The Lowell Area Schools Board of Education met Monday evening for a work session that the public was welcome to attend. All board members were present, and there were no public comments made at this meeting.
Academic Achievement
Director of Curriculum Dan VanderMeulen said that, last week, representatives from across the district gathered for a MTSS (Multi-Tiered System of Support) meeting to go over best practices for reading and math. They also discussed behavioral data and data from the recent “student belonging” study.
PBIS (Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports) coaches were also present at the meeting to provide updates and share ideas with staff.
The MTSS committee meets three times a year, once per trimester.
VanderMeulen also shared that he and Lowell High School Principal Steve Gough traveled to the Genesee County ISD, where Gough was invited to participate in a panel and discuss the “Flex Time” program at the high school.
VanderMeulen said that a number of schools from across Michigan have visited Lowell High School to observe and learn more about how they make the Flex Time program work.
Class Sizes
The board received a packet of information containing an annual report on class sizes at LAS. (This packet and other materials given to the board can now be found on the district website under “Meeting Agendas, Board Packets and Minutes.”)
Some of the class sizes are close to the maximum contractual number of students, which range from 26 to 33, depending on the grade level. Superintendent Nate Fowler said that although the district isn’t there yet, if class sizes continue to grow, “…we’d be obligated to find relief for oversized classes,” and this would mean an additional cost for the district.
Facilities and Operations
The ad hoc facilities committee met last week to talk about sinking fund projects and to get some recommendations about summer projects. They will have a meeting this coming Monday about pricing for the schematic design for Cherry Creek Elementary’s renovation. Fowler said he was hopeful the board would be able to take a closer look at the design at the November work session.
Personnel
Director of Human Resources Dustin Cichocki said that he wanted to present the board with some stats pertaining to district nurses and the impact they’ve had for staff as well as students and their families.
LAS nurses saw roughly 375 students in the first month and a half of school. They also began various medical trainings with staff, including seizure training, student need and MERT (Medical Emergency Response Team) training.
The district is looking into same day virtual provider medical appointments through HealthBar, and the price for students and for staff members would be $15 per visit. Cichocki said that the district nurses could potentially assist with those visits, and it might be a good tool for intervention in simple cases like treating students with pink eye, sore throats, earaches, and other common ailments.
On Thursday, while students have a half day, CPI (Crisis Prevention Intervention) trainers will recertify other staff in de-escalation strategies and crisis management for students.
Finance
The audit for Fiscal Year 2023-24 was completed at the end of July, and District Chief Financial Officer Sonia Hodge presented the information to the board.
Overall, the district earned $428,739 more than they budgeted, and for expenditures, they were under budget by about $1,256,930. Hodge explained that the goal is always to bring in more money than what is budgeted and to spend less than what is budgeted. So the numbers for Fiscal Year 2023-24 are right where they should be. The final fund balance total is $10,133,856, with $450,000 of that set aside already for the purchase of some new buses.
Hodge said that looking ahead to this year, the district is not quite done with student count figures, but the preliminary numbers are showing an increase of students in the district. Last year, LAS was down 53 students, and the projection was that this downward trend would continue this year. But so far, that is not the case. The increased student count means an increase in the district’s total budget by about $614,000. Hodge said that more information will be coming next month when the final student count numbers are in.
Hodge said that for this year, another change is that the retirement rate for LAS staff will be going down 5.75%, “…which means the amount that we pay on every dollar that we pay in wages will go down 5.75 percentage points.” For this year, the state will be giving districts revenue to help offset that cost.
Another change the state is making to district budgets is to the 3% some employees have been paying towards health insurance for their retirement. Starting Oct. 1, 2025, employees will no longer have to pay that cost, and the district will likely be responsible for it. The district will be receiving some money this year towards the cost associated with this change, but it’s not yet clear how much they might receive.
NSBA Scholarship
The Kent Intermediate Association of School Boards is offering scholarships to cover registration fees for any board members in Kent County wanting to attend the NSBA’s (National Association of School Boards) upcoming conference on advocacy and equity. The conference will be held in February in Washington, DC, and staff must apply for the scholarship by November 15 if interested.
Insulin Class Action Lawsuit
The district has been invited to join a class action lawsuit for insurance companies and employers against the makers of insulin due to the high increase in cost for the medication. The cost of insulin has increased 1000% in the last two decades.
Fowler said he isn’t sure at this point what the potential financial recovery could be but said that in other, similar lawsuits, some districts have been able to recoup some of the costs associated with medications. A resolution to join the lawsuit will come before the board for a vote at the November board meeting.
Policies
There are a number of new and revised policies for the board to review, including some financial policies. The financial policies cover items like the process the board must follow for reviewing federal grant funding, including disclosure and the threshold for competitive bids.
Another bundle of policies to be reviewed includes some policies that have been revised due to a change in state law, including a policy that all coaches in the district are required to be trained in CPR and the use of AED.
The last bundle of policies to be reviewed has to do with students, including some new policies about artificial intelligence and how students will and will not be able to use AI in an academic setting.
The board went into closed session at the end of the meeting to discuss the superintendent’s evaluation.
The next meeting will be held on Monday, November 11, at 7 pm.
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