Meeting Agenda
CALL TO ORDER
WELCOME AND MEETING FORMAT (2 Min)
RECOGNITION: Board of Education Appreciation (5 Min)
RECOGNITION: 24 Years of Service (10 Min)
Mission Minute/Around The Pack (5 Min)
DISCUSSION MOVED FORWARD: Cornell Abatement
PRESENTATION: BP 5 Design Update (10 Min)
PRESENTATION: Long Range Planning (30 Min)
CITIZENS ADDRESS AGENDA AND NON-AGENDA ITEMS
HIGH SCHOOL STUDENT REPORTS/REQUESTS (5 Min)
SUPERINTENDENT REPORTS/REQUESTS (10 Min)
BOARD REPORTS/REQUESTS (10 Min)
ACTION ITEMS
CONSENT AGENDA (5 Min)
OTHER ACTION ITEMS
Baseball Turf Field Donation
Hiawatha Playground
OHS New Course Recommendations
Board Operating Procedures
DISCUSSION ITEMS
Montessori School of Choice Openings (10 Min)
COMMENTS FROM THE PUBLIC
OTHER MATTERS (5 Min)
Interim Superintendent
ADJOURN
Agenda Item Details Reload Your Meeting
Meeting: January 26, 2026 at 7:00 PM - Meeting Agenda
Subject:
CALL TO ORDER
Description:
Tom Buffett, Jason Burns, Katie Cavanaugh, Shulawn Doxie, Andrew Phelps, Leeni Shrestha and Jillian Winn
Subject:
WELCOME AND MEETING FORMAT (2 Min)
Description:
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.
Subject:
RECOGNITION: Board of Education Appreciation (5 Min)
Subject:
RECOGNITION: 24 Years of Service (10 Min)
Description:
The board will recognize the following employees who have attained 24 years of service: Brian Guggemos, Chippewa Middle School; Thomas Hopper, Chippewa Middle School; Jocelyn Mankowski, Kinawa 5-6 School, Elizabeth McNeil, Okemos High School, Amy Petersburg, Cornell Elementary, Matthew Prinz, Chippewa Middle School, Kara Stewart, Chippewa Middle School, Stacy Trumpie, Kinawa 5-6 School, and Paul Hinze, Kinawa 5-6 School.
Subject:
Mission Minute/Around The Pack (5 Min)
Description:
An opportunity for individual board members to highlight events, activities, and other items of interest.
Subject:
DISCUSSION MOVED FORWARD: Cornell Abatement
Description:
Director Lieber will present a recommendation for Cornell abatement as funded by the 2022 bond.
Subject:
PRESENTATION: BP 5 Design Update (10 Min)
Description:
Operations Director Lieber and Athletic Director Hintze will discuss potential plans for fields at Okemos High School.
Subject:
PRESENTATION: Long Range Planning (30 Min)
Description:
Superintendent Hood and Executive Finance Director Lentz will discuss long range planning.
Subject:
CITIZENS ADDRESS AGENDA AND NON-AGENDA ITEMS
Description:
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.
Subject:
HIGH SCHOOL STUDENT REPORTS/REQUESTS (5 Min)
Description:
The high school student representative will highlight events and issues of interest and take questions from the board.
Subject:
SUPERINTENDENT REPORTS/REQUESTS (10 Min)
Description:
The superintendent will highlight events and issues of interest and take questions from the board.
Subject:
BOARD REPORTS/REQUESTS (10 Min)
Description:
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.
Subject:
ACTION ITEMS
Description:
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.
Subject:
CONSENT AGENDA (5 Min)
Description:
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.
Recommended Motion(s):
  1. That the board approve items 1 and 2 for immediate implementation and appropriate action. Item 1: Approval of the Minutes of the Regular Meeting of January 12, 2026; Item 2: Approval of the Minutes of the Executive Session Meeting of January 12, 2026.
Subject:
OTHER ACTION ITEMS
Description:
The Other Action Items require additional discussion prior to board action.
Subject:
Baseball Turf Field Donation
Description:
Superintendent Hood shared a donation agreement for Boys Varsity Baseball at the January 12th meeting. 
Recommended Motion(s):
  1. That the board approve the donation agreement for Boys Varsity Baseball as presented and discussed at the January 12, 2026 meeting.
Subject:
Hiawatha Playground
Description:
Operations Director Brian Lieber and Hiawatha Principal Joseph Corr presented information regarding the needed updates to the Hiawatha Elementary School playground, funded through the 2022 Bond at the January 12th meeting.
Recommended Motion(s):
  1. That the board approve the proposed updates to the Hiawatha Elementary School playground as presented, funded through the 2022 Bond.
Subject:
OHS New Course Recommendations
Description:
The board has reviewed the proposed new course recommendations for Okemos High School that were presented by Assistant Superintendent Stacy Bailey at the January 12th meeting. 
Recommended Motion(s):
  1. That the board approve the following new high school courses to be offered beginning with the 2026-2027 school year: AP Music Theory, AP Business with Personal Finance, AP Microeconomics, Strength, and Reset, and Trigonometry Through Design.
Subject:
Board Operating Procedures
Description:
The board has developed and reviewed the proposed Board Operating Procedures.
Recommended Motion(s):
  1. That the board waive the reading and adopt the 2026 Board Operating Procedures.
Subject:
DISCUSSION ITEMS
Description:
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.
Subject:
Montessori School of Choice Openings (10 Min)
Description:
The board will discuss potential School of Choice openings to be advertised  for the Pre-K through 8th grade Montessori program. The numbers being proposed will reflect available seats while maintaining the district's ability to accommodate resident students. 
Subject:
COMMENTS FROM THE PUBLIC
Description:
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.
 
Subject:
OTHER MATTERS (5 Min)
Interim Superintendent
Subject:
ADJOURN

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