Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Public Comment School Safety topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Parents urge stronger accountability and inclusiveness during public comment at East Lansing board meeting
Summary
Two public commenters urged the East Lansing School District board to address student safety and accountability at McDonald Middle School and to strengthen inclusiveness and cultural sensitivity in events and social media; the board closed public comment with no formal action taken.
At the Sept. 9 East Lansing School District board meeting, two members of the public used the allotted comment period to press the board on student safety, accountability and inclusiveness.
Betsy Plank said her family loves the district but described multiple incidents at McDonald Middle School that she said went unaddressed by staff, including verbal harassment and threats toward her daughter and a bus incident in which a driver was struck. "My daughter was told every day by a student last year to go kill herself every day," Plank said, and she told the board the district’s response left her family needing clinical support. Plank said her son was verbally harassed about his weight for years and that the school did not take effective steps until he physically responded; she said she supports accountability for students but believes disciplinary processes were uneven and that staff and administration must do more to protect students.
Brad Loots followed, urging the board to improve how it models inclusiveness. Loots criticized some Spirit Week activities (specifically "twin day") as exclusionary, said district social media posts had sometimes "othered" cultures (he cited a Hawaiian day post during summer school) and called for routine land acknowledgements at board meetings and graduations. He recommended the board leverage its DEI director to review event planning and public communications to prevent exclusionary practices.
The public comment period concluded without a recorded staff response addressing each allegation on the record; the board closed public comment and proceeded to action items. Superintendent Leo earlier noted that staff or the superintendent "may comment to clear up or avoid significant misunderstandings" during public comment, but no substantive on-the-spot remedial commitments were recorded in the transcript for these speakers. Plank said she is willing to work with the district to develop better policies and asked the board to reach out to her.
The board took no formal action during the meeting on the specific issues raised; members did not announce immediate investigations or personnel actions on the record during the session.
