School Board to go ahead with second boiler despite millage defeat

Although the renewal of the Sinking Fund was turned down by voters on May 5, School Supt. Michael Van Tassel said the district couldn’t wait to replace the boiler system at McBride Middle School, so he recommended taking $500,000 from the general fund to pay for most of the $650,000 project.
He gave his recommendation Monday at the regular meeting of the Van Buren Public Schools Board of Education held at Tyler Elementary School.
Supt. Van Tassel said it was possible to wait another year, but the boiler is past its life span now.
He said even though the Sinking Fund couldn’t cover the cost, he felt the project needed to be done this summer. He said it is prudent to take care of the boiler.
Last month the board approved replacement of the Owen school boiler this summer and the same contractors will do both Owen and McBride at the same time. They plan to start as soon as school is over and plan to be done before school starts in the fall.
The school administrators and Plante Moran had accepted bids for the boiler on April 2. At the April 13 meeting, Eric Dumont of Plante Moran CRESA said after the election to renew the Sinking Fund he would have to give a reevaluation of the McBride boiler to make sure they don’t drop “those funds below the emergency line.”
The move still leaves several hundred thousand in the Sinking Fund for emergencies, Van Tassel said.
Van Tassel said he is checking to see if the Sinking Fund passes later, if the district can be reimbursed the cost of the McBride boiler out of Sinking Fund, but he doubts it. The next chance for a question on the ballot is November, he said.
Sinking Fund to voters?
During its work/study session at 7 p.m. Monday, May 18, the school board will discuss what to do about putting a Sinking Fund question before voters again.
Trustee Sherry Frazier said if the district communicates better to voters the significance of the Sinking Fund she is sure they will pass it.
“That’s a good chunk of money to take out of the general fund,” Trustee Frazier said of the half million for the boiler.
Dumont agreed that both schools have boilers well past their life spans. He said if a boiler goes out during the winter, they would have to relocate students.
“We can’t predict,” Dumont said. “It could go out tomorrow… If we don’t proceed in the next few months, the costs will increase.”
The board unanimously voted to approve the Boiler and Mechanical Replacement Project for McBride Middle School and award the bid to Allied Building Services of Detroit (Mechanical Contractor – $557,860), ETC (Abatement Design & Monitoring – $5,400) and Global Green Service Group (Abatement Removal – $15,800) in an amount not to exceed $579,060 from 2015 General Fund and Sinking Funds.
Dumond said they also will include a 10% contingency for a total of $647,966.
New BHS assistant principal
Falisadoll Green of Van Buren Township, a science teacher at Belleville High School, will be the new assistant principal at BHS at the beginning of the 2015-16 school year.
She is replacing Melissa Lloyd, who recently was named the new principal of Owen Intermediate School for the next school year. Lloyd is replacing Jeff Moore who will take over as curriculum director after Diane Kullis retires.
At Monday’s meeting the board unanimously approved a one-year contract for Green with a $91,735 salary, plus fringe benefits offered to all administrators.
As a teacher she is making a base salary of $68,874.87 and with fringes a total compensation of $114,774.86.
Green has been with the district for 14 years, starting in 2001. She earned a bachelor of science from Michigan State University in 1996 and another BS from Eastern Michigan University in 1999. Her Secondary Provisional Teaching Certificate was from EMU in 2001; her Master’s in the Art of Teaching from Marygrove College in 2004; and her M.Ed. from Marygrove in 2007.
In other business at Monday’s meeting, the board:
• Approved requested terminations for instructional staff: Kathryn Ryan, BHS, after 14 years of service. She took a leave of absence for the 2014-15 school year and then resigned as of June 30 for another career choice; Blair Chamberlain, McBride, 1.5 years, resigned as of April 22 to accept a college position; Tracey McKeon, BHS, 9.5 years, resigned as of Aug. 1, leaving education; Charla Ross, McBride, 1.5 years, layoff as of June 30; and Stephanie Gomez, McBride, 1 year, took a leave of absence for the 2014-15 school year and then resigned as of June 30;
• Approved requested terminations of: Dawn Hunter, Transportation dispatcher, 6.5 years, as of April 27 for other employment; Sandra Cartwright, finance/accountant, 1 year, as of April 21 for other employment; Elaine Richardson, bus driver, 8 years, as of May 1 for other employment; Sandra Clippert, bus driver, 2 years, as of April 14; resigned, LOA; Rosemary Fitzsimmons, BHs, 28 years as a paraprofessional, retired as of June 10; and Anthony Abraham, custodial maintenance, 21 years, retired as of April 30;
• Approved hiring Mousa Kadiri as bookkeeper/accountant in the Finance department, as of May 18;
• Approved the annual Cedar Point Family Fun Day for 100 members of the eighth-grade band at McBride Middle School. The students, who pay $50 each for the day, will be transported by school bus to and from Sandusky, Ohio, on June 6;
• Heard Owen Intermediate School Principal Moore and assistant principal Andrew Lindsay give a presentation on what programs are in place at Owen to address student achievement;
• Approved the Schools of Choice program participation for the first semester of the 2015-16 school year. A limited number of openings are offered to help defray the loss in enrollment;
• Approved the second reading and adoption of Board Policy Revisions to stay in compliance with state law; and
• Approved the Wayne RESA Budget Resolution; and
• Heard Gunesha Frederick speak about the support services needed by early elementary teachers and heard John Spicko, a representative of Achieve 3000, introduce himself and pass out information on a summer educational program and support for teachers.