School Board OKs negotiations to buy house next door

After a closed-door session on Oct. 11, the Van Buren Public Schools Board of Education came back into open session and voted to authorize School Supt. Pete Kudlak to negotiate the purchase of 625 W. Huron River Dr., Van Buren Township.
The half-acre of property with a house built in 1952 has a back yard that immediately adjoins the school district’s administration building.
On Tuesday, Supt. Kudlak said a woman had lived there for 60 years and raised her family and now she is elderly and living elsewhere. The owners of the property, who live in California, had been approached by the school district years ago about purchasing the site and so they reached out to the school district when they were ready to sell.
According to the Van Buren Township website the property has assessed value of $118,000.
Kudlak said the high school is landlocked and should have twice as much property around it as it has for a building that large. He said that before his time they had tried to build it on a larger piece of land, but the voters wanted it to stay where it is.
He said the high school property was expanded some when they bought land from St. Anthony Catholic Church.
“This is not for immediate use,” Kudlak said. “We are looking to the future.”
The board also went into closed-door session to discuss “security planning to address existing threats or prevent potential threats to the safety of the students and staff.”
This was for information only and no motion was made on this in public session.
In other business at Monday’s two-hour regular meeting, the board:
• Approved accepting the bid of $58,184.10 from Houghton Mifflin for the items and training needed to implement Read 180 at McBride Middle School for the 2021-22 school year. The project was presented in detail at the last school board meeting;
• Was advised of the requested purchase of a Ford F600 Regular Cab 4×4 XLT chassis 169” WB, 84” CA (dump truck chassis) for $57,586 from Signature Ford in Owosso to replace the 1984 GMC truck that the district currently owns. Truck maintenance for the old vehicle is becoming expensive and emergency repairs come at inconvenient times, said James Williams, director of plant operations. He said this truck can be used as a “swap” where the dump box can be removed and an application for ice and snow removal added and a cube van attachment can be swapped in, as well. If it is purchased by Nov. 1, the district will get it in April or May. The vote on this will be at the Oct. 25 board meeting;
• Heard building presentations from Tyler Elementary School, Belleville High School, and Savage Elementary School;
• Heard a presentation of the District Improvement Plan by Becky Ross, director of federal and state grants;
• Approved the second reading and final approval of the board policy updates that were discussed in detail at the last meeting. The policies are available to study on the district website under the School Board heading;
• Approved the bid of Milestone Construction Company for the construction work on the VBPS Health Clinic for $131,908, plus 10% contingency cost of $13,000 for a total cost of $144,908. Kudlak said the district is partnering with SET SEG (its insurance company) to build a health clinic for employees and their families, in two converted rooms at McBride Middle School, with a private entrance and new restroom. Kudlak said the clinic will end up saving the district money as services will not be billed to its insurance. Rates will decrease and claims will be reduced. Also, it can help as a retention tool as the clinic can be offered to part-time employees that do not qualify for health insurance, he said. He said prescriptions could be filled there, but no narcotics;
• Approved the resignation of Morgan Youngs, a teacher at Tyler Elementary, after five years of service as of Oct. 15 for a job opportunity; and the hiring of Katie Fryske and Nicolas Mynarcik as teachers at BHS as of Oct. 11;
• Approved the retirement of Patricia Jackson from the Transportation Department after six years of service as of Oct. 8; and approved the resignation of Miriha Campbell as a non-instruction staff member at Edgemont Elementary as of Sept. 30 after zero years of service for personal reasons;
• Approved the hiring of the following non-instructional staff members: Valencia Jones as a bus driver as of Sept. 23, Keayon Jones as a paraprofessional at Rawsonville Elementary as of Sept. 29; Tina Carter as a secretary at BHS as of Oct. 1; Lilia Lamas as a paraprofessional at Edgemont Elementary as of Oct. 4; Emily MacBlain as a bus aide as of Sept. 29, and Elizabeth Varner as a kitchen worker as of Oct. 7; and
• Heard many comments from BHS senior Kennedy Plummer, who was sitting on the board as the student member for this meeting. She gave many recommendations on how to have a better Spirit Week in future Homecoming celebrations.