By Rosemary K. Otzman
Independent Editor
In June a group of ten parents, presented a well-organized and researched proposal to the Van Buren Public Schools Board of Education concerning the importance of a recess break for students at Owen Intermediate.
Owen was turned into a school for fifth and sixth graders who are about 10 and 11 years of age. Research the parents presented showed the health and learning benefits of a break.
At that meeting, School Supt. Michael Van Tassel organized a committee, with ten parent volunteers, to look into the subject. This fall, Owen allows students to go outside after lunch.
At Monday’s school board meeting, parent Richard Rytman spoke to the board about the parents’ disappointment at having no play equipment for the students.
He said the play area looked like “downtown Detroit” and the basketball hoops were falling down. He said the parents put in their “blood, labor, and sweat” to clean up the area for their students.
Rytman said the committee was told sinking funds could be used to put in equipment for the students, but not much has been done to date.
“What happened to the sinking funds?” Rytman asked.
Supt. Van Tassel said the district’s legal advisor said sinking funds can’t be used for play equipment.
Rytman read from the law that under allowable uses it says “… development and improvement of playgrounds…”
“Our lawyer and our auditor say we can’t do that,” Van Tassel said.
Rytman said Ann Arbor did it and Auburn Hills did it.
“I don’t know how to develop a playground without equipment,” Rytman said. “I disagree with your legal advice. Why wait until the last minute to tell us when we could have been working all summer to raise funds for equipment?”
Board president Brent Mikulski said he remembers a dialog on grants for the equipment.
Rytman, who had been the “closer” for the information presented by the parents in June, said he had to come back to the board because others are afraid to come. He said they need to have a process.
“It’s in disarray, completely,” Rytman said. He said he often works week ends and he has spent some of his precious Sundays working to clean up the school grounds with other parents.
“This is important to that school,” Rytman said, noting they can’t get the communication going with the school. He said winter is coming and it looks like this is going to go through “death by committee.”
He asked why the information on not using sinking funds couldn’t have been passed on sooner.
“There was no board member on that committee,” said Trustee Scott Russell and Trustee Kathy Kovach commented that there shouldn’t be a board member on the committee.
Trustee Russell said he could see why the sinking fund couldn’t be used for buying basketballs, but maybe it would be acceptable to buy a swing set or monkey bars.
“I can’t speak for any other district …” Van Tassel said.
“Is that something we could get an update on?” Russell asked, referring to a statement from the attorney.
Rytman asked if the subject could be put on the agenda for the next meeting, but got no response.
Treasurer Sharry Frazier said that earlier that day she went to see what recess was like at Owen during lunch. She said the kids were running around and talking to each other and there were some balls.
Treasurer Frazier asked why Owen couldn’t get Savage Elementary School’s old equipment, since the parents at Savage bought new equipment.
“When did you get the ruling from the attorneys?” Rytman asked and Van Tassel did not reply.
“Why would the district pay for Owen when parents provide equipment at the other schools?” asked board vice president Martha Toth.
“It was represented the sinking fund could be used,” Rytman said. “Ann Arbor used $900,000 from its sinking fund…”
“One elementary school doesn’t have playground equipment: Owen,” Russell said.
President Mikulski said the administrators at Owen were going to do a survey and Rytman noted if you do a survey of 10 and 11 year olds on what they want, some 780 kids would want everything from Cinderella castles to water slides.
“I came in June with a very passionate group…” Rytman recalled and Van Tassel interrupted him, saying he communicated with that group.
“Are you going to support this or are we on our own?” Rytman asked.
Board Secretary Kevin English said there seemed to be a breakdown in communications and usually the board members do not engage speakers.
Rytman said the way he found out about not being able to use the sinking fund was that parents were at a meeting with Owen Principal Jeff Moore and James Williams, director of plant operations, and Williams said they can’t use the sinking fund.
“We did have a breakdown in communication,” said Frazier.
Rytman addressed Toth, “Don’t shake your head and rolls your eyes,” noting that was very disparaging. Rytman left the meeting.
Frazier asked that there be a report on the equipment issues at the next meeting.
Russell said he would like to know, “Why does our legal counsel say no to equipment and Ann Arbor says yes?”
“One more very vague request, for more information,” Toth said, chastising Russell. “You send them down these rabbit holes repeatedly.”
Frazier reminded board members that they had ten people who were organized and did research. Van Tassel offered to form a committee and they got contacted one time in two months.
She said that wasn’t enough and these parents need to be respected.
“Shouldn’t the person of contact be the building administrator?” Toth asked and Frazier said she thought it should be “whoever took the names.”
Russell said he would like to see a statement from the attorney and Toth said, “You’re asking for a written opinion and that costs money.”
Russell asked the board if they were going to toss their hands up in the air and not do anything?
