.  Katie Eisinger, principal of the Ludington Elementary School, spoke about a system where kids would self-evaluate themselves using a color-coded system (blue, red, yellow, and green) and using that to monitor their feelings.

Superintendent Kyle Corlett reported that there were only two bullying incidents over the last year in the high school and they got down to the regular business, none of which led to substantive controversy other than the modest discussion on the future of the Enviro-clean contract and they:

- Approved low bid of three by Rohr for $332,485 to replace gas storage tanks by the bus barn.

- Approved low bid of two by At the Peak Roofing LLC for $98,323 to replace/fix roofs of the CBO and the Robotics Garage.

- Approved bid by Ruggles & Son Masonry for $16,460 to improve dugouts at Oriole Field

- Approved middle bid of three by Hoekstra for $313,128 to buy three Thomas school buses (the low bid of $308,352 was for an alternate bus type, district buses will now be all Thomas buses). 

- Approved administrative contracts for Greg Pscodna (athletic director) and Laura Jacobs (Rickard's replacement) and teacher Patrick Ruszkowski (who is fluent in Mandarin, having taught in China).

- Approved Singletrack Showdown Off-road Cycling race to use school forest bike pathways

- Approved purchases of IPad packages (if a grant is approved, the cost to the district will be zero, if not, the districts tech fund will shell out a little less than $900,000).

- Approved Variable Frequency Drive purchase for the school's HVAC system for $19,500.

- Approved Melissa Mutton to serve as WSESD Special Education Parent Advisory Committee for LASD.

- Approved administrative contract extensions for principals & CBO staff reflecting negotiated pay increases.

- Approved a payment of $52,957 on expenses of the bond project

They also agreed to sign a waiver to claims for uncollectible personal property taxes, much like the City of Ludington did at a recent meeting.  Effectively, the district signed off on trying to collect PP taxes uncollected from the period of 2011-2016, often from bankrupt or defunct businesses that have went beyond the statute of limitations to collect from.  Carlos Alvarado was present to explain the concept.

At this meeting, there was only one public comment delivered by me, trying to see whether the school board would commit one way or the other on a topic recently introduced by our state's attorney general.  It follows:

XLFD:  "I thank school administrative staff for continuing to provide the public with supplemental information in the agenda packets and for recently posting information in regard to what one needs to do if they want to serve on the school board.  We need quality individuals who will support the education of our children and both respect and reflect the values of our community.  Parents shouldn't have to be afraid to send their kids to public school whether it's because they fear for their physical safety or they fear for their mental health.

During a conference hosted by the Michigan Department of Civil Rights last Wednesday, Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel opined about education, and this is a recorded direct quote: 

"You know what's not a problem for kids who are seeking a good education?  Drag queens.  OK, so let me say this:  Drag queens, not only are they not hurting our kids, drag queens make everything better; drag queens are fun.  Drag queens are entertainment.  And you know what I'll say, that was totally not poll-tested, I say this:  a drag queen for every school.  That is what would be fine for a kid, and lift them up when they're having emotional issues." 

Nessel writes legal opinions that are often used by Michigan courts to justify their decisions, so her statements cause concern among parents who expect schools to teach their children traditional curricula leading them to wisdom and success rather than immoral and confusing pablum that Nessel wants to fill their heads with.

I see you have a busy docket, yet I hope that the school board, or at least the two board members that are possibly running for reelection this year, will weigh in on whether you agree with the attorney general and believe that every school should have a drag queen to help our young children with emotional issues, or that she is misguided [END comment]."

Board member Bret Autrey was absent, but none of the six present at the meeting would indicate that bringing drag queens into classrooms would be inappropriate or (at least) not conducive to a good education.  One could perceive their lack of response to Nessel's statements as being permissive of such distractions and being an implied endorsement of a teacher adopting drag queen story time for the district's kindergarteners, tucked away in an impregnable fortress far away from the prying eyes of our district's parents.  

Four of these board members decided they knew better than state health officials and you about whether your child should be forced to wear a mask at school for over six months during this past school year.  I witnessed a group of high schoolers telling the school board en masse in October that wearing masks were doing bad things for their mental health.  Do you trust them to make a reasonable decision when Ludington Elementary School teachers decide to take Dana Nessel's words to heart and bring in drag queens to address their emotional issues, or just for fun and entertainment?

If you don't, there are two openings on the school board this year that need filling by people that respect and reflect the community's values rather than kowtow to some woke agenda without question.  Here is some information for those who want to make positive change in their community's future:

[shinblind]

Wow.

Only two incidents of bullying in the high school over the past school year that were brought to the attention of Superintendent Kyle Corlett. Seeing as all school shooting started with students being bullied and is more proactive than all the active shooter training, I hope that they have an actual handle on things and are not sweeping matters under Kyle's carpet. 

Moving on, any idea what is the payment of $52,957 on expenses of the bond project about? Legit or trying to slip one past the goalie.

So Attorney General Nessie wants Drag Queens in every school. Would this be a paid position or volunteer? The potential grooming payoff should be worth more down the road than any salary. Will Dykes on Bikes also be allowed to make schools fun again? The gutless Silence of the School Board speaks volumes sometimes. 

Are these new buses going to be battery powered? Would be a perfect time to get rid of the smog producing diesels especially for the local around town runs. Any one comment on the price of diesel fuel?

IPads will cost maybe $0, maybe $900,000 more or less. Can the IPad reveal be conducted at the Little River Casino? Or can the LRC travel here for the event? You know it could make being a taxpayer fun again.

[XLFD]

Love your free flow thinking, shinblind.  

To be precise, the superintendent noted there were more than two reported bullying incidents, but only two of those reported actually qualified as bullying incidents as defined by the board's bylaws, I find it highly unlikely that only two incidents amounted to bullying, because the definition is very broad:

"Bullying" is defined as any written, verbal, or physical acts, including cyber bullying (i.e. any electronic communication, including, but not limited to electronically transmitted acts, such as internet, telephone or cell phone, personal digital assistant (PDA), or wireless hand held device) that, without regard to its subject matter or motivating animus, is intended or that a reasonable person would know is likely to harm one (1) or more students either directly or indirectly by doing any of the following.  

1. substantially interfering with educational opportunities, benefits, or programs of one (1) or more students; 

2. adversely affecting the ability of a student to participate in or benefit from the school district's educational programs or activities by placing the student in reasonable fear of physical harm or by causing substantial emotional distress; 

3. having an actual and substantial detrimental effect on a student's physical or mental health; and/or 

4. causing substantial disruption in, or substantial interference with, the orderly operation of the school. 

Bullying can be physical, verbal, psychological, or a combination of all three. Some examples of bullying are: 

1. Physical – hitting, kicking, spitting, pushing, pulling; taking and/or damaging personal belongings or extorting money, blocking or impeding student movement, unwelcome physical contact. 

2. Verbal – taunting, malicious teasing, insulting, name calling, making threats. 

3. Psychological – spreading rumors, manipulating social relationships, coercion, or engaging in social exclusion/shunning, extortion, or intimidation. This may occur in a number of different ways, including but not limited to notes, emails, social media postings, and graffiti.

[Sidney Johnson]

Can we have a stoning? Hmmmm

[shinblind]

 Sidney Johnson Will have to wait and see if Attorney General Dana Nessel issues a ruling on stoning. She might use it to pander to the growing Muslim vote.

[Freedom Seeker]

This drag queen issue further proves that Dana Nessel is a far-out, flippant, off-based liberal who neither knows about dam infrastructure, mussels, or proper Education of children. Can she get any crazier?

[XLFD]

Can she get any crazier?  Watch her get there if she, Benson and Whitmer get voted out of their jobs this year-- but that's problematical because they will try to subvert the voting process like they did in 2020, when their personal careers weren't involved.

[Willy]

Thanks X, for the report on the LASD. A lot of information.

People must start to realize that the drag queen story telling situation is a well funded leftist propaganda effort to twist minds of the children. It is not an effort to bring understanding about the trigger words used by the far left, "diversity and social justice". It's about brain washing kids into accepting deviant behavior. This is about "grooming" children into accepting the transgender mind set. 

“This is not about tolerance or anti-bullying, It is a direct and intentional effort to create gender confusion and doubt among very young children at the very time they need solid guidance and understanding. The intent is to plant a seed to make children more likely to question their sexuality or gender at a later age.”

Below is a video trying to persuade people that this deluge of perversion is OK and fun for kids.

To think that the top law enforcement position of Michigan is occupied by a someone who promotes this twisted thinking is almost unbelievable. But after all we must remember that she kissed her wife on a public stage in front of her children.

[shinblind]

Once upon a time Director of Business Services Jesse Rickard made a presentation to the LASD Board that in the age of 10% inflation, costs would be held to a 2.3% increase.

Then he packed his carpet bag and scurried out of town in the dead of night to greener pastures.

The end.