School board approves FAA Drone course at BHS

At its Jan. 26 regular meeting, the Van Buren Public Schools Board of Education voted unanimously to approve a new FAA Part 107 Drone Course at Belleville High School starting with the fall semester.
Teaching both the first and second semesters of the unmanned aircraft systems course will be Aaron Watkins, who is a certified instructor and also is in the final steps of being certified for credentialing.
Each semester counts for one credit in elective credit. Wayne RESA (Regional Education Service Authority) is working with the state to get the courses certified as Career Technical Education.
Twelve small drones will be provided by RESA and there will be blowup cages for classroom use. Outside areas will be used where accessible.
Jill Marvaso, director of curriculum and instruction, presented the details of the class to the board.
It is expected that students in the class take advantage of several opportunities to promote STEM, Robotics, and Mechatronics in the school. Participation in at least one of eight opportunities listed is required. The list includes being on the Robotics team, a member of the Science Olympiad, or a member of the computer programming club at school.
Fields trips to local airports and guest speakers is a part of the program, with potential internship placement.
The class is for those in 10th through 12th grades. Aviation 1 and 2 classes are planned to be added in the future, so the 9th graders can get on track for the drone class.
RESA is backing a county-wide aviation initiative and has established four consortium within the county to carry out this initiative. Van Buren Public Schools is the central consortium and has been designed as a hub for surrounding schools to send students to for aviation CTE courses, such as this drone course.
In other business at the 35-minute, Jan. 26 meeting, the board:
• Received another round of gifts, since it is still School Board Recognition Month. School Supt. Pete Kudlak said each board member was provided with a seat cushion and there is a bouquet of flowers from a school. The board was informed each school had a poster that proclaimed School Board Recognition;
• Approved the employment of Kelly Paton as sixth-grade teacher at Owen Intermediate School as of Jan. 21;
• Approved the retirement of bus driver Marquis Hobson after 19 years as of Jan. 30; the retirement of bus aide Sharon Lesniak after 27 years as of June 12; the retirement of Belleville High School secretary Kris Spillman after 11 years as of Jan. 31; and the resignation of Esther Walker as BHS secretary after 2.5 years, as of Jan. 14;
• Approved the employment of Megan Darket as BHS secretary at a time to be determined; the employment of Ja’Kobe Watkins as a paraprofessional at Owen as of Jan. 12; the employment of Latosha’ Beard as a paraprofessional at McBride Middle School at a time to be determined; the employment of Kelly Murphy as a paraprofessional at Edgemont at a time to be determined; and the employment of Yahya Nasser Eddine as a paraprofessional at Savage Elementary at a time to be determined;
• Heard curriculum director Marvaso announce that last Friday was a professional development day for staff and there will be another PD day on Feb. 10. She said the district has 133 students who are multi-language learners;
• Heard financial director Priya Nayak report that the per-student amount received from the state for this school year is $10,050;
• Heard human resources director John Leroy note there are quite a few new secretaries on the staff now and he is sending up supports for them since, “They do run the schools”;
• Heard director of student services Julien Frazier announce that student Jamie Jones has been named the state winner of the “Yes, I Can Academic Award” and is scheduled to be honored in Grand Rapids by the state for all his hard work. Frazier said the first unified basketball game of the season was postponed, but there is a game with first responders on Feb. 17 and a game at Little Caesar’s Arena on Feb. 21. He said the district now has a unified cheer team, robotics team, and horticulture group;
• Heard superintendent Kudlak explain, “We try to always have school.” He said a windchill of negative 20 is the cutoff. He said in the morning is when they finally decide whether to have school and it was easy on Monday because of the snowfall overnight. He announced Edgemont teacher Ms. Mastie was named Jay Towers in the Morning Teacher of the Week that morning;
• Heard board president Amy Pearce said social media has a lot to say about calling off school for weather. She said Kudlak gets up at 3 a.m. to drive here from his home to check on the weather when others are warm in bed. “Our job is to have kids in school,” she said, noting parents can keep their kids home if they want. “You’re the parent. It’s your decision”;
• Heard Kudlak report the KLAA is merging with the Southeastern Conference (SCC) and now Van Buren will be in a larger conference with Ann Arbor, Saline, Tecumseh, Lincoln, Dexter, and others; and
• Heard Pearce announce that McBride had its spelling bee and first-place winner was Everrette Skinner, second was Annabella Shall, and third Chloe Wooten. He also said on Sunday, Feb. 22, there will be a regional color guard competition at BHS as a fundraiser for the marching band. Also, 2026 marks the 100th year of having a Belleville band. It will be celebrated next school year and they are looking into ways to celebrate. Pearce also said she would like an update on school security from director Dan Wright, sometime over the next two months.