You Deserve To Know The Truth

 

The Bridgeport residents deserve to know the truth about your public officials and it is your responsibility to seek it out.

I have struggled for years with talking about this and just ended up choosing not to.  What was the point?  The damage had already been done.  My word against theirs.  I had just had enough and wanted to just walk away.  I have felt guilty about keeping quiet about this.  Very guilty about my part in helping/allowing this to happen and in keeping quiet about it. 

What is that crazy woman talking about now you are probably wondering.  Here is what I am talking about:

Let's go back to 2015-2016, to the Bridgeport Spaulding School Board and a lawsuit brought by a resident against Martha Sageman and the school board.  I'm not sure how many of you remember that whole debacle, but I will provide my last post about the outcome of it all at the end of this post.  So local resident John Rhines brought the lawsuit against the school district.  During this process, in my opinion, based on what John Rhines told me personally, and text message exchanges, and from my observations, and participation in conversations, John Rhines became very close to school board member Pat Nelson.  At the time my mother (who attended all meetings with me and saw some of this also) and I laughingly referred to their friendship as a "Bromance".    Actually my late mother tried to raise the alarm with me about her being uncomfortable with the closeness of their relationship and the things that were going on.  Sadly I didn't listen to her.  A Bromance probably isn't the proper term for the closeness of their relationship, some people now might have the opinion that "Co-conspirators" is a better description.  I will leave that up to you to decide what your opinion is.

At first John Rhines was just "insinuating" to me that he was actually getting inside information from Pat Nelson.  Information about what was happening inside closed school board meetings, and meetings with their lawyers concerning the lawsuit.  At some point in this whole debacle it went from just insinuating that it was happening to outright saying it was.  Saying that Pat Nelson was telling him exactly what was happening in those school meetings and in meetings with the school district lawyers. At one point he told me that Pat Nelson was going to give him a copy of a document or documents either from the school district or from the lawyers?   I can't remember exactly what the document was supposed to be, just that it involved the lawsuit.  Of course John Rhines could not ever tell me exactly what he was being told by Pat Nelson or what the supposed document was, you know, because it was all "confidential".  This "working relationship" if that is what would be the appropriate description, between Pat Nelson and John Rhines supposedly went on the whole time of this lawsuit. So supposedly the school district that was being sued had a board member that was helping the person suing the school district?  According to John Rhines that is what happened.  From my observations of their interactions with each other and conversations with the two of them,  I believed it to be the truth.  John Rhines also told me that there was another school board member that on at least one occasion contacted him after a closed school meeting to tell him what transpired.  When I asked because I was shocked that that particular board member would also do this his reply was just that it really wasn't important information.  

I still have so many questions.  How many school board members knew what was going on between Pat Nelson and John Rhines concerning that lawsuit?  How many board members may have also helped John Rhines?  Did these people truly believe John Rhines accusations or did everyone have their own hidden agendas?  Pat Nelson was the Bridgeport Fire Department Chief during this time and suddenly retired as fire chief and just spent his time then on the school board.  I always wondered why he left the fire department?  I have a several questions now I keep asking myself about why he left the school board and now is on the township board.  I don't have just questions, I have some serious concerns about him being on the township board.  Based on what I believe about Pat Nelson then I hope you understand why I am concerned.  

I will say that I am not the only person that knows about what went on between Pat Nelson and John Rhines and the lawsuit, but I am probably the only person that will speak up and say it.

The Bridgeport residents deserve to know the truth.  They deserve to know and then decide if Pat Nelson is someone that they want on their township board, if he is someone they can trust.  You residents are demanding accountability and transparency, so go and ask for the truth!!!  They may say that I am crazy, that I am lying.  Maybe one will call the other a liar and say it never happened. You residents need to ask how many other people know.  I have always wondered if the reporter for the Birch Run/Bridgeport Herald knew what was going on?  He also seemed to become very close with John Rhines during their coverage of the accusations and lawsuit.  Did John Rhines also tell him the things he told me?

