The Ludington School Board convened for the very first time at the new Ludington Elementary School, which officially opened this January.  Arriving just before 6 PM, this reporter entered the cafeteria and saw the usual horseshoe configuration of tables that signified the school board and a variety of staff and other attendees peppered in the tables meant for lower elementary students located past the open end of the board's horseshoe.  Seriously, these chairs were less than a foot off the floor and the table was about two feet high, yet everyone there was at least 20 years old.

The agenda packet was light on action items but had a couple of presentations and a return of the Soaring Oriole award, recognizing the contributions of often overlooked staff during the school year.  This month's winner was Julie Ingison, a bus driver that also sorts incoming school mail.  

The board with one absent member (Leona Ashley) listened to the first presentation about Interconnected Systems Frameworks (ISF).  The ISF identifies itself as a process to create a more streamlined approach to school mental health and wellness.  The project is described in sweeping generalities to the point where it's hard to see what it's all about.  It looks as if the ISF will integrate into all school systems in Mason County and add a school-based mental health provider with the help of a $500,000 grant.  Despite reading all the materials and listening to the presentation, it is unclear who the ISF is designed to help.

The second presentation was a less formal matter where Ludington Elementary Principal Katie Eisinger talked generally about the implementation of the Caring Schools Program in the school.  Three people spoke during public comment, me, Jason Wolven, and Jason's father.  Jason would alert all to his blog and an upcoming article in the LDN on his board candidacy, his father expressed difficulty in hearing the speakers and presentations prior to his, even though microphones were used.  My comments reiterated concerns I expressed in half of my comment from the last meeting along with a concern about how a secretive MDOE training program went against district policies.  

XLFD:  I predicted in an article recapping last month's board meeting, that the board secretary would write "two citizens addressed the board" under citizen participation in the minutes of that meeting.  The board secretary came through. 

Every council packet expresses the board's philosophy at the top of page two, quoting one of your bylaws:  "The Board of Education recognizes the value of public comment on educational issues and the importance of allowing members of the public to express themselves on District matters."

Yet I believe if I conducted a pop quiz on this panel you would be hard pressed to recall what those two citizens spoke of, and you definitely would fail if I chose any meeting that occurred over last year and had at least two citizens addressing the board.  If this school board is in tune with its philosophy, one should be able to consult the minutes and figure out which of your citizens spoke and see a summary of their observations.  

This can be a very simple summary, like for last meeting your secretary could write "Tom Rotta suggested the board should better summarize public comments in meeting minutes and expressed concerns about traffic issues near the elementary.  Jason Wolven announced his candidacy for the school board."  Thanks for correcting some of those traffic issues, by the way.

It's such a simple thing to do to show you are interested in what the people have to say, even when some of you aren't.  If the board secretary needs help with summarizing citizen comments, I'll gladly instruct you in the practice or ghostwrite them for you if you lack the time or initiative.  I guess I'll just have to keep diligently coming to meetings and being critical of your anti-citizen, anti-parent, and anti-student policies silencing their voices.

A recent leak from the Michigan Department of Education show that they secretively sponsored a radical program in 2020/2021 that instructed educators to keep important information secret from parents of students, even after those students had suicidal ideations.  State law and this school's bylaws indicate that our public schools should be informing parents about such things and working with them.  Yet can we trust a school board that cares so little about what the district's parents think when they won't even acknowledge that they spoke up at a school board meeting about an issue that meant something to them?  [END comment]

One might think a board member or two might wonder what radical program I spoke of or assure those attending that the LASD would not withhold such information from parents when a child's life is involved, but nothing was said, even though I stayed after the board departed.  As for reforming their minutes to reflect what people said in front of the board, I received indications that the board secretary (Mike Nagel) isn't likely to mend his ways.

The board did the following without any relevant debate or discussion:

-- Approved $477,000 in 2019 bond payments

-- Approved reception of an 'E3' grant from the health department, unstated amount

-- Approved softball field improvements totaling $60,203

-- Approved purchase of two 10-passenger vans for $57,631 to be used by athletic and special ed programs

-- Approved a two-year payroll assistance agreement with the WSESD, and

-- Approved the snowplow bid to Larsen's Landscaping at the set terms for the school year

The agenda packet does not indicate whether there was a bidding process for the softball field improvements or for snowplowing.  Jason Wolven came over after the meeting to discuss ways to open up and improve school board meetings leaving me with a link jasonwolven.com to learn more.  Along with incumbent Stephanie Reed and Sarah Lowman (incumbent Josh Snyder is not running), two of the three with the most votes will win a seat on the school board on November 8th.

 

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Excellent speech and summary, imo, X. Thank you for keeping LASD feet to the fire ... if they listen ... sounds like Jason Wolven may. Despicable minutes by the secretary ... she may have taken lessons from the DDA secretary.

I think Board Secretary Michael Nagel uses the masculine pronoun "he" rather than "she", but I could be wrong and there may be some gender fluidity going on.

Every meeting just reinforces how elite and aloof the board is when it comes to parents, the public, and their own bylaws.  This is why I keep going to these board meetings and reporting what I experience, because they will only get worse if I don't.  Thanks for your support.

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