School Board reelects Pearce president, Gerick secretary

At the Jan. 13 organizational meeting of the Van Buren Public Schools Board of Education, the board unanimously re-elected Amy Pearce as president and Darlene Loyer-Gerick as secretary.
The board also elected Dionne Falconer as vice president and Calvin Hawkins as treasurer, new positions to them both.
The election came after 34th District Court Judge Lisa Martin swore in three new members – Victor DeLibera, Wade Fields, and David Shall – along with Falconer who was reelected in November.
The board also set the regular meeting dates as generally the second and fourth Mondays of each month at 7 p.m. with changes for holidays and the meeting places at the Belleville High School Commons or the Administration Building.
The board approved the depository recommendations for existing accounts primarily at PNC Bank and investment accounts at Huntington Bank, UMB, and Michigan Class, plus approvement of investment authority in the director of finance or the superintendent.
Also, the district employee designated to post board meeting notices under the Open Meetings Act is the superintendent’s office and School Supt. Pete Kudlak said that is being done by his assistant Debbie McWilliams.
President Pearce assigned board members to committees for the year.
• Facilities Committee: Hawkins, Gerick, Wade
• Finance Committee: Pearce, Falconer, Shall
• Health Advisory Committee: Hawkins, Falconer, Shall
• Policy Committee: Pearce, DeLibera, Fields
• School Improvement Committee: Gerick, Pearce, DeLibera
Two members for each month were also placed on the 2025 Reinstatement Committee.
This concluded the organizational meeting and the board opened its regular meeting.
In regular business at the Jan. 13 meeting, the board:
• Heard Supt. Kudlak explain that January is School Board Recognition Month and he thanked all the board members for their service in the past and to come in the future and presented each board member with a new computer case with the Michigan Association of School Board logo on the side;
• Learned the teachers and the administration will be negotiating the new teachers’ union contract using Interest-Based Bargaining which is a collaborative negotiation method that focuses on identifying mutual interests and problem-solving, rather than adversarial approaches. President Pearce said VBEA union president Aaron Lange told her he is very pleased with the process. Kudlak said this method focuses on brainstorming a solution instead of “our side and your side.” He said union negotiators and administrators will sit every other person at the bargaining table;
• Approved the purchase of 50 staff Chromebooks from Cluth Solutions for the total amount of $24,249.50 with Google licenses. Sean Garland said they are needed for deployment to district instructional support staff to cover new staff and break/fix needs;
• Approved the purchase of four cars and 132 Chromebooks from Sehi Computing for the total amount of $41,699.28. Garland said this will add a Chromebook cart with 33 Chromebooks in it to each elementary school to bolster device counts and replace the building iPads as they are phased out of use. Director of Instruction Jeff Moore said this will make it one on one from the third grade up and pretty close to that in K, 1, and 2. DeLibera asked if there shouldn’t be a line item in the motion, telling where the funds are coming from, and Garland apologized, saying he usually has that in the request, but failed to get it in this time. He said the funds are coming from the Sinking Fund;
• Heard Kudlak explain the 19 pages of Board Operating Procedures are in the board packet and this document is reviewed and approved every two years. He asked board members to read through the procedures and call him or the board president with any questions or suggestions so they can vote on the document at the next meeting. He told the board members they get a board packet the Wednesday before each meeting;
• Acknowledged that the district is looking into applying for an EPA Clean Bus Energy Grant for additional electric school buses. Finance Director Priya Nayak said the district already received $1 million for two buses and infrastructure to support their use;
• Approved hiring the following instructional employees: Alyson Barr as Belleville High School social studies teacher as of Dec. 16; Joelle Summers, Rawsonville Elementary School social worker as of Jan. 13; and Kayla Koepf, Tyler Elementary School third-grade teacher;
• Approved the terminations of Matthew Collier, after a year in the transportation department as of Dec. 13 and Doris Atchinson after two years in the transportation department as of Dec. 16. Also approved was the resignation of Stephanie Battle as a non-instruction staff member at Rawsonville Elementary after six year of service as of Jan. 10;
• Approved hiring Jasmine Hanson as a paraprofessional at the Early Childhood Center as of Dec. 11, Crystal Murphy as a paraprofessional at Rawsonville Elementary School as of Jan. 6, and Emily Witt as a school bus aide as of Jan. 6;
• Heard Director of Instruction Jeff Moore say his office is wrapping up a lot of grants. He said after they get a grant they have to figure out what to do with the surplus of money. He said the high school will have exams on Jan. 29 and 30 to close out the first semester and Jan. 31 is a personal development day for all the school staffs and no school for students;
• Heard director Nayak say the W-2 forms will be available online by Jan. 23 for employees. She also announced that BHS and Edgemont Elementary have been chosen for a food service review by the state;
• Heard Pearce and Kudlak promote the Feb. 1 Wild West Winter VB Education Foundation event at the BYC to earn funds that all go to the schools. Raffle tickets are available now at $20 each and someone could win a trip. The foundation board is looking for sponsors;
• Heard Gerick say the scholar awards will be given out at 5:30 p.m., Feb. 19, for those who achieved their goals in the Tiger Village program. Donations for the project are being accepted;
• Heard Pearce announce a board workshop is being set for sharing of information and discussion on Feb. 3 at the Administration Building. Gerick said she will be in Maryland then and so Pearce said the date will be changed. It will be an open meeting;
• Heard Kudlak say Red Rover is “a big deal” and by moving to that system, employees are punching in and punching out and people are being paid when they work, not all year long. He also announced both bowling teams are doing well, the girls basketball team is No. 1 in the state, and the boys are also doing very well;
• Heard Pearce announce that George Devore, a retired BHS teacher and coach, died overnight Friday and this is a huge loss for the community. Arrangements are by Michigan Memorial Home and the funeral is on Jan. 16; and
• Went into closed-door session at 8 p.m. to consider the potential reinstatement of Student 23-24-0005 for the 2024-25 school year. After the closed-door hearing, the board voted to reinstate the student with conditions and then adjourned at 8:27 p.m.