The Lowell Area Schools Board of Education met on Monday evening for their regularly scheduled monthly board meeting. Member Tom Kaywood was absent; all other board members were present for the meeting.
Student Council Report
Student council president Conner Casarez reported that varsity football had “…an amazing run.” The team won their first playoff game against Cedar Springs, and Casarez added that though they lost to Dewitt in their final game, it was “…not without playing hard until the last minute.”
Casarez also reported that this week marks the last week of the first trimester, and for students, that means end-of-trimester exams. He said that the student council will attempt to assuage some of the stress of exams by handing out donuts later this week and putting up fun posters around the school.
Cherry Creek Elementary Report
Three representatives of Cherry Creek Elementary were at the meeting to present some information about their experience with professional learning communities (PLC): Principal Craig Veldman, third grade teacher Betsy Owens, and Coordinator of Student Support Peter Lang.
Principal Veldman began by explaining that the vision statement at Cherry Creek is “Enabling every child to reach their full potential.” He said there was an emphasis on “every” because the focus for staff is to ensure that “…we work together to make sure we reach every single one of (the students) and help them meet their full potential.”
Veldman said that professional learning consists of three main ideas:
- The work is focused on student learning as the top priority.
- There is collaboration within high functioning interdependent teams.
- The work is focused on data-driven results.
He further explained that within the PLC at Cherry Creek, there is one main building leadership team that helps to drive the focus of the work. In addition, there are many professional learning teams (PLTs) as well, such as a grade level PLT, a special education PLT, and an art or physical education PLT. The teams meet roughly 20 times a year for 45 minutes each time.
The PLC and PLTs seek to answer four essential questions in their work:
- What do we expect students to learn and be able to do?
- How will we know when students have learned?
- How do we respond if students do not learn?
- How do we respond if students already know the material?
Director of Student Support Peter Lang explained that the professional learning community is all about “Teachers helping teachers be better teachers,” which he said is a saying he borrowed from Director of Curriculum Dan VanderMeulen.
Teacher Betsy Owens gave one example of how the third grade professional learning team works together to solve problems.
Last year, when third grade students began a new math unit — though the teachers worked hard to teach the material — student assessments at the end of the unit demonstrated that the majority of third graders did not pass with a mastery score (above 70%). This caused the third grade teachers to regroup and work collaboratively to identify those students who needed re-teaching and determine how to go about that.
For instance, the team came up with approaches that involved using online tools or hands-on math tools to help the students learn in a different way. The math PLT also identified that the unit — which was complicated, long, and taught at the start of the school year — was maybe better presented later in the year, instead of right after summer break when students weren’t yet in full “learning mode.”
Veldman finished up the presentation by talking about another facet of professional learning; the student leadership team at CCE. The team is made up of 10 fifth graders who have their own vision statement: “Providing Cherry Creek students a voice to make our school a better place.”
The team of students meets monthly, and last week, held their own election. The election consisted of asking all Cherry Creek students about their preferences for a new playground planned as part of the upcoming renovation of the elementary school. Students received “I voted” stickers and filled out ballots with questions like what substrate they’d like to see in the new playground or which playground design they liked best.
Action Items
Summer Tax Resolution
The board unanimously voted to pass a summer tax resolution that would allow the district to split their levy over summer and winter.
Chief Financial Officer Sonia Hodge said that this was important because the district doesn’t receive any state aid in September. Splitting the levy allows the district to make sure that there is sufficient cash flow to cover their obligations, particularly with payroll.
Hodge explained, “It’s also a busy time of year; school is just getting started, there’s a lot of purchasing going on, so this is a really key area of making sure we’re able to meet those obligations without having to borrow funds.”
Insulin Lawsuit Resolution
The board also voted unanimously to approve an insulin lawsuit resolution, which would allow the district to join in a nationwide lawsuit against the manufacturers of insulin for “…artificially inflating insulin prices at the expense of employers and health plan entities…”.
The hope is that LAS and other school districts may be able to recoup some of the funds spent on inflated insulin prices. There would be no legal fees the district would have to pay if no settlement is reached.
Student Overnight Trips
The board passed a motion to allow the high school girls’ basketball team to go on two different overnight trips: one later this month to Camp Henry in Newaygo for a team-building experience and another in January for an out of town tournament.
Human Resources Update
Last week, open enrollment for employee health insurance ended. District employees were given information by human resources and insurance representatives about the plans and any changes since last year’s enrollment.
Director of HR, Dustin Cichocki, said that when the finance office has completed their transition of acclimating to the new finance software, he’ll need to find a new applicant tracking system for the district. There are three larger companies that the district can use for job postings and for potential employees to apply for jobs. Cichocki said that he and Superintendent Nate Fowler will go through the options and choose the best one for the district’s needs.
Previously, LAS and other districts were part of a consortium that used the applicant tracking system Frontline, but the consortium is dissolving. A decision needs to be made whether to stay with Frontline and build a new platform to do so or choose one of the new systems through other companies. A decision needs to be made by April-May of 2025.