This is possibly the most important time ever for me to go back to covering all things involving the township government, but I am not going to.  I am just walking away.  The residents of this township need to demand answers and hold the township officials accountable.  

You can read the story of the dismissal of the lawsuit by the courts here:

Dismissal of John Rhine Lawsuit

Bridgeport Spaulding School Board Meeting November 8th, 2021

On the Agenda:

Citizen Participation begins at 0:30

Agenda Adjustments begin at 11:52

Saginaw Area Storm Water Authority Discussion & Resolution Adoption begins at 12:00

Consent Agenda Approval begins at 15:25

Closed Session begins at 17:40

Return from Closed Session begins at 21:53

Superintendent Updates begin at 24:06

Sandra Popp Bauman, a retired Bridgeport school teacher, spoke during the citizen participation period.  There is a memorial for a Schluckebier teacher, Deanna McVittie, that is located between the Schrah and Schluckebier schools and citizens would like to save that memorial and have it moved over near the Popp School House in the Bridgeport Historical Society's  historical village.  They also discussed other possible historical items from the two schools.  Sadly both  Schrah and Schluckebier schools will be torn down, sounds like the process will start around December 1st.  I loved going to those schools.  I read on a Facebook post that a 1st grade class had buried a time capsule by the schools.  Does anyone know anything about that?  Would be nice if they could save that also.

They held a closed session to deal with the suspension of a student.  The school is justified in taking that action, the priority should always be the other students and the schools.  I just found it sad that any student has trouble in their life, especially to the extent that they are suspended from school.  In my opinion, the 3 main foundations for a child's future is their Parent/family, Church, and School.  For some children their last hope is the schools. 

During the Superintendent updates, he discussed the latest Covid statistics for the school system.  Other updates were about fiber-optic cables that will be going to the athletic facility and grounds.  That is going to be a really nice upgrade!!  

He also talked about a ESSER Fund survey that will be going out later this week.  ESSER Funds come from monies that were allotted by congress for Education Stabilization Fund through the Coronavirus Aid Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act for the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund (ESSER Fund).

The schools are also a partner in the Community Christmas giving event.  They will be helping families with needs this holiday season.  You can go to any of these 5 locations and select a tag from the tree, Birch Run Bridgeport Chamber of Commerce, Birch Run Premium Outlets, LaFontaine Ford in Birch Run, Iwen Tool Supply in Bridgeport, and the Bridgeport Township Hall (assuming they mean the township governmental center).  The Bridgeport schools also do their own Thanksgiving meals and Christmas giving events.

Another item the Superintendent discussed was the latest mandate coming from OSHA for the Covid 19 vaccinations. This discussion starts at 37:05 in the video.  It would affect the employees of the Bridgeport School system and they discussed the affects this could have on the school system.

The last item discussed was updates to the shot put and discus pits for the athletic field.

Bridgeport Spaulding School Board Meeting October 11th, 2021

I attended my first school board meeting in over 2 years and was excited to share it, but I had audio problems so no video of the meeting to share.  It was a great meeting!!  It was the kind you walk away from feeling happy and positive about the future of our school district.  There are so many improvements happening in our district, exciting things.  I don't know if most of the residents are even aware of everything going on in our schools.  

I can't remember everything that was discussed word for word from the meeting, but one thing I can share is the audit report which was very positive.  The school has a good website with a lot of information on there for the community to see.  The transparency section is full of reports  Transparency Reporting 

And there you can find the audit report 2020-21 Financial Statement Audit

The next school board meeting will be on November 8th, and I will be there with my camera, audio working!

For any residents that care to stay updated about our school district, here are links to their website and some Facebook pages to follow:

Bridgeport Spaulding Community School District

These are the Facebook pages for the schools:

Bridgeport High School

Martin G. Atkins Middle School

Martin G. Atkins Elementary School

Thomas White Elementary School

When Elections No Longer Matter In Bridgeport

MAYBE IT DOESN'T TO THE ELECETED OFFICIALS IN BRIDGEPORT,  BUT IT SHOULD!!!

