VB School Board hears report on teaching students at home

The Van Buren Public School Board of Education received a long report Monday on how the district is complying with state rules on teaching students at home so it can receive state aid.
The meeting was held by way of zoom teleconferencing, with board members in their homes or other locations. It was announced there were ten members of the audience also in on the teleconference.
Most of the two-hour meeting was spent listening to Curriculum Director Jeff Moore explain how the district was complying with the governor’s order.
He said per Governor Gretchen Whitmer’s Executive Order No. 2020-35, school will be closed through the end of this school year ending in June. Instructional days will not need to be made up as long as the district follows the guidelines of the order, including creating a “Continuity of Learning” plan for the students for the remainder of the year.
Director Moore said the plan, developed by a group from the district, will be submitted to the Wayne Regional Educational Service Agency on Friday and RESA will submit it to the state. As soon as it is approved it will be posted on the district’s web page, he said.
He said the district has to make sure student learning continues to take place under a teacher or there is no funding.
He said as part of the plan they will be distributing Chromebooks to students who need them in grades K-6. If other students in the home already have a Chromebook, the students will be asked to share.
He said they also are buying “Stretch Learning” books that usually go out during the summer to keep the learning going.
He said grades 7 and 8 already have Chromebooks, but they may not have internet at home, so paper packets will be distributed.
Sean Garland said 277 Chromebooks will be handed out at Owen until all the Chromebooks are gone. Next Monday they will hand out the Chromebooks at Tyler. He stressed it is one per household and if you don’t have internet, don’t sign up for Chromebooks. He said the district will show families how to get low-cost internet.
Moore said the grading policy is one of the requirements for the state plan and they will send out report cards at the end of the school year. He said K-4 will get cards marked “adequate progress,” “needs support,” or “not evident.”
Students in grades 5-8 will get “pass” or no mark. At Belleville High School it gets more complicated. He said it entails average grade, essays or portfolios and other items, with credit or no credit for the semester. Also graduation requirements are being adjusted through the Michigan Department of Education.
He said the state wants to make sure the students are engaged and the district is offering five days of personal development for the staff. He said every child will get a phone call from their first-hour teacher to find out how they are, if they have internet, and other questions.
He said students will be taught full time in a virtual sense beginning next week with two lessons provided per week at a minimum. He said if a student is not participating, the student is referred to a committee who will look into it.
He said they foresee needing Chromebook power cords in the future, at a cost of $5,400, and $24,500 for the Stretch Learning books for a total of $30,000 for this plan.
School Supt. Pete Kudlak said this is an unfortunate situation, but it’s all across the nation with schools closed for the coronavirus. He said teachers like to see the gleam in a student’s eye when he learns something and this virtual education is not what they signed up for. But, they will give it the “old, college try,” he said.
“I think kids are tech-savvy and they’d rather be on a computer than in a classroom,” said Trustee Simone Pinter. “I think they’ll do well.”
In other business at Monday’s virtual meeting, the board:
• Heard presentations on District Music Recognition by teacher Kathy Courter and Winter Sports Athletic Recognition by athletic director Joe Brodie;
• Approved the employment of Samantha Meeker as a special education teacher at Owen Intermediate School as of Aug. 26;
• Awarded the engineering design services contract for the roof-top unit replacement and control upgrades sinking fund project at Edgemont and Rawsonville elementary school to Integrated Design Solutions for a total award of $27,300, as presented. Director of Plant Operations Jim Williams said this project was planned through the sinking fund, but wasn’t selected and now is going through the bond fund. The project will proceed once restrictions are lifted;
• Awarded the technology design services contract also to Integrated Design Solutions for a lump sum of $150,000 for the 2019 VBPS Bond Program. Rob Kakoczki of Plante Moran CRESA said IDS will work on the Early Childhood Center and the bond projects through all of the three bond series;
• Heard Supt. Kudlak give a report on the Enhancement Education Millage proposal renewal that is expected to be on the November ballot. The first 2-mill, 6-year millage was approved countywide in 2016 and expires in 2021. If it doesn’t get on this year’s ballot, it can’t go on the ballot again until 2022 after it expires. It needs school districts in Wayne County with more than 50% of the students to approve putting it on the county ballot and it will be on the agenda of the next school board meeting for Van Buren to decide. He said Detroit schools have 30% of the students and if they approve going for the millage, only 17% more is needed. He said VBPS will lose about $300 per student if the millage is not renewed. The district received $1.6 million in the past. He said charter schools are now eligible for the millage, as well, so the district’s per-student amount will be down slightly from the current $360;
• Heard Human Resources Director Abdul Madyun announce virtual doctor visits have been added to the insurance plan, tests for COVID-19 are free, and open enrollment will be set for the insurance;
• Heard board president Amy Pearce say the cell phones have been lifelines for students to keep in contact with their friends and she is grateful for that. She said after this is over parents can start yelling at the students again for being on the phone so much; and
• Heard Kudlak describe the food distribution project on Tuesdays and Thursdays praising the many people who have volunteered. He said a charter school parent said their school sent their students over to Van Buren for free food. Kudlak said if the charter schools don’t feed them, they don’t get their money. “We don’t mind feeding them because we get reimbursed,” Kudlak said.