Budget Update
Hodge reported that the district is now live on a new software system, Skyward. Trainings for Hodge and her team will continue in the coming weeks to help the finance team learn the various aspects of the new system.
The district’s recent audit received an “unmodified” opinion by the auditors, which is the highest rating they can give and means that they have determined that the financial statements are an accurate representation of the district’s finances. The audit is available to be viewed by the public on the district website on the budget transparency page.
Part of the audit report details the performance of the district’s general fund, which shows that the district’s revenues came in $428,000 higher than budgeted. Expenditures came in $1.25 million less than budgeted. Hodge said that these figures meant that the district had budgeted appropriately, and the numbers are right where they should be.
Curriculum Update
VanderMeulen thanked the Cherry Creek staff that came to give the report on professional learning and said that what is “absolutely critical” for professional learning teams is time. Time for adult learning to be able to happen, for teachers to meet and collaborate. VanderMeulen said that his team is always looking for ways to fit in more time for teachers to engage in professional learning, and a frequent request that he hears from educators is that they need more time to meet with their professional learning team as their work continues to evolve.
Public Comment
Longtime Lowell resident and former LAS teacher Kim Lum wished everyone a happy Veteran’s Day and said that her dad was a veteran who served in the Korean Conflict. Lum said that her dad gave her a gift; the gift of her name. Lum said she wanted everyone to reflect on the power of their names, which she said was something that she used to do with her second grade students when she taught at Cherry Creek Elementary. Lum said that she used that as a way to honor and respect her students and encouraged everyone to “…keep using people’s names, no matter how hard they are to say…because a name is our gift.”
School of Choice parent Stefanie Boone said that she appreciated the district’s transparency in providing the budget audits for the public to view but wondered whether the public could know more, saying that for “…a line item that says, ‘Amazon purchase for $2,000’, is that available to the public to see what was purchased…was it pencils, was it pronoun stickers? What was it?”
Boone also said that she hoped the board would reach out to her regarding bringing “…transparency to our books in our schools” and said she was tired of being “shut out.”
Lowell resident Peggy Rapelje said that she misspoke in her comments to the board at the September meeting. “I made a comment about whether or not the board would receive money if they passed Title IX…I didn’t mean the board members, I meant the district.” Rapelje said she thought the district would receive money “…if more kids qualified for special services under gender identity or gender confusion…”.
Rapelje went on to say that she did some research about children who are “gender confused” and concluded that “…their thoughts and processes and behaviors are not normal…it’s not normal for a female to go around thinking she’s a male or vice versa, it’s just not normal…”.
Regarding the Title IX policy changes, which the board has tabled for now and which make no mention of any change in bathroom policy, Rapelje said, “…rather than passing something where the kids can go to the opposite bathrooms, exposing other kids to possible risk, that there become an interdisciplinary team to treat them physically, mentally, emotionally, psychologically and not promote the abnormal behavior…”.
Superintendent’s Report
Fowler thanked veterans for their service, including his father and grandfather, who both served in the military. The superintendent also noted that Lowell High School Principal Steve Gough served in the Persian Gulf War.
Fowler also congratulated the incumbent board members who won seats on the board in the recent election and will continue to serve, as well as newcomer Annie McMahon Whitlock, who was present in the audience.
Fowler reminded the audience to keep an eye on the Michigan legislature during its lame-duck session, saying that there could be a lot of activity in the coming weeks. He reminded everyone of the “…importance of staying engaged with our lawmakers and making sure that they’re working to work together to help address some of the issues that we face.”
Fowler congratulated LAS athletes on a successful season and also congratulated the cast of the recent high school play, Game of Tiaras, for a successful production. He added that he was also looking forward to the “collage concert” the following day, a fundraiser for the LAS music program.
Fowler reported that the results of the October district student count are in, and reports are showing that the student count is up 18 students from the preceding year. Fowler said he was excited to see the gain in enrollment numbers in the district.
Finally, Fowler thanked Lowell Fire Chief Cory Velzen and his team at the Lowell Area Fire Department for their help in conducting joint drills with the district’s medical emergency response teams recently. He said appreciated the partnership and their help in making sure LAS students are safe and secure.
Board Communication
Several board members thanked the veterans of Lowell for their service.
Board Secretary Pat Nugent also thanked Hodge and her team, saying that sometimes the importance of a good audit report gets glossed over, but he felt that their hard work is “…so important to the work that we do in our district…and to be able to get about the business of what the district needs to do for teaching and learning, because the people who are in charge of our finances are doing such a good job…”.
Nugent also said that every year, the Lowell Education Foundation gives out grants to LAS teachers to help them do more with their students, especially with materials that may not be in the district’s budget. The foundation recently awarded $27,000 in 28 different grants to teachers all over the district. Board members Nugent and Jessica Curtis serve on the board for the foundation.
Board President Brian Krajewski wished “…all of my fellow hunters that are going out on Friday a safe and successful hunt, and to take some time to really enjoy nature and enjoy being out in the woods.”
The meeting was adjourned at 8:17 pm. The next meeting for the board will be a work session that the public is welcome to attend on Monday, November 25, at 6 pm.
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