I have posted multiple times in the past my feelings and thoughts about Lee Carpenter being snuck back onto the Bridgeport Trustee Board under the cover of darkness, without voter knowledge or approval.  You can read my previous posts here on this matter:

Posts concerning Lee Carpenter

There has been an election held since I wrote those posts and of course Lee Carpenter was elected.  That is what happens when someone runs in a democrat stronghold, with no chance of anyone running against them.  I wonder if his buddies knew that was the way things would work out when they snuck him back onto the board in 2019? 

You are probably all sick of hearing about Lee Carpenter, so lets move onto another incident of elected officials in this township disregarding the will of the voters. Let's talk about John Rhines.

John Rhines was a member of the Bridgeport Spaulding School Board and served as the Treasurer.  In the November 2020 election, he clearly lost his bid to be reelected.  Did he lose the confidence of the voters?  I would suspect that is part of the reason that he lost?  Here are the results of that election:

Who you may ask is now sitting on the Bridgeport School Board serving as Treasurer?  Well, that would be John Rhines!  How you may ask did that happen?  Well, another school board member ran for a seat on the Spaulding Township Board in the November 2020 election and he won that seat.  He then resigned his position on the Bridgeport School Board.  That left a position open on the school board.  You would have to ask the school board members themselves how exactly they chose John Rhines to fill that open seat after he had just clearly been voted off the school board by the voters of this township.  I am sure it was all legal, but was it ethical?  Not in my opinion! 

Voters Be Damned In This Township!

My top two blog posts of all time may explain why in my opinion John Rhines should have never been elected to the school board in the first place; and those, with the election results,  why he never should have been put back on that board after his election loss.

Dismissal Of John Rhines' Lawsuit Against Martha Sageman And The Bridgeport Spaulding School Board

The $5,000 Cost Of John Rhines To The Bridgeport Spaulding School District

A 2021 Thank You!

I will be back to posting here and was just reviewing my blog stats.  Over 62,000 views on this blog since I started it back in 2014,  Thank You!!

Here are my top 2 blog posts of all time:

Here are the links to these two posts for those that haven't read them or would like to re-read them:

Dismissal Of John Rhines Lawsuit

The $5,000 Cost Of John Rhines To The Bridgeport

Bridgeport Spaulding School Board Meeting August 12th, 2019

On the agenda:
1. Building& Grounds/Finance Committee Report begins at 0:44
2. Atkins and Thomas White roof replacement discussion begins at 2:57
3. Consent Agenda - check registers and meeting minutes begins at 4:09
4. Strategic Plan Timeline with MASB Representative Debbie Stair begins at 4:44
5. Facilities Update - Superintendent Whelton begins at 49:58
6. Board and Superintendent Comments begin at 55:58
© 2019 Carla Citizen All Rights Reserved

This meeting was over one hour long because there was a workshop with the MASB representative.  Every minute of this meeting is worth listening to and I hope the community and family members of students will take the time to listen.  The building & grounds, roof replacement, and facilities updates are very informative and shows where the taxpayers money is going and the major progress our school system is making.  The workshop with the MASB rep was very interesting and this is one part that I really hope everyone will take the time to listen to.
Some of the things that were brought up were the lack of community and parental involvement and support, the misperceptions about our schools and students.  I have seen multiple outright lies told and shared online about our students and schools and it makes me angry. 

I am going to share my opinion on something here, fence-sitters, and it may offend some people, but that's life, and you can't please everyone all the time.  Back in the day, many years ago, when I attended Bridgeport schools our community and parental involvement and support for our schools was fantastic.  Our student involvement and pride in our schools was outstanding.  Nowadays there are too many people in this community that say they support our schools, support our community, yet they send their children to schools outside our district. I do understand a parents desire to do what they feel is best for their children, but what about the rest of the children?  When students that live in our district attend school in another district, it hurts our school system and our students.  I believe it also adds to the misperceptions about our district when others see that happening.  Especially when it is done by so called leaders in our community.  If you truly feel that our schools are not good enough for your children, then why don't you get involved and help make our schools the best around our area?  If you are not part of the solution, then you are part of the problem!
And then there are those that just praise our students and programs like the athletic programs, at least sometimes they do.  If there is a little incident that wrongly gets blown up into a major controversy, then they suddenly pull their support from things like the athletic programs. You never truly supported them did you?  You see all the "rah rah" cheering for our sports teams, as long as they are winning anyways.  If they are not winning, then are you trash talking them?  You people really get on my nerves!