“That’s not acceptable to me as a board member, not acceptable to me as a parent,” Russell said. “A summary from the attorney would be fine.”
Van Tassel said people involved in this issue weren’t present at this evening’s meeting, apparently referring to Owen administrators. “I’m feeling a little beaten up. People involved should be here.”
After more discussion, Frazier said, “We had ten prime people who could make some big differences for this school.”
President Mikulski put it on the agenda of next Monday’s work/study meeting.
“The reason our auditors are so conservative about those funds is that if you misuse them, you can never levy them again,” Toth said.
“They would have been working on this if they knew,” Frazier said. “They have waited two months.”
Treasurer English said he would like to have on the work/study agenda a discussion on procedures for public comment.
“If we have policies, we should follow them,” English said.
Less than an hour after the meeting ended, Toth sent out a long email to all board members and the superintendent, saying, “Tonight’s debacle was a classic example of why it is our policy to TAKE COMMENTS and NOT ENGAGE with the public. It made things MUCH WORSE, because no one knew what they were talking about…” She said nobody agrees what was said at the citizens’ committee meeting and that’s “exactly why I hate citizen committees … I will refuse to vote for another one unless it is videotaped…”
Toth said the more the board rewards people for taking complaints to the board table, the more they will do it and “the more often we will blacken our own eyes. When are we going to learn to follow procedures and insist on using the chain of command? …”
Following the meeting there was a report of a board member threatening to slap a parent in the parking lot and there were emails sent describing how the parents felt “completely disrespected by the board” and that there’s nothing parents can do to get the board to help parents improve the school.
In other business at Monday’s meeting, the board:
• Got a report on student count, just three days into the school year, that shows the predictions by Plante Moran were correct and they are about 130 students fewer than last year, for a total of 4,959 students. Updates will be coming;
• Appointed Toth, Kovach, and Frazier as voting delegates to the Nov. 6 Delegate Assembly prior to the fall conference of the Michigan Association of School Boards in Grand Rapids;
• Approved the following support staff requesting termination: Roselyn Camby, bus driver, 27 years, retirement; Robbie Christian, bus driver, 1 year, other employment; Belinda Garland, paraprofessional, 30 years, retirement; and Stephanie Smith, 26 years, paraprofessional, retirement;
• Approved the following terminations of teachers: Angela Albany, Owen, 6 years; Erin Baker, Owen, 9 years; Michelle Campbell, Rawsonville, 11 years; Michelle Feury, 1 year; Michelle Malbone, Rawsonville, 2 years; John McCarthy, Haggerty, 7 years; Elisabeth Metric, Tyler, 15 years; Lisa Myers, Owen, 15 years; Musetta Reed, McBride/BHS, 1 year; AnnMarie Sheedy, McBride, 1 year; and Geri Sifton, Haggerty, 13 years;
• Approved recalling the following teachers: Gunesha Frederick, Rawsonville; Tamara Hanaka, BHS; Melanie Karaba, Rawsonville; Jessica Kiser, Tyler; Michelle Komaromi, Savage; Laura Miller, Owen; Laura Miller, Owen; and Anthony Munoz, McBride. New hires are: Lori Bartold, Owen; Rachael Bazzy, Owen; Bridget Dennehy, Rawsonville; Ryan Franks, McBride; Jessica Harmon, BHS; Katherine Haydon, Owen; Shandra Pettway, Rawsonville; Anne Pichini, Rawsonville; Jayanthi Reddy, BHS; David Rowell, McBride; Sarah Stiles, Owen; and Reni Woods, McBride;
• Approved a field trip to Mackinac Island May 5-6 for the fifth graders at Owen, at a cost of $299 per student with 140 paying participants;
• Approved a March 6-10 field trip by charter bus for the Symphony Band to New York City to perform at Carnegie Hall at a cost of $1,400 per student; and
• Approved minutes of the Aug. 18 work/study session that included: “The Superintendent took a moment to discuss the recent released Top to Bottom state rankings and how this data is calculated. While the news is not good overall, our scores for the top students are rising, but the lower 30% of students not growing sufficiently to reduce the gap between the two is of significant concern. He noted that every principal was made aware of this at the Administrative Retreat, and will be working on it as the year moves forward.”
Language on sinking fund ballot proposal makes the difference in its usage
Richard Rytman, a parent who spoke at Monday’s school board meeting, said he checked with Plante Moran on Tuesday morning and found playground equipment is an acceptable use for sinking funds by state standards.
It’s what’s on the ballot language that was approved that makes the difference and that may be the problem for using sinking funds for that in the Van Buren Public Schools district, he said.
Rytman said if that had been pointed out at Monday’s meeting, people could have understood that.
The ballot language, approved in 2008, read, in part: “…create a sinking fund for the purpose of construction or repair of school buildings and the improvement and development of sites and for any other purpose which may be authorized by law …”