The Lowell Area Schools Board of Education met Monday evening for their regularly scheduled meeting. Vice-President Laurie Kuna was absent, but all other board members were present.
New Hire
The meeting started out with the usual approval of minutes, payment of bills and other recurrent board matters.
Superintendent Nate Fowler mentioned a new hire for the district: Matt Laura.
Laura had been serving as the coordinator of student support for the past year in a long-term sub position but will now be hired on as an at-risk counselor at the middle school for the upcoming school year.
Marsha Wilcox Award
Fowler and Board President Brian Krajewski stood to present this year’s Marsha Wilcox Award to longtime educator and LAS volunteer Liz Pratt.
Fowler said that the award goes to someone who demonstrates “…unselfish devotion to public service and…dedication to the Lowell community…,” as well as to LAS.
Of Pratt, Fowler said, “If you have ever attended an athletic event in Lowell and you know Liz Pratt is in attendance, you’ve heard her enthusiasm for seeing our student athletes perform their best. That enthusiasm for student success and pride in our community goes well beyond the bleachers at a wrestling match or at a football game.”
In addressing Pratt, he added: “You’ve tutored many of our students in math…been a key volunteer at Pink Arrow…organized work groups to rebuild ticket booths, (and the) concession area…”
Fowler noted that Pratt was the driving force to install the Red Arrows logo on top of the press box at the high school stadium. She has also been willing to do “whatever else needed to be done (so that) our community could be proud to host events in that stadium.”
Pratt was awarded a plaque by the board for her volunteer service to LAS. Her name will be added to a special plaque that hangs in the administration building and on a leaf that will hang on the “tribute tree” at the high school. Additionally, a donation will be made to the Lowell Education Foundation in Pratt’s honor.
Action Items
The board voted unanimously to purchase some additional furniture for the middle school from Holland Desk and Chair for roughly $135,000.
Fowler said some of the remaining funds from the 2019 bond proposal, which also funded the new middle school, had been set aside for the purchase of additional furniture as needed for classrooms, in the common areas and in the media center.
The board voted to approve the LEA (Lowell Education Association) contract. Fowler thanked those who worked on negotiations for the contract, saying, “…a lot of conversation and a lot of work went into this to benefit our employees but also to benefit our students and student learning as well.”
Director of Human Resources Dustin Cichocki said that there was a 3.5% step increase in employee salary, which he said was a “very common increase across the county.” Other additions to the new contract include changes to how employees can use personal leave time to make it easier for the time to be used.
The board also voted to approve the purchase of a new audio system for the Lowell Performing Arts Center (LPAC) for roughly $135,000. Fowler thanked LPAC Director Jules Crawford and Chief Financial Officer Sonia Hodge for their work in preparing the specifications for the new audio system and working to get several bids from several different companies so that LAS would get the best system for the best price.
Crawford and Hodge were also able to apply for a grant from the Lowell Cable Television Fund, which will help offset the cost of the new sound system. The new system should be installed in 4-6 months.
Board members voted to authorize Hodge to contract with Baker Tilly Investment Services to direct the investment of bond proceeds with UMB Bank acting as custodian.
Hodge explained that while the construction and renovation of Cherry Creek Elementary is ongoing, Baker Tilly would help the district invest money that would just be sitting in an account to maximize returns.
Additionally, the board voted to approve a resolution to join Michigan CLASS investment pool for the investment of surplus funds. Hodge said the resolution would be for the liquid surplus funds that the district might need to access quickly and that the district would pool funds with other districts and townships who participate, which lowers fees.
Human Resources Update
Cichocki said that he met with the director of transportation recently to discuss ways to recruit and retain bus drivers for the district and had been working on non-union contracts so that they can get sent out to teachers.
Budget Update
Hodge asked the board for feedback regarding monthly financial reports for the district. Specifically, she wanted to know whether there were items in the reports that were helpful or any that really weren’t so that when switching over to the new finance software, they can eliminate anything the board doesn’t find useful.
Hodge also asked for some grace in the coming months while switching to the new software and asked the board’s permission to pare back information provided and skip any unnecessary reports for a few months during the transition.
Hodge also reported that the State of Michigan released their budget recently, and she provided documents for the board to review regarding the changes in the budget and how they compare to previous years.
