• From: Lisa Papas <papasl@gpschools.org>
    Date: Sat, Oct 14, 2023 at 6:04 PM
    Subject: Re: GPPSS - Board Meeting Calendar (October - December 2023)
    To: Ahmed Ismail <ismaila@gpschools.org>, Grosse Pointe School Board <schoolboard@gpschools.org>, Valarie St. John <stjohnv@gpschools.org>


    Parent teacher conferences are not an automatic conflict with a meeting.    I simply responded that I looked at the calendar and sent my conflict as requested.    If the situation were reversed and you asked for people and they did not respond with any conflicts and then asked to reschedule something after the fact, I am sure you would be frustrated as well. 

    You spend a lot of time emphasizing how hard our district central office is working, and you should realize that all these meetings and reschedules if needed, affect many of them as well.   

    President Ismail did not chide you personally.   He did share his frustration which is totally understandable.   

    You could simply apologized and moved on.  

    Quite simply, some of us are “damned if we do, or damned if we don’t” in your eyes.  

    I have no problem with understanding if something comes up, there is a lot going on and all of us can forget something.  Perfectly understandable.   

    To say that you didn’t know about parent/teacher conferences until now is a strange excuse.   They are on numerous calendars and papers from the beginning if the school year.   Again, being in our district for a short time, you might not have been aware of that.    

    Lisa Papas


    On Sat, Oct 14, 2023 at 5:51 PM Valarie St. John <stjohnv@gpschools.org> wrote:
    Trustee Papas,

    For someone who recently chided me for what you perceived to be “gotcha moments,” you sure are enjoying this opportunity! 

    In my initial email to Mr. Ismail, I apologized for not having realized the conflict sooner. I suppose I assumed our board president would consult the school calendar when scheduling meetings so far ahead of time, but assuming any consideration from our board officers has been my mistake this entire year.

    Enjoy your weekend,

    Valarie St. John
    (she/her/hers)
    GPPSS Board of Education trustee


    On Sat, Oct 14, 2023 at 5:41 PM Lisa Papas <papasl@gpschools.org> wrote:


    On Sat, Oct 14, 2023 at 10:26 AM Valarie St. John <stjohnv@gpschools.org> wrote:
    Mr. Ismail,

    There is no need to publicly vent your frustration toward me. At the time of your initial email regarding scheduling, I did not have the dates of middle school conferences. I informed you of the conflict as soon as I was aware of it. 

    I understand you would like to set the schedule for meetings months ahead of time, but this is an example of why that’s not possible for working parents. Sporting events, concerts, and other school activities are often scheduled with a couple weeks’ notice. This is unavoidable and is one of the reasons open and frequent communication regarding scheduling is important.

    Sincerely,
    Valarie St. John
    (she/her/hers)
    GPPSS Board of Education trustee


    On Sat, Oct 14, 2023 at 10:20 AM Ahmed Ismail <ismaila@gpschools.org> wrote:
    Hello, fellow bcc'd board members,

    Attached you will find an updated calendar of meetings from now through the end of the year.  Sincere thanks to Dr. Bishop, Mrs. Fuga, Mr. Veltri and Mr. Geresy for the hours you invested in working with me to find venues for our meetings.

    Please note the following:

       1.  OCTOBER 24 BOARD MEETING.  You will note that there is a ?? as to the end time of this meeting.  The reason for this is that a number of board members have requested that we not have an October 25 overflow meeting.  I anticipate if we get to 10:30pm on the 24th, a motion will be made to extend the meeting rather than to meet on the 25th.

       2.  NOVEMBER 14 BOARD MEETING.  This meeting will last as long as it has to last, as we do not have a venue for a meeting on November 15.  Please plan accordingly.

       3.  NOVEMBER 28 MEETING.  This meeting will last as long as it has to last as there is no other venue available for an overflow meeting on November 29th.  Please plan accordingly.

       4.  DECEMBER 6 AND 7 MEETINGS.  Please note that these meetings will be held in the North PAC.

       5.  DECEMBER 12 AND 13 MEETINGS.  Please note that the December 12 meeting will be held at Brownell.  In the event that an overflow meeting is needed, it will be held at Grosse Pointe North in the PAC.

    Lastly (in a venting of frustration) this past week I received a few emails from board members asking for changes to the schedule as a result of things they have going on in their lives that conflict with our meeting dates.  Ironically, they were requests from board members who never bothered to provide me with their upcoming schedule commitments when I asked for them weeks ago.  When I send emails asking for your input on your schedules for the upcoming months, I don't do it for my health.  I do it to try to accommodate as many of your requests as possible and still ensure that we have a quorum of board members at our meetings.  Actually taking the time to respond to my requests for your upcoming commitments in a timely manner would be a good first step in avoiding conflicts in the future.

    Respectfully,

    Ahmed Ismail

    Ahmed Ismail, President
    Grosse Pointe Public School System - Board of Education
    Office:  313-343-9060

    Note:  The opinions expressed in this email are those of the sender and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the balance of the Board of Trustees and/or the administration of the Grosse Pointe Public School System. Emails sent to or from this email address are accessible by the public under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA).