School Board OKs VBEST contract, bus drivers get raise

By Rosemary K. Otzman
Independent Editor
At the Feb. 9 regular meeting of the Van Buren Public Schools Board of Education school bus drivers got a 1% raise this school year and another 1% next school year as part of the Van Buren Education Support Team (VBEST) contract.
Drivers currently are being hired at $11.50 an hour.
Board vice president Martha Toth pointed out that VBPS bus drivers were underpaid compared with neighboring school districts.
The current VBEST union agreement had a reopener for wages and union members approved the two-year contract changes on Jan. 16.
All VBEST groups get full-step increases for the 2014-15 school year and no step increases in 2015-16.
Also, the custodian, maintenance and paraprofessional groups, who took 3% concessions, will get back ½% in 2014-15 and ½% in 2015-16.
All other terms and conditions in the agreement remained the same.
VBEST also agreed to withdraw all ULPs/Arbitrations and Schedule Change grievance, as stipulated in a letter of agreement.
Director of Human Resources Shonta Langford-Green said budget implications to the district are $166,000 over two years.
Although Trustee Sherry Frazier made the motion to approve the contract agreement, board president Brent Mikulski reminded her she couldn’t vote on it because her son is a paraprofessional and stands to benefit from the action.
Trustee Frazier abstained from the vote and all the other board members voted in favor to approve the salary changes.
Also at Monday’s 25-minute meeting, the school board:
• Heard the district’s four elementary principals give a brief presentation on special programs they are using to increase student academic growth for those 30% at the bottom of academic tests to help close the achievement gap. The principals will be monitoring the success of the program every three weeks and making modifications as needed;
• Approved the retirements of teachers Jan Randolph of Edgemont Elementary after 18 years and Daryl Niner of Belleville High School after 24 years, both as of June 30. Also approved were the resignations of Amy Hinks of Savage Elementary after 21 years, as of Jan. 23, and Erin Swenson, district-wide, after five months as of Feb. 2;
• Approved the new hires of the following teachers: Felecia Barnett for Savage, Teresa Sanford for Edgemont, Deborah Cunningham for Rawsonville, and Sarah Brown for Tyler, all as of Jan. 26; and Ryan Said for BHS as of Feb. 2; Angelique Morrison for Savage, as of Feb. 17; and Matthew Przbylo for BHS as of Feb. 9;
• Approved the retirement of Marcia Mason after 34 years as a bus driver; and the resignations of Toni Wheeler, custodian for 23 years, as of Jan. 26; Sabrina Young, fringe benefits accountant for one year, as of Jan. 16; and Penny Hedman of Owen, after 20 years as a paraprofessional, as of Jan. 23;
• Approved the hiring of Sarah Farr for Food Service at Tyler, staring Jan. 5;
• Approved using two school buses for the March 6 field trip to Imagination Station in Toledo for fourth grade classrooms at Savage Elementary, leaving at 9 a.m. and returning at 2 p.m. Cost to students is $12 each, with financial help available; and
• Heard parent Adam Byrd praise staff at McBride for working with his daughter, who is a straight-A student. He also said he was concerned when he got a letter saying McBride was now a Focus School and he learned that meant that the highest scoring students and the lowest scoring students had a big gap in between and the district is working on that.
The Feb. 9 school board meeting was held at McBride Middle School and board members took a tour of the building before the meeting.
The next meeting of the school board will be a regular meeting at 7 p.m., March 16, at Edgemont Elementary School.