There is No Fence Sitting when it comes to supporting our students, schools, and community.  Either you support them or you don't.  Bridgeport residents need to be part of the solution, not part of the problem.

Bridgeport Spaulding School Board Finance Committee Meeting August 9th, 2019

This was a meeting of the Building & Grounds and the Finance Committee. The school board members met with representatives of the Wolgast Corporation to discuss current and future projects for the school system, like roof repairs and remodeling projects inside the schools like kitchen and lunchroom facilities.
© 2019 Carla Citizen All Rights Reserved

I have to apologize because it was a last minute decision to attend this meeting and I went unprepared.  Had 2 cameras, one with no memory card, the other with a low battery and no external microphone.  I got all but the last 10 minutes maybe of the meeting recorded. There will probably be a summary of today's meeting presented at the regular school board meeting on Monday, August 12th.

Bridgeport Spaulding School Board Meeting July 10th, 2019

On the agenda:
1. Sinking Fund Expenditures Update & Approval begins at 0:37
2. Renovation Update begins at 8:58
3. Superintendent's Evaluation Discussion begins at 13:59
4. Board and Superintendent Comments begin at 15:32
© 2019 Carla Citizen All Rights Reserved

This was a special meeting called to address several items. It was a short but very informative meeting. Superintendent Whelton gave updates on the Technology Phase III improvements in the school system.  The board voted to approve up to $100,000.00 from the sinking fund to cover this work. There are some great improvements coming to our schools that will benefit and hopefully excite the students.
The renovations like roof repair etc... are ongoing.  The schools will be partnering with the Great Lakes Bay Health Center and they will be doing some remodeling in the high school. That is where their office will be located.  Their services will be available to all students at all the school locations.
The sad news, at least sad to me.  They will be demolishing Schrah and Schluckbier Schools. 😢 I loved those schools and still have fond memories of the schools & some truly great teachers there.
They went into closed session for further discussion of the Superintendent's evaluation.  New data came in and they reevaluated based on the new data.
During the Superintendent comments at the end he gives some well deserved shout outs to staff and students that are working around the schools during the summer.  Also talks about the new eSports  and creative arts programs they have started, and more updates.

Bridgeport Spaulding School Board Meeting June 26th, 2019

Tonight's meeting was just for the Superintendent's evaluation.  They did the evaluation during a closed session.  The closed session lasted a little over 2 hours.  They come back into open session at 1:48 minutes into the video.  They then gave the results of the evaluation and voted to accept it.
I haven't been following the school board meetings and all the events of the school district for almost a year so I am a little out of touch; but from all I do hear and see it seems that Mr. Whelton is doing a good job and things seem to be running smoothly and moving forward for our district.

 

Bridgeport Spaulding School Board Meeting / Budget Hearing June 24th, 2019

On the agenda:
1. Budget Workshop And Hearing - Patty Bullock, begins at 2:05
2. Agenda Adjustment begins at 9:08
3. 2018-19 Amended Budget Approval begins at 17:33
4. 2019-20 Budget Approval begins at 18:00
5. Building & Grounds/Finance Committee Report begins at 18:29
6. Personal Report begins at 23:49
7.United Steel Workers, Local 8410 Contract Approval begins at 26:14
8. Discussion Of Superintendents Evaluation Process begins at 32:40
9. Board Member Comments begin at 58:11
10. Superintendent Comments begin at 1:06:38
© 2019 Carla Citizen All Rights Reserved

I missed the regular school board meeting on June 10th and I meant to let everyone know that the Birch Run Bridgeport Herald has two good articles on the meeting and other good news for the schools in their June 19th edition.  Sorry I am a little late in posting that information.  The June 19th edition should still be for sale until the 26th.  The Bridgeport Library also keeps copies there of all the past issues.

