School Board approves social worker at Rawsonville for $95/hr.

At the Nov. 25 meeting of the Van Buren Public Schools Board of Education, the board voted unanimously to approve a Special Education Contractual Agreement with an employee through Bilingual Therapies for the 2024-25 school year at a cost of $95 an hour full time at Rawsonville Elementary School.
When board president Amy Pearce and other board members asked about whether this would be for Spanish/English and said it would be nice for Rawsonville to share the bilingual teacher with other schools, director of student services Julien Frazier said it wasn’t bilingual.
He said the company goes under the name of Bilingual Therapies, but it wasn’t really bilingual. It was a school social worker they were hiring.
Frazier said the company’s name actually is New Direction Solutions, LLC doing business at Bilingual Therapies.
He said the district has been unsuccessful in finding a school social worker on its own for the vacant position.
In other business at the 49-minute open meeting, the board:
• Heard background information on the Savage and Tyler Schools Secure Entry project which will be voted on at the next meeting. Rob Kakoczki of Plante Moran Realpoint, explained the bidding that had been going on under project manager Davenport Brothers. The total for the two schools, including the project manager, is $2,350,312 and it will begin in March around spring break and conclude by Aug. 18. The project will move the main office to two former classrooms in the front of the school and provide secure entry, so visitors don’t have to walk through the building to get to the office, the way the two buildings were designed. “This will make all of our buildings have secure entries,” president Pearce said;
• Heard James Williams, director of plant operations, explain the $307,000 districtwide proposed radio upgrade for security and communication, programming, and cellular upgrades at Tyler/Savage that will be voted on at the next meeting. He said Tyler and Savage have cellular dead zones, which the district considers a safety concern. “Over time, we have repaired, replaced, and added radios as necessary,” Williams wrote in a memo to the board. “Now, it is time to upgrade our radios to improve communications across our buildings, enchancing both daily operations and emergency respond.” This will be paid for with 31aa Grant Funds;
• Approved attendance for 25-30 Belleville High School students to attend the KLAA Student Leadership Conference on Feb. 21-24 at the Amway Grand hotel in Grand Rapids. Cost is $350 per students, with fundraising funds available to all students with the goal to cover 100% of student fees;
• Accepted the resignations of Rosanna Guido from Special Services after five years of service as of Dec. 2; and the resignation of Stacy Sage from Transportation after less than a year of service, as of Nov. 22. Also approved the termination of Gary Story from Buildings and Grounds after less than a year of service, as of Nov. 19;
• Approved the employment of non-instructional employees Taylor Gamble for Student Success/Attendance at BHS as of Nov. 11; Jennifer Brown as a paraprofessional at Tyler Elementary School as of Nov. 14; Matthew Collier as a bus aide as of Nov. 18; and Nagela Brundage-Forrest as a bus driver as of Nov. 18;
• Heard BHS student Lea Cappers say there is a Toys for Kids drive at the high school where students donate for kids of all ages with toys from Walmart, Nov. 25-Dec. 12;
• Heard director Williams say they are working on a plan to replace and enhance cameras on the interior of the high school. He said they district was awarded the electric buses grant and will apply for a grant for three more. The engineers are planning infrastructure for the buses so it can be in place before they arrive;
• Heard School Supt. Pete Kudlak said the previous week he was among 20 people from Michigan who went to Atlanta, GA, for a two-day conference to learn about educational programs on the high school level that teach aviation and aeronautics. He said the county expects to set up three programs, with Van Buren Public Schools to be one;
• Heard president Pearce announce a “soiree” at 6:30 p.m., Dec. 9, before the next board meeting to honor the three departing board members; and
• Went into closed-door session at the end of the open meeting for a periodic evaluation of the superintendent. President Pearce said the board would not come back into open session at the end of the evaluation to make a decision, but would only vote to adjourn. She said the results of the evaluation would be announced at the next meeting.