The Lowell Area Schools Board of Education met Monday evening for their regularly scheduled meeting. Board Member Jared Blough was absent; all other members were present.
Truth in Taxation Hearing and Budget
A special meeting was called before the onset of the regular meeting for a truth in taxation/budget hearing. LAS Chief Financial Officer Sonia Hodge presented the amended budget for school year 2024-25 and the proposed budget for 2025-26.
Hodge explained the different taxes that are levied by the district, including the operating millage. The operating millage is typically 18 mills for a school district and assessed only on non-homestead properties. However, because property values rose more quickly than the rate of inflation, the millage rate will be rolled back this year. The operating millage is used for all general operations for the district, and the amount in 2025-26 that LAS should receive is estimated to be about $4.6 million.
The millage will be rolled back for the sinking fund, as well, which is used for capital improvements and some instructional technology needs. The estimated amount of collection for these funds is about $1.3 million for the next school year.
Finally, for debt funds, the district levies 7 mills, which will not be subject to the Headlee rollback, and is based on the principal and interest due for the year. Collections for 2025-26 for the district should be about $9.5 million.
Budget
Since the last budget amendment in March, some adjustments were made, including those which would allow for the district’s new bus purchases. Two buses purchased in 23-24 have been received and paid for, but buses authorized for purchase in January have not yet been received. Those buses should be delivered by September and will cost about $300,000.
The overall amended budget for the 2024-25 general fund is projected to leave an unassigned fund balance of about $9 million. Hodge added, “I want to remind everyone that the revenue budget is meant to be a floor. We are expected to collect more than what we’ve budgeted in revenue and we are required to spend less than what we have approved…in expenditures.”
Regarding the 2025-26 budget, Hodge went over assumptions about the district’s revenue and expenditures and gave the board an overview of the best predictions. She also said:
“…there are a lot of unknowns. All of those assumptions are just assumptions. They can change as soon as the state budget is approved, the federal budget is approved, our enrollment counts come in; there’s a lot of things that we just don’t know yet and so I have to make an educated guess on them, so that we can have a budget approved by the end of June.”
The slides presented to the board are available for the public to view on the district’s website.
Regular Board Meeting
Recognition of Retirees
At the start of the night’s regular meeting, Superintendent Nate Fowler stood to recognize some LAS retirees, including school bus driver Jan Herb and paraprofessional Deborah Dahlke, who were both in the audience.
Fowler thanked them, saying, “…all of the work that you do…to make our jobs in the classroom easier, but then also just getting our kids to and from school safely, making sure they’re safe while they’re in school; there’s a lot of passion and a lot of pride that goes into what you do…”. The superintendent also recognized custodian Dave Gregaitis and Alto math interventionist Judy Proefke, who were not able to be at the meeting.
Girl Scouts Gold Award Recipients
Fowler next shared that of six recent recipients of the Girl Scouts most prestigious award, the Gold Award, three of them are from Lowell. Those scouts are Isabelle Sternisha, who was not able to attend the meeting, Julie Celori and Claire Uzarski.
Celori developed booklets that provide activities for individuals to help them connect with family members impacted by dementia. The booklets are in use at assisted living facilities throughout Lowell and beyond.
To help students diagnosed with Attention Deficit Disorder, Uzarski developed a mobile cart with “dozens of sensory items,” such as fidgets, to help students with ADD focus in the classroom.
Sternisha’s community project was developed to help veterans.
Consent Grouping
Included in the consent grouping agenda were a renewal of the district’s MHSAA membership, which allows LAS to participate in state tournaments for the 2025-26 school year, and board approval for new hires. Those include former LHS Principal Steve Gough, who will serve next year as the Director of Teaching and Learning as well as Laura Judge, a Young Fives teacher at Bushnell; Stacey Prater, 8th grade science teacher; and Kyle McFerrin, who will teach HS Agriscience.
The board unanimously approved all consent agenda items.
Action Items
The board voted to approve the 2024-25 budget amendments, 2025-26 budget appropriations and millage rates.
The board also approved the Kent ISD enhancement millage resolution. Kent ISD Superintendent Dr. Ron Gorman presented the resolution at the March board work session, which is a reauthorization of the Kent enhancement millage. The millage generates revenue for the district for items such as smaller class sizes, technology expenses and reading support for students who need it. The millage is expiring soon, and voters will be asked in November of 2025 to approve a renewal which would be effective from 2027-2036.