The 2019 - 2020 approved budget should be posted soon on the schools website: https://www.bscs.k12.mi.us/

This was the special budget hearing and business meeting.  It was a long meeting, very informative, good discussions.  I could try to summarize it all for you but it would be best if you just listen to it.  There is also some good information gets shared during the board member and superintendents comment section at the end of the meeting.  Someday, I swear I will get a more professional camera or at least get a external microphone for this one so you can hear the speakers better. 

They are planning on having the superintendents evaluation meeting on Wednesday, June 26th at 6pm.  I will try to be there.

When Journalism Doesn't Do Journalism

What Is Journalism?  "Journalism is the activity of gathering, assessing, creating, and presenting news and information. It is also the product of these activities.  Journalism can be distinguished from other activities and products by certain identifiable characteristics and practices. These elements not only separate journalism from other forms of communication, they are what make it indispensable to democratic societies. History reveals that the more democratic a society, the more news and information it tends to have."

I'm not a journalist, I am a blogger that would give English teachers fits, a "Social Media Princess" as one person called me. The public should expect higher standards and accurate reporting from what are considered the true journalism outlets such as your local newspapers.  There are two instances where I find our local journalists and journalism lacking.

The first instance goes back to 2016.  There had been serious and wild accusations made by a Bridgeport resident, now a school board member himself, against Mrs. Marti Sageman and other members of the Bridgeport School Board. I covered these on my blog and all the local media outlets covered them extensively; in print, on TV, they would all show up at the meetings with their cameras and crews, the accuser was given plenty of TV airtime etc...  Residents were just about demanding board members heads on a platter.  Everyone believed the accusations.  Sadly there are residents in Bridgeport Township that still believe those accusations to this day.  Why? Because when the case was dismissed by the courts for having no merit, none of the local media was there to cover the story. The accuser had no proof, no documents, no witnesses.  After all the sensational coverage the local media had given the accusations, you would think they would have wanted to give the cases dismissals at least a mention so as to inform the public of the final outcome.  No more sensational accusations & headlines, no media interest it seemed to cover it. This was all dismissed by the court in May of 2016.  When I finally found out about the dismissal I wrote a blog post sharing some of the court documents for the dismissal in August of 2016.  You can read that blog post here and see the documents I shared from the courts:
http://bridgeportmusings.blogspot.com/2016/08/dismissal-of-john-rhines-lawsuit.html

So it is now three years after the accusations and lawsuits were thrown out by the courts and still no coverage by the local media.  I have only found one recent mention in an article by Bob Johnson of MLive of part of the original lawsuits and him saying that it was dismissed due to board action of voting to approve a separation agreement.  To me that does not seem like a very accurate or complete description of all that was involved in the whole mess that went on for over a year.  If that is all that you ever read about the accusations and lawsuits dismissal, you might still believe that the wild accusations were true.  Read the court documents to see the truth about it. Here is the article by Bob Johnson about the lawyer Philip Ellison where he mentions in passing the case about Bridgeport:
https://www.mlive.com/news/saginaw-bay-city/2019/04/saginaw-county-lawyer-behind-tire-chalking-lawsuit-says-he-fights-for-the-little-guy.html 
The media started a story and never finished it.

The second instance where I find our local journalists and journalism lacking involves a story that goes all the way back from 2009 through 2013 and involves the Bridgeport Township Trustee Board and other government officials.  It all revolves around actions taken by the township government and the restoration of the historic State Street Bridge here in downtown Bridgeport.  Most residents remember all about that.  The local media again covered most aspects of the original story in detail.  Members of the Trustee Board and some officials were recalled by the voters.  One of those recalled was Lee Carpenter.  Lee Carpenter was hired back to the Trustee Board as the clerk again, but not by the voters, but by the government officials, some of whom may be family and friends of his.  Lee Carpenter was hired back on April 2nd of this year and still no local media has covered that fact.  I would think that most Bridgeport residents would like to be informed of that fact since they did vote to recall him at one time.  If I was a journalist or a publisher of one of our local media outlets I would think that might be a story that the Bridgeport residents, their news subscribers, might be interested in.  When the local government does not inform the residents of this decision then the media is the main other option for the residents to find it out.  The only other way they could find it out is the same way I did by reading the minutes of the April 2nd trustee meeting.  The Bridgeport Township government has yet to make an official announcement of the hiring of Lee Carpenter.  As of May 7th, the page on the township government website under the Administration section for the Township Clerk still had the retired clerk listed.  As of May 8th, the page for the Township Clerk was removed and still is not back up on their website as of this writing.  All the other pages for positions like Township Supervisor, Township Treasurer etc... are still there, just not one for the Clerk.  Does Bridgeport Township not want the voters/residents to know that the formerly recalled Lee Carpenter is back as the township clerk?  One can only speculate as to why they do not have a page for him.
I wrote a post about the township hiring Lee Carpenter back in April that also provides links to some of the original news stories about the troubles back when they were recalled and you can read it here:
http://bridgeportmusings.blogspot.com/2019/04/something-old-something-new-some-things.html

*EDIT* June 5, 2019 - I found out during the June 4th township trustee meeting that they first voted to appoint Lee Carpenter to the Zoning Board of Appeals during the December 18, 2018 township trustee board meeting.  Were they bound and determined to bring him back to whatever position they could find for him in the township government? You can read my blog post about it: https://bridgeportmusings.blogspot.com/2019/06/bridgeport-township-board-meeting-june.html

I am truly surprised that the local media has not covered the story of Lee Carpenter being hired back to the position he was recalled from by the voters.  I would think that especially a smaller outlet like the Birch Run/Bridgeport Herald that basically covers nothing but Birch Run and Bridgeport stories would find the time and space to report on that to their customers.

So when news organizations start sensational stories but then just drop them when they are no longer sensational, or fail to report on stories that would be of interest to the voters but perhaps not so good for the local government, is that just lazy journalism?   Dishonest journalism?  Lack of journalism?  Maybe this is the reason that so many news organizations are no longer respected and are losing business?

Bridgeport Spaulding School Board Meeting May 14th, 2019

On the agenda:
1. Saginaw Intermediate School District (SISD) 2012-20 Budget Resolution Adoption -
- Move to support or not support the SISD 2019-20 budget begins at 0:25
2. Building And Grounds/Finance Committee Report -
- Move to award the High School Roof project to Superior Services begins at 2:33
- Move to award the security cameras and door access projects to Honor Security Systems begins at 3:03
3. High School Auditorium Sound System -
- Move to approve Phase I of the high school auditorium sound system begins at 3:24
4. Consent Agenda begins at 4:30
5. Saginaw Intermediate School District Board Election Discussion And Appointment begins at 5:06 6. Section 3660-R - Bid Protest Policy Discussion And Adoption begins at 8:15
Board Member Comments begin at 9:56 © 2019 Carla Citizen All Rights Reserved

The meeting tonight was held with a quorum so they could vote on the items on the agenda.  This meeting was originally scheduled for Monday the 13th but they didn't have a quorum so they just held it as an informational meeting.  There were several presentations of items on the agenda in the meeting on the 13th and you can view that here:
https://bridgeportmusings.blogspot.com/2019/05/bridgeport-spaulding-school-board.html

The board president Robert Lange did take time to explain each item they were voting on this evening and I am happy to report that they did vote to pass these items.
Like I said yesterday - Good Things Are Happening In Our District

 

Bridgeport Spaulding School Board Meeting May 13th, 2019

Good Things Happening In Our School District

On the agenda: 

They did not have a quorum so this was an informational meeting only. 

