EL School Board Discusses Ceasefire Resolution

Citing East Lansing Public Schools’ students with family members in Palestine and Israel, Board of Education Treasurer Kath Edsall introduced a resolution calling for a ceasefire. Edsall said she hopes to add pressure to government officials in pursuing an end to the war raging since October 2023.

“I have been thinking about [this] for a long time,” Edsall said at the May 13 board meeting. “[It calls] for a bilateral, immediate ceasefire in Gaza and Israel and release of innocent civilians by the parties in conflict. For months, I’ve been wanting to do this and then it would seem like things, like there might be a ceasefire.

“It’s not going to go away on its own,” she said, “and the more of us that speak up and speak out can continue to pressure our own governments to get in there and bring this travesty to an end, at least to an end that is no longer violent.”

Edsall said she was within board policy and guidelines that “encourage, if not expect us to get involved with political issues that impact our school.”

“We have students in our school district from Palestine,” she continued. “We have students in our school district who are from Israel, who are Jewish. We have students who are Muslim.”

Edsall found cautious support from her colleagues on the school board.

“I think it’s important to show our students that we value their voices because we do and, I mean, I know of one alumni that is facing expulsion for peacefully protesting,” Board Secretary Tali Faris-Hylen said, referring to the widespread college protests. “I think if we speak out, and you know, we’re speaking to our mission statement to building these world citizens that unfortunately there’s so much weight on them, pressure to be the change makers, but they are and they’re doing it, and I think setting an example even by putting this resolution forth is meaningful.”

Board President Chris Martin wanted to ensure the language of the resolution doesn’t reflect any local examples of hate.

“What I like about the resolution as it’s written is that we’re not isolating any particular viewpoint or parties,” he said. “It’s a universal call for a ceasefire and I think…there have been a number of these that have come through different sources, and I think this one is very well balanced.

“The only other thing that occurs to me,” Martin added, “and I think that we should be crystal clear about the statements, you know, not tolerating Islamophobia or anti-Semitism. Those aren’t in response to anything that’s happened in our community. That is something that we’re just reaffirming as a value, correct, of the district and it’s not in response to anything. There’s no reason to believe that we don’t already do those things.”

Edsall agreed and indicated that she didn’t expect the board to vote on the resolution that night, but wanted to bring it to the attention of her colleagues, hoping for a vote at a June meeting.

The ceasefire resolution will come to the Board of Education months after the East Lansing City Council rejected a ceasefire resolution presented to it. Other school boards, such as Ann Arbor, have approved ceasefire resolutions. 

Board discusses bond proposal victory, approves contract with administrative assistants. 

In other news from the short 70-minute meeting, the board officially authorized the bond proposal, which was approved by voters at the May 7 special election. 

“I think we earned a lot of that trust by the success of the 2017 elementary school bond that Superintendent Leyko and the rest of her team did such a masterful job of completing the buildings,” Martin said. “They were built on time, at or under budget, and were able to take on a lot of things that we didn’t believe that we were going to be able to do when we first passed the money; all the extra bells and whistles like the solar panels, and the outdoor spaces, and the new playground equipment, and that’s–”

“And sidewalks,” Edsall interjected.

“Yeah, and dishwasher units and reusable trays,” Superintendent Dori Leyko added.

“Bike racks,” Edsall said. “Bike racks everywhere.”

“We still keep adding bike racks,” Leyko laughed.

“So many of the folks who saw that through are still with the district and are on this board,” Martin said. “So, it’s important we built up that trust. I think that the community’s trust in us is well-earned and I’m looking forward to seeing what happens with these spaces that we’re improving.”

Additionally, the collective bargaining agreement for district administrative assistants represented by the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) Local 1390 was unanimously approved by the board. 

The agreement comes after a lengthy period of negotiations between the union and district. ELi covered the, at times, contentious deliberations that lasted through much of the academic year.

The school board next meets on June 10 at 7:00 p.m. in the high school.