The board also voted to renew their membership to the Michigan Association of School Boards and approved the purchase of middle school football equipment totaling about $32,000. Middle school football had previously operated as a community-driven program but will now be a part of the district’s athletic program.
Human Resources Update
Negotiations with the Lowell Education Association (LEA) and the Lowell Education Support Personnel Association (LESPA) on employee contracts are ongoing, and more new hires will come before the board in July. An end of the year wrap-up/professional development day is happening Wednesday, June 11, for administrative staff, and exit interviews are currently happening with retiring staff.
Board Vice President Laurie Kuna asked at this point if the board ever got to see the results of exit interviews and any improvement recommendations retiring staff may have. Kuna thought that the feedback from staff might help the board understand what they’re getting right and what could be done better. Fowler and Director of Human Resources Dustin Cichocki said that they’d look into a way to get that information to the board.
Budget Update
The financial team is getting ready for payroll for the next fiscal year and preparing for an upcoming audit in August.
Curriculum Update
For his last curriculum update before retiring, Director of Curriculum Dan VanderMeulen said that summer learning programming for elementary students starts June 10, and the Arrow Readers on the Move summer reading program begins next week.
VanderMeulen thanked the board for “…what you do, and the time you put in, and all the dedication to the district. You donate a lot of your time…public service is important, and the fact that you guys do that year after year means a lot to the community and as a Red Arrow graduate myself.”
Public Comments
During the public comment portion of the meeting, Schools of Choice parent and Ada resident Stefanie Boone said that she’d sent a Freedom of Information Act request to LAS for more information on the district’s book purchases. Boone said the request was denied and insinuated that it may be because the district is “not proud” of their processes or wanted to “cover it all up.”
However, on social media, she posted a copy of the denial letter which stated that her request was not being granted because of a lawsuit she filed against the district. That case is still pending.
(Editor’s Note: As part of research for another article, Lowell’s First Look also sent a FOIA request to LAS for information about a book purchase. The response we received can be found here.)
Boone told the board that not removing books she deems inappropriate is akin to grooming children. She concluded her comments by saying, “As we head into summer, I’m asking each of you to reflect on the type of groomer you’d like to be…”.
Retired elementary teacher Kim Lum said she was thrilled that Arrow Readers on the Move was back. Lum said that she was part of a group of educators who, many years ago, applied for and was awarded a grant to start an accelerated reading program at Cherry Creek Elementary. This led to a summer reading program they called “Camp Read-A-Lot,” a predecessor of Arrows on the Move.
Lum said she felt that this early access to all kinds of books was responsible for encouraging a love of reading in students across the district.
Superintendent’s Report
Fowler, in response to Boone’s public comments, said:
“I continue to reject the association of ‘groomer.’ The idea (is) that the literature in our libraries would reflect the lives our kids are living and the issues that our kids are living. Sometimes it does involve violence; sometimes it does involve alcohol or other substances; sometimes it does involve sexual experimentation and having conversations with our kids about how to act, how to behave, how to handle difficult situations that are a part of growing up is what we want to continue to do. I appreciate the questioning, I appreciate the challenging, but just know that the intent is to raise those citizens that we all are proud of when they cross our stage.”
Fowler congratulated the LHS boys’ volleyball team for a state championship win over the weekend and student Isabelle German, who won a state title in pole vault in the track and field championships.
He said that construction on the high school track has begun, with the hopes that it will be completed prior to the start of the school year.
Fowler also said that the district’s library was awarded recently with “exemplary status” for 21st Century Schools. The award was for “…demonstrating excellence in three categories: teaching for 21st century learning, building the 21st century learning environment and leading the way to the 21st century learning.”
Fowler closed his comments by thanking VanderMeulen for his years of instruction in the district, saying, “I just want to thank you for your service to the families and students of Lowell (and) your service to the families and students at Godwin Heights. You’ve made a difference in both districts, so thank you for that.”
Board Comments
Several board members thanked the retirees and VanderMeulen in particular.
Two members also had comments about books. Kuna reminded the community about the Miller Test, which is a standard used by US courts to determine if a book is obscene. That is a standard schools follow closely regarding which books should be included in libraries.
Board Member Jennifer Dougherty said, “…if you have a problem with a book, you read the book, you fill out the official form to get it reviewed, and we review it as a community. That makes it so books are chosen by the whole group and not just one person.”
The board went into closed session for negotiations at 7:55 pm. The next meeting will be a work session for the board which the public is welcome to attend on Monday, June 23, at 6 pm in the administration building.
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