VB Schools Board of Education reelects Keith Johnston as president

Keith Johnston was reelected president of the Van Buren Public Schools Board of Education at Monday’s annual organizational meeting.
Reelected vice president was Susan Featheringill. Darlene Loyer-Gerick was elected secretary and Simone Pinter was elected treasurer.
All the votes were unanimous, except that Johnston chose not to cast a vote for himself.
The board also approved meeting dates, generally the second and fourth Mondays at 7 p.m., and approved the depository for school funds and authorized investments.
Standing committee membership was set up as follows:
• Facilities Committee: Darlene Loyer-Gerick, Keith Johnston, Simone Pinter
• Finance Committee: Susan Featheringill, Simone Pinter, Amy Pearce
• Health Advisory Committee: Kelly Owen, Keith Johnston
• Policy Committee: Susan Featheringill, Calvin Hawkins, Amy Pearce
• School Improvement Committee: Kelly Owen, Darlene Loyer-Gerick
Two different members of the board will serve on the Reinstatement Committee for each month of 2019.
After the organizational meeting concluded, the regular meeting began and the board:
• Ratified the closing on the sale of the vacant Denton Road property in Canton Township for $425,000 to Anthony Costantino and Chris Costantino of Ypsilanti;
• Went over the current 18 pages of the Board Operating Procedures and made suggestions for changes. The changes will be included in the final copy which will be presented at the next board meeting, Jan. 28, for approval;
• Heard Vice-President Featheringill give a report on the two classes she attended through the Michigan Association of School Boards in December. One was on Labor Relations and the other on Effective Board Meetings. The Certified Board Member Award (CBA) classes start with the 100 level and go up to the 300 level. She has completed all the 100 level courses, she said;
• Approved the hiring of Bridget Cole as an Edgemont Elementary School Resource Room Teacher as of Jan. 14 and approve the hiring of Chrystal Lampinen as an Edgemont Elementary School Paraprofessional as of Jan. 7;
• Was honored with certificates from RESA for School Board of Education Month;
• Heard Director of Instruction Jeff Moore say that Rawsonville Elementary School students are reading books and the readings posted on You Tube. He said a couple from Canton donated $1,250 to buy multiple copies of books so children could read along with the You Tube readings. The couple was reluctant to get publicity for this, Moore said;
• Heard Human Resources Director Abdul Madyun report that he is still negotiating with the teachers’ union. He said there is a shortage of paraprofessionals everywhere and he became trained to give the ETS paraprofessional tests and for the last three months he has been coming in on Saturdays to give the tests for the district and for other districts;
• Learned the Robotics Team met for the first time this year on Jan. 5, the Saturday before school started after the break. Aaron Lang, one of the teachers with the Robotics Team, is in Florida, Supt. Kudlak said, because Lang’s father died Saturday in Florida;
• Heard Trustee Pearce say she would like the district to continue the conversation on mental health begun with last week’s suicide prevention presentations. She said she would like to see resource information passed out so parents and students would know where to go for help. It was suggested cards be placed in restrooms to be picked up or posters in restrooms so students could take pictures of the information without anyone knowing;
• Was informed BHS chemistry teacher Anthony Tedaldi was honored Saturday at the University of Michigan basketball game for being Teacher of the Game; and
• Went into closed-door session to discuss the potential reinstatement of a student who was expelled during the 2017-18 school and the expulsion period had expired. The recommendation of the District Reinstatement Committee after a Dec. 13 meeting was before the board for consideration. No action was taken by the board.