School Board approves $90,000 for paving of McBride with grant

The Van Buren Public Schools Board of Education took advantage of an offer from Van Buren Township officials to participate in the paving of McBride Avenue at a cost of $90,000 – instead of the $180,000 approved last year for the project.
It turned out the $180,000 that was supposed to come from the Sinking Fund at that time couldn’t be used for a road and so that fell through.
On Monday, the board voted to use general fund money of $90,000 for the project. Trustee Sherry Frazier, who also sits on the Van Buren Township board, abstained from the vote.
School Supt. Pete Kudlak said the whole project, with a $750,000 grant from Wayne County, is estimated at $900,000, with a shared cost of $180,000 to the township.
“They decided to ask homeowners along the road to pay,” Supt. Kudlak said. “Instead of the $180,000 for all, the district will pay $90,000 out of its general fund. This is more than our share based on frontage, but less than our share based on road usage.”
He referred to the use of the gravel road by school buses and parents to get to McBride Middle School.
“They were hoping for a vote tonight,” Kudlak said of VBT officials. “We would have to be in a special assessment district.”
Trustee Susan Featheringill said this would save money on bus repairs and made the motion to approve, seconded by Secretary Kevin English.
VBT recently put out a call to township residents to apply for using the funds from the county for their subdivision streets that qualified and other roadwork, but the work on McBride would take up all the funds.
VBT Supervisor Kevin McNamara said Tuesday morning that a resident is gathering signatures for the special assessment district on McBride and so far has only signed up 16 of the 30 property owners. Three are bank-owned properties and won’t sign, he said. More than 50% of the property owners are needed to sign to set up a special assessment district and the McBride project is not a “done deal,” he said, noting one or more of the signers could change their minds.
Supervisor McNamara said if the McBride SAD doesn’t work out and no others apply for the funds, “I will be sitting here with a million dollars and no project.”
He encouraged those in subdivisions, homeowners associations, and other groups that could use the grant money for road work, and can share the cost, to apply to be considered. Deadline is March 3. The township board will make the final decision on the project.
In other business at Monday’s meeting, the school board:
• Received a donation of $7,400 from the Van Buren Civic Fund for Belleville High School video production equipment;
• Was treated to a presentation by Principal Aleisa Pitt on Tyler Elementary School, with special presentations by students Morgan Ligget and Logan Castellani. The public is invited to a daylong Leadership Day on March 30;
• Heard Supt. Kudlak ask for board input on a proposal to demolish the ECDC building north of Edgemont Elementary School and install a parking lot with islands and curbs. Edgemont is lacking parking space, he said, and the ECDC building is an “eyesore at a beautiful building.” Building and Grounds Director James Williams said the demolition is estimated at $40,000 and the parking lot from $75,000 to $275,000 and it could be done in three phases. The annual cost for upkeep of the vacant ECDC building is $8,000, Williams said. Board president Keith Johnston asked them to get a price on the engineering, which had been estimated at $6,000. Sinking Funds could be used for the project. Trustee Frazier added, “talking about eyesores,” the former vocational education on Sumpter Road is an eyesore;
• Approved employer termination of two employees Jammie Smith, 17 years in transportation, as of Feb. 17, and Denise Armatis, paraprofessional for 15 years, as of Feb. 13;
• Approved use of buses by the Van Buren Township Recreation Department for its summer camp program, June 19-Aug. 11 (no camp July 4). Trustee Frazier abstained from the vote because she also serves as a trustee for the township;
• Approved eight students attending the BHS club’s first robotics competition March 9-11 at St. Joseph High School through a Michigan Department of Education grant. Teachers Aaron Lang and Aaron Watkins will drive. Students are in grades 9-12 and are: Corbin and Everett Fields, Kaiden Spencer, Davis Mears, James Clearwood, Anjali and Anisha Sharma, and Kylie Morton. Robot, tools, and supplies are being transported with the Ypsilanti Robotics;
• Approved the E-rate Universal Service Fund grant for the elementary school cabling bid of $42,592 by AmComm Telecommunications. The project cost is $53,240 and the district’s share is $10,648;
• Reviewed Supt. Kudlak’s timeline for his evaluation process and took note of some of the goals they would like him to have, including higher student scores. The informal update is March 27, formal discussion and check-in on progress toward goals is April 24, superintendent’s presentation is June 12, and formal evaluation is June 26. A similar schedule is set July-December so two evaluations can be completed this year, as required by state law;
• Heard Kudlak present a suggestion for how to attract teachers and keep them even though fewer teachers are being trained. He suggested giving an $8,000 scholarship per year to two BHS graduates and do that for four years, expecting them to come back to VBPS after graduation. Kudlak said he will research this more and bring back details. Ginny Gearns suggested bonuses for current staff recognizing all who graduated from the Van Buren schools, including secretaries, teachers and custodians;
• Discussed a lady who is interested in renting part of the CT building, the office and space for a vehicle and training. This is a non-profit groups and she said they will spend $30,000 on the inside and expect the district to pay $30,000 on upgrades outside. She considered it a wash, but Kudlak said he will talk to her about turning the $30,000 into rent. He said he’s not sure they want to pay rent;
• Discussed possible demolition of Haggerty School and moving of the programs there to other buildings where there is room. Kudlak said it costs $100,000 annually to keep Haggerty open and it needs boilers and roof work. He said they have to consider that Plante Moran has estimated the number of students for K-5 will go up in the next few years. He said if they didn’t move Haggerty programs to the other schools, there would be room for extra classrooms. Frazier said she is not in favor of demolishing Haggerty and everything there “looks fine and dandy.” Kudlak said he has concerns about investing money in an old building; and
• Went into closed door session to consult with attorneys regarding pending litigation Case No. 16-cv-11805 and an attorney-client privileged item.