The Lowell Area Schools Board of Education met Monday evening for their regularly scheduled monthly meeting. All board members were present, and the room was packed full of community members attending the meeting as well.
Student Council Report
Student Council President Conner Casarez reported that the boys’ wrestling team recently won its 12th state championship title and that the girls’ team was the state runner-up.
Casarez also said that this past weekend had been a big one for himself and the rest of the cast and crew of the high school’s new musical, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. The production sold out two of three shows for their opening weekend.
The musical has two more shows this Friday and Saturday at 7 pm, and tickets can be purchased online or at the door, assuming tickets are still available at showtime.
Overnight Student Trips
The board voted unanimously to approve two overnight student trips. One is an annual trip for the baseball team for spring break training, and the other is for a trip to Europe in 2026. The students who attend that trip will get the chance to visit France and Switzerland.
Middle School Student Belonging Report
One of the district’s school improvement goals is that every student at LAS feel a sense of belonging and feel as though they belong at school. Lowell Middle School Principal Abby Wiseman was at Monday’s meeting to present some information about what trying to attain that goal looks like at LMS.
Wiseman said that belonging is so important to the district because research shows that students who feel like they belong are more engaged in school, have higher academic performance, better mental health, better attendance and are more likely to graduate.
The importance of a sense of belonging is especially heightened for middle schoolers, as it is often a developmental period of great change both physically and mentally/emotionally for students.
Grade-level lead for the seventh grade, James Grulke, was there to talk about some of the ways middle school teachers make sure students feel they belong. Teachers try to ensure at least one teacher knows the names and faces of each individual student in that grade level. They also have assemblies to recognize all of the different sports and clubs and fun projects like posters the students make with some of their interests that hang in the hallways.
Members of the LMS Student Council were also at the meeting to talk about some of the ways the council specifically has implemented belonging into what they do. These include having different “theme” days and end of year celebrations for students, bullying prevention month activities, board games to play in the hallways during lunch, Valentine’s candy and a note for every student so that they feel seen and a “wishes wall” where students can express their hopes and goals.
Budget Amendment
District chief financial officer Sonia Hodge presented the board with an updated budget amendment for the district’s finances.
One challenge to the budget is the “fiscal cliff” caused by the elimination of ESSER funding. This funding was approved by the federal government and distributed by states to assist schools in addressing issues related to the COVID-19 pandemic. Hodge said that the board has been doing an excellent job balancing expenditures and revenue so that the transition to no longer having ESSER funding is a “soft landing.”
Another challenge is the declining birth rate in the district, which affects enrollment numbers. Hodge said that declining birth rates are a nationwide trend, not just something affecting LAS. Changes to the way district staff retirement is paid out will also be a major factor in the budget this year.
Overall, Hodge said that LAS ended the year with a fund balance of $10.1 million, and she’s projecting that the district will use about $227,000 of that, which would make the year end balance $9.9 million. Hodge said this is a healthy fund balance, and she is “…really happy with where we’re headed.” A final budget amendment for the year will be presented at the June board meeting.
Human Resources Update
March 15 marks the deadline for an early retirement incentive for teachers so a few retirement notifications have come in, allowing the district to begin planning in advance how to fill those positions for next year.
A new platform for staffing recruitment and job openings should be up and running in June.
Budget Update
The payroll manager has returned on a part-time basis, hopefully soon to be a full-time basis, and Hodge said she is thankful for her help.
Staff paying 3% of their paycheck into retirement funds will soon receive reimbursement because of changes to how the districts receive funding from the state for employee retirement.
Curriculum Update
Because of the reduction of ESSER funding, summer school will still be happening for elementary students who need it but on a smaller scale. The “summer boost” program will focus on students needing help with reading, math, or both. Credit recovery programs will continue again at the high school over the summer as well.
Parent-teacher conferences will be held next week for elementary students.
Public Comments
Eight people spoke during the public comments portion of the meeting.
In her comments, School of Choice parent Stefanie Boone referenced a recent Dear Colleague Letter sent out by the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights. The letter advised schools receiving federal funding that they considered any decisions based on race or national origin to be a violation of the 1964 Title VI Civil Rights Act.
Boone said that she feels a “MI Student Voice Perception Survey” students in grades 5-12 can fill out this month is a “violation.” Boone objected to the survey’s questions asking if students thought teachers and other students “treat people from all cultures, backgrounds, races/ethnicities, religions, abilities, etc. fairly.” Boone warned the board that the district needs to be “…very, very careful about the federal funding that we’re receiving as a district…”
She said that she wanted to know “…if we are actively working to get rid of DEI (diversity, equity and inclusion) in all of its forms…”.
The remaining seven speakers gave public comments in support of District Librarian Christine Beachler in the wake of a viral video taken by Boone at the last board meeting. In the video, Boone — who has filed a lawsuit against Beachler — asks the librarian where students can find the “adult book section.” The video was posted online and then reposted by several prominent accounts on the social medial platform X, resulting in threats being made against Beachler.
Lifelong Lowell resident and former LAS Board of Education member Mark Blanding commented that Boone’s years of protesting books in district libraries she deems “pornographic” seemed disingenuous, saying of her motivations: “…what she really wants is to cause trouble and make a name for herself to expand her following. There is no pornography in our libraries; there never has been.”
