On Monday evening, the Lowell Area Schools Board of Education met for their monthly work session. Board member Jessica Curtis was absent, but all other members were present for the meeting.
Public Comments
Stefanie Boone, an Ada resident whose children attend LAS through the Schools of Choice program, said she “wanted to make the board aware” of a situation that had occurred recently. It concerned her son, an 11th grader at Lowell High School and one of his assignments for an English/Language Arts (ELA) course. In order to submit the assignment online, her son had to enter his name and, on one screen, choose his preferred pronouns. The options were he/him/his, she/her/hers or they/them/theirs.
“In our family, we choose not to participate in the use of pronouns other than those given to us by God and our biological gender, which would be male and female, there’s only two,” Boone said. She did not specify why it was apparently a problem for her son to select he/him/his on the form.
Boone said she had tried to email the teacher directly about the assignment but hadn’t heard back. This is likely because of a cease and desist order she was served in January 2024 that ordered her not to have direct contact with LAS staff without first clearing it with the building principal. The cease and desist order was for “making derogatory, disrespectful, disparaging and/or threatening comments on social media platforms.”
When offered a meeting with the ELA teacher and High School Principal Steve Gough to discuss the issue, Boone posted on her public Facebook page that she didn’t want a meeting with Gough, saying, “…they want to try to force me to meet with the principal who is stalking me online. I’m not comfortable with that.”
School Index Scores
Every year, the State of Michigan releases index scores for all public schools in Michigan. These are based on many variables, such as graduation rates, standardized test scores, extracurricular offerings, attendance rates, and staffing to student ratios.
For the 2023-24 school year, Lowell High School received an overall index score of 97.49 out of 100. Lowell Middle School received an overall score of 90.98 out of 100.
Director of Curriculum Dan VanderMeulen said that over the last three years, LHS index scores have increased each year, and that although there is “always room for improvement,” the district’s scores are very positive overall.
School index scores are available to the public, and can be viewed on the MI School Data website.
VanderMeulen also provided the board with an update regarding the K-5 pilot English/Language Arts programs. Eighteen teachers across the district are piloting two new ELA resources. Educators who are teaching the new ELA curriculum this year had several trainings at the end of the school year last year and also over the summer to ensure they felt ready to teach in the fall.
The team of piloting teachers has met several times already this year to discuss the two options and will eventually need to come to a consensus about which program to choose as the new curriculum going forward. The final decision to purchase the new materials for all K-5 classes in the district will go before the board for a vote, hopefully in February. A state grant is predicted to cover most or all of the cost associated with implementing the new program district-wide.
Facilities and Operations
Bids for the replacement of the track at the high school will open on Dec. 5, and the hope is that the track can be replaced in the spring of 2025.
The new bus wash is near completion, and in the interim, school bus drivers have been trying to keep the buses clean using a small power washer. However, it’s been hard to keep up given road conditions. Superintendent Nate Fowler said, “If you see dirty buses around town, it’s not for lack of effort…we just don’t have the equipment to keep them clean.”
The bus wash is predicted to be completed in the next few weeks.
Personnel
Director of Human Resources, Dustin Cichocki, said that an incentive to retain bus drivers in the district has been helpful thus far. The incentive rewards drivers who are absent two times or less in a semester for their attendance record. The first semester ends in January, and 13 drivers currently qualify for the incentive.
Cichocki added, “What that’s telling us, and showing us, is that drivers are not missing work. They’re showing up every day, through all of it, no matter if we do have to shuffle a little bit. They’re still taking on their routes and getting kids to school.”
Cichocki said that despite a driver shortage that’s been affecting districts across the state, LAS has not had to shut down any routes this year, which helps families and helps district attendance rates as well.
All of the staff in the district who needed recertification in Crisis Prevention Intervention (CPI) have now received it. Teachers, paraprofessionals and administrators across the district have completed the training, which includes deescalation strategies and ways to increase student safety and security.
Finance
Fowler and Chief Financial Officer Sonia Hodge met with LHS Band Director Tim Haan recently to discuss the possible purchase of new uniforms for the marching band. Fowler said, “The first time I saw the Lowell High School marching band was in 1998, and they wore the uniforms they wore this season in 2024.”
To cover the cost associated with the new uniforms, the Band Boosters will raise roughly a third of the cost. Another third will come out of funds saved from the high school’s building budget, and the district will pick up the rest.
The board will need to vote to approve the purchase of the new band uniforms at the next meeting in December.
Survey Tool Proposal
The district has been looking into ways to increase feedback and communication with LAS parents. One company that they’ve researched utilizes text messaging as a means of communication, but Fowler said he has some concerns.
Historically, texts only come from the district in cases of emergency or to announce school closings or delays. Fowler said he wanted to ensure that if parents were receiving a text from the district, it was something meaningful.
The company’s statistics have shown that response rates dramatically increase using texting as a communication tool versus email, but several of the board members also had reservations about using texting in that way. They feared it would be annoying and put people off. The district will continue to explore possibilities.
Board Officers
Board officers need to be voted in for the new year, and Board Treasurer Tom Kaywood will be retiring from the board in December.
Board member Jennifer Dougherty stepped up to serve as treasurer in 2025, and the rest of the positions will stay the same. Brian Krajewski will serve again as president, Laurie Kuna as vice president, and Pat Nugent will continue to serve as secretary. The officers will be officially voted in at the December board meeting.
Strategic Action Plan
The strategic action plan for the district outlines goals for the district and for the board. The document, which, until now, has been an internal document will soon be posted publicly on the LAS website so that the community can view some of the goals and some of the work that’s gone into making the goals a reality.
The board went into closed session for superintendent evaluation at 6:45 pm. The next meeting will be held on Monday, December 9, at 7 pm and will be the only meeting in December. The public is always welcome to attend board meetings.
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