Welcome to this regular meeting of the Okemos Board of Education held in public for the purpose of conducting the business of the school board.

There are two opportunities for public comment: Citizens who wish to address agenda or non-agenda items will have an opportunity at the beginning of the meeting, as well as near the end of the meeting. In-person individuals who wish to address the board must complete a blue form, located with the agendas near the room entrance, and present it to the board’s secretary prior to the start of the agenda item. Virtual participants must submit their name and address in a message through the chat box located in Zoom’s meeting controls prior to the start of the agenda item.  

At the appropriate point in the agenda, the board president will call upon individuals who have submitted a blue card or chat message and that individual’s microphone will be un-muted for their comments.

Pursuant to Sections 8(h) and 8(a) of the Open Meetings Act, the board of education may adjourn to Executive Session for the purpose of reviewing  attorney-client privileged communications and also for contract negotiations.
 

Tom Buffett, Jason Burns, Katie Cavanaugh, Shulawn Doxie, Andrew Phelps, Leeni Shrestha and Jillian Winn.

An opportunity for individual board members to highlight events, activities, and other items of interest.

Human Resources Director Jennifer Emmendorfer will introduce new teacher hires for Okemos Public Schools.

The board will discuss updates to board operating procedures adopted a year ago, as well as forecast the organizational meeting to be held the first meeting in January.

At this time in the meeting, citizens have an opportunity to address the board regarding items of interest that that may or may not be part of the evening’s agenda.  Citizens are required to limit comments to three minutes, except when this requirement is waived by the board president during the meeting.  A designated timekeeper will communicate to the individual who is addressing the board at three minutes. The board highly values public comment and input; however, the board meeting format is designed to facilitate the evening’s agenda and, therefore, restricts board members from engaging in conversation with speakers or immediately responding to questions.  Questions and concerns may be addressed by the board later in the agenda and may be assigned for follow-up by the board or superintendent at a later date.

The high school student representative(s) will highlight events and issues of interest and take questions from the board.

The superintendent will highlight events and issues of interest and take questions from the board.

The board will acknowledge receipt of correspondence.
Individual board members may request follow-up on other matters of concern.
Board sub-committees may present their reports or deliver updates.

Within Action Items, there is a Consent Agenda to expedite the business of the board which groups a number of items together to be dealt with by one action of the board. However, items in the consent agenda may be extracted by individual board member request for further discussion or clarification.

In an effort to expedite the business of the board of education, but in no way meant to diminish the importance of each item, a Consent Agenda has been developed.
 

The Other Action Items require additional discussion prior to board action.

The board reviewed information regarding a memorandum of understanding for the Senior Center with Meridian Township at their November 24, 2025 meeting. 
 

At the November 24, 2025 meeting Superintendent Hood provided an overview of long-range planning considerations and reviewed current partners (Veritus, Christman, Tower Pinkster). Trustees discussed considerations for continuing with current partners versus bidding out pre-bond services.
 

The board approved first reading of the following policies during its October 27, 2025 meeting. The policies were then posted to the district's website for public review/comment for thirty days or more.

4408 Termination; 
4409 Non-Renewal;
5202 Unlawful Discrimination, Harassment, and Retaliation Against Students; 
5405-O Title I Parent and Family Engagement Policy;
and 5406 Title 1 Funds
 
Policies given first reading by the board are posted on the district website for thirty days for public review. Policies not given first reading are returned to the committee for further review and editing.
 

Discussion items are intended to provide an opportunity for review of material and interaction concerning the individual items.  Action is not taken during the board meeting.  Discussion items may be acted upon by the Board of Education at a later date. The board president may move a discussion item forward in the meeting agenda to facilitate timely discussion and/or community input on that discussion item.

At this time in the meeting, citizens have an opportunity to address the board regarding any item(s) of interest. Individual comments at this time will be limited to three minutes but may be extended at the discretion of the board president.  A designated timekeeper will communicate to the individual who is addressing the board at three minutes.  The board highly values public comment; however, our meeting format does not allow the board to engage in conversation with speakers.  Questions or concerns may be assigned for follow-up by the board or the administration at a later date.
 

The board will engage in a work session to review and discuss the superintendent search process, including but not limited to: interview dates, profile finalization, and salary posting.