(Editor’s note: Boone has stated online that there are dozens of sexually explicit books in the LAS library but declined a request from Lowell’s First Look for a list of those titles.)
Blanding added that Beachler has been “…subject to (Boone’s) ire for years…,” at which point Boone interrupted, saying that his comments were “harassment.” Blanding continued, saying that Beachler is one of the best school librarians in the state, has won several awards for exemplary service and doesn’t deserve the treatment she’s received for doing the job she was hired to do.
Dr. Sara Hoeve, an English education professor at Hope College, said that she’s been researching “conflict campaigns” across the United States for the past five years. For the past three years, she’s also been researching the “Lowell Kids 1st” group (Boone is the founder and president of the group) and their campaign to restrict and remove books from district libraries.
Hoeve called Boone’s and Lowell Kids 1st’s actions “…the most vicious and targeted attack on one educator I have found.”
She listed out what she said was “just a portion” of what Boone has stated publicly about Beachler, often posted online with a picture of Beachler and her full name:
“Christine pushes obscene materials on children”, “she runs the good old porn club under the guise of literacy”, “she fills the shelves with obscene and pornographic books”, “she explains the porn away and justifies porn for kids”, “she promotes perverse sexual content as she champions and fights for sexually explicit material”, “Christine is a smut peddler”, “she’s a danger to children”, “she’s bold for flaunting her smut and pushing to bring in more pornography for minors…”
Hoeve also mentioned some of the things that Boone’s followers in Lowell Kids 1st have said about Beachler, including “…she is either stupid or evil”, “get this groomer and her smut out of the library”, and “these pedophiles are trying to mess with our children’s minds.” She said that Beachler has received death threats via private message, was subject to a “physical confrontation” while attending a family gathering in a local park, and that she is afraid to go to the grocery store, to church, or to return to work.
Several community members urged the board and administration to do everything they can to halt the personal attacks on LAS staff. One resident said of Boone’s current lawsuit against the district, “…do not settle…it’s harassment. Think about all of the time and effort you’ve wasted on this issue…”.
Superintendent’s Report
Regarding the MI Student Voice Perception Survey that Boone mentioned in her comments, Superintendent Nate Fowler said, “…we saw tonight some of the middle school presentation…(and) what we’ve done with that information, how we’ve been able to turn those into actual steps to increase belonging…”.
Of Boone’s concerns about race being mentioned in the survey, Fowler said that he remembered a time many years ago, when he was assistant principal at the middle school, when, “…we heard from families who had students of color in Lowell Area Schools and heard about their experiences…”. He added, “…it is important for us to continue to ask those questions…to continue to have conversations about race…in a way that is constructive, in a way that promotes belonging for everybody.”
Of the concerns about the high school library and the accusations against Beachler, Fowler said that there are some books restricted to seniors because of mature themes. He added that if parents have concerns and don’t want their children accessing those (or any) books, there is a system in place for requesting that.
He described the “fallout” from the viral video of Beachler as “disruptive” and said that, “…it’s important for us to think about how to have respectful conversations, to have appropriate conversations…where everybody’s voices are heard.” Fowler added that he appreciated people coming to the meeting to comment their support and thanked Beachler and all of the library staff, teachers and administrators.
Board Communications
Six of the seven board members expressed their support for Beachler, including board member Jennifer Dougherty, who said of the high school library, “…There are books in our library that people will not agree with. That’s what happens when you have a diverse group of families with different backgrounds and different beliefs. We take our families’ belief systems very seriously…”.
Dougherty reiterated that every family has the option to restrict their child’s access to library books they don’t agree with, and there is a policy in place for community members to formally challenge a book they feel should be removed from the library. She added that though Boone was familiar with these procedures and policies, she chose instead to share the viral video and misinformation online, resulting in death threats made to Beachler.
She added:
“It is time for all of us to say enough is enough, and we won’t tolerate mistreatment of our staff. If Stefanie Boone has a problem with our policies, she should follow the proper procedures instead of bullying and attacking our employees for doing the jobs that we’ve asked them to do. I fully support our employees and will do whatever I can to stop the irresponsible and vicious behavior towards our staff.”
Board member Annie Whitlock said that she supports all LAS staff, but that supporting staff doesn’t mean being “against” the community. She said:
“…there’s no school versus community; school is the community, the community is the school…there’s no parents versus teachers. I have never had any sort of reason to not want to work with my child’s teachers in a way that is respectful and not harassing…when we do the “gotcha” stuff, when we do the bullying thing, we are setting up this division that does not actually exist…we are all on the same side, which is to help students.”
Board Vice President Laurie Kuna said that she wanted to add:
“…we hear First Amendment rights…and we all have those rights, but…you cannot shout , ‘Fire!’ in a crowded theater. That is illegal…when those First Amendment rights start to endanger people, that is when you’re breaking the law…we are a great school district, and I hope that we will continue to support the people that are making our district great.”
The meeting was adjourned at 8:32 pm. The next meeting is a work session for the board that the public is welcome to attend. It will be held on Monday, March 24 at 6 pm.
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