Hodge said that while LAS will get a $400 increase in per pupil funding, other districts in Michigan may only be getting about $300 per pupil and some close to $700. Hodge said these differences largely depend on the type of payroll expenses that districts have, rather than on the needs of the district.
She added that, “…it’s very frustrating to hear that there’s all this new money but it’s really not being allocated in an equitable manner.”
Curriculum Update
Director of Curriculum Dan VanderMeulen reported that summer school was underway again after a break for the July 4 holiday and that over 50 high schoolers were utilizing the new on-site summer school classes for credit recovery, racking up a total of roughly 125 credits. In past years, students would have to travel to the Kent ISD building if they wanted to make up credits they needed to graduate, and the trek resulted in far fewer students being able to access these services.
The test scores of students taking AP classes have been reported, and more than 80% of students taking the tests received qualifying scores. This is a 15% increase in qualifying students in comparison to last year.
VanderMeulen pointed to high school AP literature teacher Jeff Larsen, who was present in the audience, and reported that in Larsen’s class, 23 of the 25 students earned qualifying scores in AP literature.
Public Comment
Retired Cherry Creek Elementary teacher Kim Lum shared with the board the story of her former student, Kate Brim, whom Lum said came to Michigan from an orphanage in the Ukraine to be part of a family here in Lowell many years ago. In addition to a challenging childhood, Brim faced new challenges as a teen when a surgery injured her spine and caused a loss of strength and function in her limbs.
“But,” Lum said, “she didn’t give up.” In fact, Brim qualified recently for the Paralympics, one of only 13 hand cyclists chosen from across the country to compete for the USA team.
Lum said she had many former Lowell students who went on to do wonderful things, and she hoped that it was, in some small way, the result of the Lowell community members and LAS staff who supported them along the way.
Longtime Lowell resident and former LAS Board of Education member Mark Blanding said that recently he read a book titled “The Impossible First,” a true story about the first person to ever cross the entirety of Antarctica alone. Blanding said he found the book inspiring and said that there were many positive, important messages in the book. Blanding went on to say that in the first chapter of the book, the author used the “f word.”
Blanding referred to public comments made by Stefanie Boone at last month’s meeting, when she said it was hypocritical of the district to punish her son for using the “f word” in class while also allowing books with the word in the libraries. Blanding asserted that he didn’t see those two things as contradictory at all, and he thought that the word could be used in literature where appropriate but not in a school setting.
Referring to comments from last month’s meeting regarding the board changing the wording of their policies as required by the State of Michigan when state law is changed, parent Stefanie Boone commented, “I’m concerned that sometimes our board has these packets put in front of them and has not been fully informed on the things that they are actually voting on. To the effect that you’re voting on changing and removing policies that you have no idea what you’re doing.”
Boone called out the administration saying, “Instead of pushing forward on changing policy preemptively, why aren’t you fully informing our board about the things that are truly going on?”
Superintendent’s Report
Fowler thanked staff preparing buildings and grounds for the upcoming school year and said that the renovation of the high school CAD lab is underway. He added that design meetings had begun for the renovation of Cherry Creek Elementary and for the school bus wash.
Fowler said that one of the summer camps going on right now, the Junior Master Gardener camp at the Wittenbach center, had some help with an upcoming project: Big L Lumber in Clarksville donated lumber to help the students build new raised flower beds in the garden there.
Regarding a recent lawsuit filed against the district, Fowler said,
“Lowell Area Schools acknowledges that Mrs. Boone has filed a lawsuit against the district and a number of its individual employees. We have retained counsel to represent and defend the district and its employees against this lawsuit and be sure that the lawsuit is fully defended. Lowell Area Schools denies Stefanie Boone’s claims and will continue to focus its efforts on educating our students.”
Board Communications
As a response to Boone’s assertions about the board in her public comments, board member Jennifer Dougherty said that the board doesn’t just vote on policies without being fully informed. She said that the board is always provided with a great deal of information on matters necessitating a vote, and the board asks questions and has many discussions before a final vote is cast.
Krajewski thanked the negotiations team and fellow board members for their collaborative work on the LEA contract.
The meeting was adjourned at 8:02 pm. There is no second meeting in July, so the board will next meet on Monday, August 12, at 7 pm.
Leave a Reply