School board OKs VBEST contract after 8 months of talks

At its Aug. 26 regular meeting, the Van Buren Public Schools Board of Education unanimously approved a two-year contract — July 1, 2024 through June 30, 2026 – with the Van Buren Educational Support Team, VBEST.
This agreement comes eight months after the beginning of negotiations on the contract.
VBEST approved the agreement at 6:30 p.m. Monday, just before the 7 p.m. school board meeting.
Human Resources Director John Leroy, who was negotiating for the district, hurriedly passed out photocopies, before the board meeting started, that he had just made of the details of the agreement.
The agreement continues the attendance bonus of $1,000 per semester, details on holiday pay, overtime pay will be paid for more than eight hours a day or Saturday and Sunday, pay period details, credit for experience in other districts, $3,500 sign-on bonus for certified drivers, paid training for drivers.
The big change was the wage scale, with the 10 or 12 steps reduced to eight larger steps for advancements. Department wage scales were created with increases for all positions. The district will pay $125 per year for clothing allowance. Work days increased from 6.5 to 6.75 hours.
The vacancies, transfers, and promotions will be posted electronically.
“We still had ditto machines in our contract,” said VBEST president Chrystal Lampinen.
Bus driver pay for this school year goes from $23 per hour to $26.50, and aides go from $16.60 to $19.40. Paraprofessionals for this school year go from $18, $17.60, and $16.60 for different classifications, up to $20.80, $20.40, and $19.40.
Pays in other classifications also rose for this school year and next school year, including transportation, paraprofessional, custodial, maintenance, building and grounds, and mechanics.
In June, 40 frustrated VBEST members attended a school board meeting asking for respect and higher pay. A VBEST speaker at that meeting said she got an email the previous week saying there had been a solid offer on a wage raise, but it has been taken away to force the union to “give up its rights of collective bargaining.”
“It’s not just about wages,” she told the board in June. “It’s respect … to pay what we deserve. Some of our administrators got raises at the last board meeting. What did they have to give up? … We ask you … to respect the work we do every single day,” she said in conclusion and the audience erupted in lengthy applause.
There was no comment from the board at that time.
Also, at the Aug. 26 meeting the board:
• Approved the renewal of three years of cyber security awareness training services from KnowBe4 at a total cost of $37,160.05 funded out of the IT Department software and subscription budget. IT administrator Sean Garland said malware and ransomware attacks are on the rise and insurance payouts to recover data have skyrocked. Email phishing campaigns are the most prevalent tactic used to deliver these attacks into a target network. End-user security awareness training is recommended on an ongoing basis as a way to help mitigate these attacks, Garland said;
• Approved renewal of a three-year subscription to GoGuardian Suite for a total cost of $107,100. This provides tools for managing and monitoring the technology used by students in the district. It includes GoGuardian Teacher, to give teachers a real-time view of what websites or apps students are using on their devices and the ability to refocus one student or an entire class by closing tabs, blocking websites, and pushing content directly to the students. It also includes GoGuardian DNR and Admin, which filters content and monitors internet usage;
• Held the second reading and gave final approval to updates for 43 board policies, as recommended by Thrun Law Firm;
• Approved the resignations of teachers Alexandria Davis of Savage, who resigned Aug. 9 after zero years of service, and Ann Marie Epperson of Belleville High School as of Aug. 21 after 22 years of service;
• Approved the employment, all as of Aug. 28, of the following teachers: Satonyia Griffin for BHS math; Emma DiBenedetto, for BHS chemistry; Jacob Levine for Owen sixth grade; Courtney Mahle for Savage kindergarten; LiKina Turner for McBride counselor; and Virginia Thorne-Herrmann, for BHS vocal teacher;
• Approved the resignations of the following non-instructional staff: Benjamin Joseph from BHS after three years of service; Devontae Crimes from transportation, after two years; Amanda Swank from transportation, after less than a year; Doris Biles from transportation, after two years; and Amanda Kolawle from Owen after one and a half years;
• Approved the recommendation for hiring the following non-instructional staff: Gary Story, custodian; Richard Wegienka, custodian; and Willie Allen as Student Support at Rawsonville;
• Heard Julien Frazier say the U.S. Department of Education is auditing the Michigan Department of Education and the MDE chose Wayne County schools for it to audit as part of the federal audit. Frazier said MDE officials are expected to be walking the halls in January to make sure that “free and appropriate public education” is available here;
• Heard Leroy say the district still needs a couple of social workers and a third-grade teacher, but otherwise is fully staffed;
• Heard School Supt. Pete Kudlak report that on its next school board agenda, the district will have a proposal to buy a couple of electric school buses. The district applied for a Michigan Clean Bus Energy Grant and got the $1.3 million it requested. That will buy two buses and infrastructure. He said the district won’t have to buy diesel fuel and will get 125 miles per charge;
• Heard Leroy say that Frazier did a great job teaching Crisis Prevention and Intervention training to the staff, showing how to restrain students; and
• Heard board president Amy Pearce report that the board toured Tyler and McBride before that night’s meeting. She also reported that she went to band camp. The new patio in front of the band room has its engraved bricks, although there are some typographical errors in the engraving that have to be fixed.
Board treasurer Simone Pinter and board member Kelly Owen were absent from the Aug. 26 meeting.