School Board lays off BHS math teacher due to declining enrollment

At the June 25 regular meeting of the Van Buren Public Schools Board of Education, the board approved the layoff of one high school math teacher because of fewer students.
“With the expectation that enrollment will continue to decline, even slightly, we have looked at our high school numbers and find that we will not need all of the math teachers currently employed at BHS,” wrote Abdul Madyun, director of Human Resources.
Madyun did not attend Monday’s meeting, so School Supt. Pete Kudlak presented the agenda item.
Supt. Kudlak said the smaller classes are advancing to the high school now. Blended student count in 2016-17 was 4,699 and 2017-18 was 4,645.
A notice of layoff as of June 30 was to be sent to David Mahoney, who was hired to teach high school math in August, 2017.
In other business at Monday’s meeting, the board:
• Approved the 2017-18 amended budget and the 2018-19 proposed budget, as discussed in the June 18 public hearing. School Board President Keith Johnston said the assumptions for the new budget are conservative;
• Had a presentation on the proposed Sinking Fund Budget use for the next three years. The Sinking Fund brings in between $750,000-$950,000 per year. Projects worth $931,000 are scheduled this year, $780,000 in 2019, and $1.2 million in 2020. The Sinking Fund was approved by voters in November 2015. Besides other projects, in the upcoming year all schools except BHS will get security card swipe/access control and replacement of classroom hardware with Securitec hardware;
• Had an update on the Savage School boiler replacement, which will have to be done by opening the roof because the boiler is on a mezzanine in the middle of the school. A crane will be used to remove the old boiler and install the two smaller boilers planned. Bids on the project will be opened later this week and the work is planned to be completed before school starts. Cost is expected to be about $242,000. Tyler School has the same layout and so will have to be done the same way when the work is done in 2019;
• Approved a six-month agreement with the Van Buren Association of School Administrators which will allow the district and union to have a better picture of enrollment and the district’s financial outlook moving forward for the 2018-19 school year. The agreement includes all administrators who are eligible to move up one step; cash in lieu of insurance, $1,500 (agreed upon in last contract); reimbursement of up to $125 for Administrator Certification renewal (agreed upon in last contract); sick bank buyout upon retirement of $50 per day, maximum of 100 days (agreed upon in last contract); and administrators who need additional personal business days beyond their allotted amount must submit a written request to the Director of Human Resources or designee. If granted, accumulated sick leave days will be used for personal business;
• Approved a flat $300 increase in salary for 25 non-affiliated staff members “in order to continue the salaries of non-affiliated staff to remain competitive and in line with increases for other units that have steps,” Supt. Kudlak said. Two additional employees are receiving increases of more than $300. One is the Director of Special Services ($6,000 more), due to her moving to a full-year position rather than 10 months, and the Human Resource Specialist ($2,000 more), who also is an executive secretary to the director and the pay increase brings her in line with other district executive secretaries with experience;
• Approved the April 16-20, 2019 bus trip to New York City by about 64 band members to participate in the National Invitational Band and Orchestra Festival at Carnegie Hall. Cost to each student is $1,500;
• Approved the termination of BHS teacher Nick James for person reasons after less than a year of service, as of June 30;
• Viewed the district’s new video which will be used in August as a commercial on local cable channels and, perhaps, be put in movie theaters as a trailer to encourage new students to enroll in the district. Presenting the video was Jane Stalmack, Special Projects Coordinator;
• Honored five teachers who have earned tenure. Present to receive their certificates were Jason Wesley, Felicia Fredricks, and Lisa Fiema. Not present to be honored were Jessica Moore and Nicole McCraight;
• Heard Van Buren Township Deputy Clerk Joanne Montgomery praise Pam Johnson for all the work she has done to help the township during their elections. Johnson, who is the superintendent’s executive secretary, is retiring and Monday was her last school board meeting. School board members also praised Johnson for doing a “wonderful job for the district”;
• Listened to a mother of a child due to be six in November who has been told she has to go to Tyler Elementary because they live in Kirkridge. But, her daughter has been attending preschool at Bethany and she would like her to go to Bethany in the morning and Edgemont in the afternoon, like many of her classmates will be doing. She said parents who don’t even live in the district have gotten approved for Edgemont. President Johnston took her phone number so it could be discussed further;
• Heard Director of Plant Operations Jim Williams say that Ypsilanti Township has contacted the district because Rawsonville Elementary School does not have a sidewalk in front of it and they want one there so there can be a bike path in front of the school. More information is coming, he said;
• Learned Director of Curriculum Jeff Moore was absent from the meeting because his wife just had an 8 pound, 13 ounce boy; and
• Went into closed-door session to discuss the periodic personnel evaluation of the superintendent.