Menu

Dearborn Heights School District #7 board meeting, Sep 16, 2026

1 h 06 min · 1 public speaker

Reading and test scores ▶ 8:28

This board doesn’t post agenda times. Click a board member to jump to where they first speak; we list only members whose voice our check named. Video length 1 h 06 min.

  1. Who spoke · first speaks at
What happened

What happened at this meeting

Board approves elementary, OW Best and Annapolis High School handbooks 13:32

  • A staff member said the budget was built on 2,242 students and 2,256 students had shown up. 11:21
  • The board approved the OW Best and Annapolis High School handbooks and student codes of conduct. 14:29
  • The board approved one-year contracts for an assistant principal/athletic director at Annapolis High School and an assistant principal at O.W. Best. 15:59
  • A district staff member presented possible dress code language for the high school and middle school and said the board did not have to act on it; board members discussed the draft and said they would read it over and give more suggestions. 46:18

Until Nov 4, lines where a board member takes a side don't name the member. Why →

Item by item (15)
  1. Opening and agenda 3:57
    • Tawnya Sterlini called the meeting to order at 7:03 PM and read the district mission statement. 3:57
    • A quorum was announced after roll call. 5:10
    • The board took up the September 16, 2026 agenda with Agenda I added, and no one spoke at public comment on agenda items. 5:29
    • A motion carried, and no one spoke during public comment on agenda items. 6:12
  2. Superintendent's report on school start 6:21
    • A staff member said staff completed training including active assailant preparedness, bloodborne pathogens, mandatory reporting for child abuse, bullying recognition and Title IX training. 6:25
    • The staff member said the district was training teachers in reading interventions under the new dyslexia law and was landing on DIBELS as its assessment tool. 7:54
    • The staff member said the budget was built on 2,242 students, 2,256 students had shown up, and that number is critical for state aid. 10:57
  3. Non-certified staff appointments 11:45
  4. First reading of board policies 12:30
    • The board considered the first reading of Neola board policies including Policy 5136, Wireless Communications Devices; Policy 5200, Attendance; Policy 5500, Student Conduct; and Policy 5610, Emergency Removals, Suspensions, and Expulsions. 12:30
    • The motion carried. ~13:32
  5. School handbooks and codes of conduct 13:32
    • One board member said the pages in the elementary handbook were not numbered properly against the table of contents and needed to be fixed. 13:54
    • One board member said the dress code part of the handbook needed to be fixed. 15:21
    • Motions approving the OW Best and Annapolis High School handbooks each carried. 14:29
  6. Administrator contracts 15:59
    • Derek Wall asked whether the contract wording should be changed so the position read as athletic director for the district, and a staff member said it is athletic director for the district in the contract. 21:07
    • A staff member said the hiring process involved screening interviews, committee interviews and final interviews. 27:05
    • A motion approving the O.W. Best assistant principal contract carried. 21:54
  7. Conference attendance 28:44
    • The board considered a board member's attendance at the 2026 Annual Leadership Conference on October 15th through October 18th, 2026, in Lansing, with a total conference and class cost of $840 and additional costs not to exceed $2,000. 28:44
    • One board member said the conference matters because the district gets a vote there, and said lodging was hard to find because of a Michigan State game. 29:27
    • The motion carried. ~30:56
  8. Points of pride and facilities update 31:09
    • A staff member described a certification event for a facility dog at the Polk building. 32:37
    • A staff member said the Bedford Elementary playground project was completed and the district was awaiting installation of solar parking lots at Annapolis High School and a new pool pump. 36:01
    • A staff member described attending an Intro to School Business conference offered by MSBO. 37:54
  9. Special education classroom update 39:17
    • A staff member said a cross-categorical special education room opened at Bedford, currently has 3 students and is planned to max out at 7 or 8 students. 39:21
    • Alyse Stevanovic asked whether the district would add another such room, and a staff member said there is one right now as a pilot program and the district could look at more in the future. 42:44
  10. Handbook review process 44:20
    • Tawnya Sterlini said the handbooks would go back to principals for review and come back to the board in June or after school ends. 44:49
    • A staff member said the district should look at the Neola handbook template to possibly streamline the handbook. 45:12
  11. Draft dress code language 46:00
    • A staff member presented possible dress code language for the high school and middle school and said the board did not have to act on it. 46:18
    • One board member said the draft had 5 comments about pants and said the official had been more worried about shirts, and another board member said one waistline provision was enough. 50:55
    • One board member said the goal was for everyone to be on the same page because some administrators and teachers are harsher than others. 51:46
  12. Committee updates and state aid 57:09
    • Tawnya Sterlini said there were no updates from board committees. 57:09
    • A staff member said the district gets its first state aid October 20th. 57:39
  13. Public comment 57:53
    • A speaker at public comment raised concerns about the lack of lighting in the high school parking lot and asked about temporary lighting and the installation timeline. 58:12
    • A staff member said the district was investigating interest on the sinking fund and looking at pulling building and site fund dollars out of the general fund account. 59:29
    • A speaker asked about board approval of a curriculum guide, and Tawnya Sterlini said past boards voted on a curriculum list before the school year but that had not happened in several years. 1:02:16
  14. Staff recognition 1:04:12
    • Leslie Windless read a letter recognizing the plant engineer at Polk for taking on oversight of the grounds around the school building. 1:04:16
  15. Adjournment 1:05:08
    • The board took up a motion to adjourn at 8:05 PM. 1:05:08
    • The motion carried. ~1:05:35

Written by software from the meeting's transcript and checked sentence by sentence against it.

Other meetings

Other meetings of this board

Video: posted by the district as “D7 Board Meeting - 09/16/2026”