30 | NOVEMBER 3 • 2024 Yeshiva Beth Yehudah Special Edition J
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attended the conference. He and his
business partner, Yitz Miller, have
been working together for about the
last six months to build their compa-
ny. “We were both interested in what
the Yeshiva is doing as well as con-
necting with some folks to let them
know about our program and seeing
how we can continue to support
the work that the Yeshiva is doing,”
Santus said.
“The breadth of services, the
number of families they support,
the number of professionals helping
in that program, I would say is far
and beyond what I’ve seen in most
private schools,” he added. “This
symposium is helping to build
awareness, both for schools and
families as to what resources and
tools do exist. I think the Yeshiva is
doing a great job of demonstrating
their awareness of these tools,
incorporating those tools, and
then showing the outcomes with
the children and the families that
they work with. They’re setting an
example. But a more complex issue
of bringing this level of service to
children everywhere is funding.”

The symposium ended with a
panel discussion moderated by
Angelique Power, President and
CEO of the Skillman Foundation.
The panel included Dr. Nikolai Vitti,
Superintendent of Detroit Public
Schools Community District; Eric
Haley, Associate Superintendent
of the Southern District of Detroit
Catholic Schools; and Dr. Colleen
Allen, President of the Autism
Alliance of Michigan. Much of the
discussion focused on how sufficient
funding was an obstacle for many
school districts.
“Equity is often confused with
equality,” Dr. Vitti said. “Equality
is about giving everyone the same.
Equity is essentially giving more to
those who need more or have greater
needs. The danger is that too many
children who deserve the same ser-
vices offered at the Yeshiva do not
receive what they deserve because
of socioeconomic background, zip
code or race. It’s the traditional
public school system that is charged
with educating those children. When
I hear about schools where those
resources are not present, I know
it’s not because people don’t care or

because of incompetency. It is a mat-
ter of funding.
“It’s been interesting just sitting
in this room with people that I
know, that I’m never in a room
with, and I’m wondering how do
we get together more to share best
practices? I do believe there’s an
opportunity for more collaboration
and hopefully others in the room
can help put that together and we

can just learn from each other. We
have to go beyond our own homes,
our own communities, and start to
advocate for children and families
and communities that don’t have
access to the same resources,” Dr.
Vitti encouraged.
The Yeshiva plans a follow up
symposium for next spring. You can
learn more about the Yeshiva and the
Grosfeld Center at www.yby.org.

“THE EDUCATION
OF EVERY CHILD,
ESPECIALLY THOSE
WHOSE POTENTIAL
MIGHT NOT BE
OBVIOUS, IS AN
OBLIGATION THAT

WE ALL SHARE. ”

— JAMES GROSFELD

Educators, policy makers and
other stakeholders were part of
this well attended gathering.

Jim Grosfeld spoke
passionately about
the obligation
to support the
educational needs
of all children.

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