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Flint board meeting opens with grief after student’s death; parents and paraprofessionals press for stronger safety and clearer school response
Summary
At a Committee of the Whole meeting, the board opened with a moment of silence for a student killed in community violence and heard multiple public comments about classroom safety, a parent account of a serious injury, and calls for better communication and partnerships; the superintendent pledged follow‑up and the board agreed to two‑part public‑comment responses.
Board President Dr. McNeil opened the Flint Board of Education Committee of the Whole meeting with a request for a moment of silence after the death of a student who attended Brownell. “It would be discerning to her family…to start this meeting without us giving a moment of thought and prayers,” Dr. McNeil said as the meeting began.
Public commenters framed the meeting around grief and safety. “This does have to stop,” Carmela Johnson, president of Flint Community Schools paraprofessionals, said, urging the district to address repeated violence in classrooms and warning that paraprofessionals feel unsafe on the job. Johnson said paraprofessionals have raised repeated complaints and asked the board for stronger protections and follow‑through.
A grandparent, Tina Burns, described a separate safety concern at Durant Terry Mott, saying her grandson—a student with special needs—suffered a deep forehead laceration and “the school did not call an ambulance.” She told the board the family waited roughly 30 minutes for a parent to arrive and said she had not received promised follow‑up from school administrators.
Several trustees and Superintendent Jones responded directly to commenters and to the district’s broader safety challenges. Superintendent Jones said staff would follow up on Burns’s complaint and on the concerns raised about outside programs being turned away, adding, “We’ll follow‑up with that as well.” The board voted 6–0 with one absence to split board member comments into two parts: brief immediate responses to public comment and fuller follow‑up after the meeting.
Students and community members urged training and community partnerships as part of the response. Audrey Young Mohammed, who attended a community forum on gangs at Mott College, urged intensive teacher training to spot gang signs and offered to help form a task force; a fifth‑grade student, Amaria, described the student who died as “a kind friend” and said classmates miss her.
The board and superintendent said they would attend the family’s funeral and present a resolution on behalf of the district. Trustees repeatedly emphasized the need for more coordinated communication between families, building staff and central office and pledged follow‑up investigations and partners’ accountability.
What’s next: The board asked the superintendent’s office to follow up individually with families who raised incidents, to report back to trustees and to continue work with community partners on violence prevention and behavioral‑health supports.