- Saginaw Intermediate School District (SISD) 2019920 Budget Presentation And Resolution - Kevin Dobson, Director of Finance, SISD begins at 0:51 

- Building And Grounds/Finance Committee Report begins at 10:25 

- Discussion of proposed school security system improvements with Honor Security Systems begins at 11:43 

- High School Auditorium Sound System begins at 36:22 

- Board Member and Superintendent Comments begin at 45:08 

© 2019 Carla Citizen All Rights Reserved

**Note:  It has been about a year since I attended a school board meeting and I forgot how hard it can be to hear some of the comments and discussion even when you are standing in the room.  On the video, it is even harder to hear some of it.  Just turn your volume up.

There were more items that were to be discussed and multiple items that needed to be voted on but they couldn't because they didn't have a quorum.  They have scheduled another meeting for Tuesday evening the 14th to vote on and approve the necessary items.

The meeting started with a presentation by the Saginaw Intermediate School District of their proposed 2012-20 budget that was to be voted on by the school board.  I was hoping to find the proposed budget online to share but they don't have it on their website. 

I was impressed by the presentation by Ron and Mike Mayes of Honor Security Systems of the proposed security system for our school system. It sounds fantastic and I think our school system, and every school system, should have security like this. Our children deserve nothing less than the best.

You can check out their website:

http://www.honorsecurity.co/ 

Superintendent Whelton gave a update on the lighting and sound system for the high school auditorium. Sounds great and long overdue.  Maybe then can get the school board meetings miked up too, Hint Hint.

During the comment section at the end of meeting Superintendent Whelton gave updates on the snow day issue and a partnership with Nexteer Automotive for a program called Book Access For All that will have libraries in each classroom.  

The meeting is long but well worth listening to.

2019 Bridgeport Spaulding School Board Meeting Schedule and Member Assignments

 

2018 Bridgeport Spaulding School Board Meeting Schedule and Member Assignments

Here is the meeting schedule for 2018 and contact information for the school board members

Bridgeport Spaulding School Board Meeting January 8th, 2018

On the agenda:
- Election of new officers begins at 0:40
- Approval of 2018 board meeting schedule begins at 5:08
- Approval of 2018 board member compensation and various other organizational business begins at 8:15
- Agenda Adjustments begins at 16:37
- School Board Recognition begins at 18:06
- Discussion and approval of working with R. C. Hendrick & Son Co. for repairs from the sinking fund monies begins at 20:00
- Discussion of Superintendent search begins at 23:13
- Report from Curriculum meeting begins at 28:04
- Report from Finance meeting begins at 30:03
- Reading and approval of board resolution in Opposition To Senate Bills 584-589 and 366 begins at 39:18
- Consent Agenda - approval of check register and meeting minutes begins at 45:18
- Board and Superintendent Comments begin at 46:04 ( includes updates from Acting Superintendent Melissa Cabine on the refunds for school employees of the money being returned from the state for health care costs )
© 2018 Carla Citizen All Rights Reserved

The audio for this meeting is better than for the Finance Committee meeting, but you will still have to turn your volume way up.

I would like to say Congratulations to the board members on your election to the various posts.  I thought that Pat Nelson would have been the perfect fit for the Treasurer position.  I have seen over the last 4 years that I have been attending township board meetings his dedication and hard work that he has done for the township.  He is a very detailed person, very knowledgeable, very hard working, very dedicated.

There are many informative updates in this meeting that are worth listening to.  It sounds like I missed a good Curriculum Committee meeting.  I wanted to attend but didn't have the time.  Hopefully I will be able to make it to one in the future.

They passed a board resolution in Opposition To Senate Bills 584-589 and 366.  It is in opposition to several bills currently in the Michigan Legislature that involve allowing guns in schools basically.  This is a hotly debated issue right now, but I am not going to get into that on this blog.  Robin Johnson does read the resolution out loud in this meeting and I do have a copy of the resolution if there is anyone that would like to read it.

Of interest to current and former employees is the update that Acting Superintendent Melissa Cabine gives concerning the refund of health care costs from the State of Michigan. 

Bridgeport Spaulding School Board Finance Committee Meeting January 8th, 2018

- Meeting starts with some budget updates by Melissa Cabine, including discussion about the sinking fund money
- Discussion with R.C. Hendrick & Son Co. about repair plans for the monies received from the sinking fund that was passed in November 2017 begins at 2:15
- Discussion of other finance and building & grounds business starts around 47:30
- Discussion of the Superintendent search begins at about 1:02:00
© 2018 Carla Citizen All Rights Reserved

Sadly I will start off 2018 with again having to apologize for the poor sound quality of the school board meetings.  When you are standing in the room and cannot even hear all the conversation, there is almost no chance you will be able to pick it up on the video.  I uploaded this once to YouTube but you could not hear it.  I did spend hours and hours redoing the video and made some improvement to the sound quality.  This is the best I can do since they will not use microphones and a speaker.
I did also have to "alter" this video by cutting out the last two minutes.  I am not sure when the meeting was officially adjourned because other people started entering the room and so all you can hear is a variety of voices and the camera had gotten bumped and was not focused on the board members any longer.

I feel the most important part of this meeting was the meeting with Chip Hendrick and the discussion for plans for the repair work that needs to be done in our school district.  I was shocked in November 2017 when the sinking fund passed by only 4 votes.  I am still irritated at the result, but very thankful to all the residents that voted yes for our students!  I hope every Bridgeport resident will take the time and listen to this discussion about the plans for the sinking fund and all the needs that our schools have.  I believe it was back in 2013 that Mr. Hendrick said he had prepared an estimate for the needed repairs and it far exceeded the possible 8 million dollars that the sinking fund will bring in over the next 10 years.  Some of those repairs have possibly been done since 2013, but I imagine there are new repairs that are needed now and I imagine that those costs have also risen since 2013.

They do talk about the search for a new School Superintendent since Mrs. Carol Selby will be retiring after the end of this school year.

On a mischievous note:  I should remind Robert Lange and John Rhines that notes passed between board members are FOIAable.  :-)

Bridgeport Spaulding School Board Meeting November 13th, 2017

I was able to attend Monday nights school board meeting and have the video here.  Sorry this is in 3 parts and I have not had the time to write the breakdown of when each agenda item starts at in the videos.  My video editing program refused to work with me last night so that is why it is in 3 parts.

The items on last nights meeting agenda were:
- Building & Grounds/Finance Committee Report
- Football Presentation with Coach Marshall and some of our Bearcats
- Middle School & High School Data Presentation.  You will hear from John Lagalo, Steve Baker and Jon Chapman
-  Discussion of the Career Technical Education (CTE) in Saginaw County.  This is a plan being put forth by the ISD.
- Board And Superintendent Comments

It was a good and informative meeting.  There will be another board meeting on Monday, November 27th.  

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Bridgeport Spaulding School Board Meeting August 14th, 2017

On the agenda:
- Student Growth Review begins at 1:17
- Blue Print Review begins at 22:41
- Blue Print Resolution And Discussion begins at 40:50
- High School Student Handbook Discussion begins at 47:23
- Consent Agenda begins at 56:46
- November 7, 2017 Special Election - Sinking Fund Resolution Discussion And Adoption begins at 1:01:01
- Emergency Seclusion And Restraint Policy Discussion And Adoption begins at 1:03:58
- Back To School Fun Fest begins at 1:09:32
- Board And Superintendent Comments begin at 1:13:44
© 2017 Carla Citizen All Rights Reserved

I shared this meeting video back in August on my Facebook page but never got it posted here on the blog. 

Bridgeport Spaulding School Board Meeting May 8th, 2017

On the agenda:
- Agenda Adjustments begins at 0:43
- Building & Grounds/Finance Committee Report and Action begins at 8:36
- Personnel Committee Report and Action begins at 14:59
- Consent Agenda begins at 21:12
- ISD Board Election Discussion begins at 22:04
- Discussion Of Sinking Fund Proposal begins at 25:40
- Board And Superintendent Comments begin at 37:42
© 2017 Carla Citizen All Rights Reserved