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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