School Board praises football team’s second District 1 Championship

There was no mention of former high school coach Jermain Crowell, whose suspension by the Michigan High School Athletic Association made recent sports headlines, until the end of Monday’s Van Buren Public Schools Board of Education agenda.
That’s when a card filled out by parent Todd Mears was read as a question from the audience on a non-agenda item.
The question was asking the board to clarify the coach situation and what they were going to do to prevent infractions in the future.
School Supt. Pete Kudlak said he talked to Mears and told him he would talk to him about it, but this evening was for the kids.
“I’ll give you a call,” he said to Mears, who seemed to agree to the reply. “The stuff in the paper is not accurate. We have no control over what they print.” Later he clarified he was referring to The Detroit Free Press reports.
Supt. Kudlak said the coach issue would be discussed at the next school board meeting.
Kudlak said the football game on Saturday was wonderful. With all the distractions, the coaches kept the team focused on the game, he said.
“It was about the kids on the field,” he said.
Under board comments part of the agenda, Calvin Hawkins said, “I was so very proud of our football team.” He said the district is in elite company now, with the two back-to-back state championships. “We have to block all the other things out.”
Board secretary Darlene Gerick comments on the blazers the team members wore as they entered Ford Field before the game. “Our kids looked so sharp,” she said.”
Kudlak later said that Coach Crowell had wanted the blazers for the team members to wear to school each game day, but their arrival was delayed and they didn’t get them until this game. Kudlak said they were paid for by the BYC.
Gerick said volunteers made sticks with orange-colored strips on them for BHS fans to wave in the stadium since Ford Field did not allow pom-poms. She said after the game, Van Buren Township and Belleville police cars accompanied the band buses to the edge of town before they realized those weren’t the team buses. Then they did escort the team buses into Belleville with sirens and horn-honking.
“It takes a village and we have an incredible one,” she said.
Board president Amy Pearce said she saw the football team having breakfast in the BHS cafeteria the morning of the game. She said interim coach DeJuan Rogers addressed the team and, “He’s a leader. He urged them to block out all the noise.” She said so many assistant coaches have other jobs in the district during the day.
Board vice president Susan Featheringill said the sendoff on Saturday was very cool and they had special buses. She said Belleville Mayor Kerreen Conley wanted to welcome them back from the game with a crowd on Main Street, but she was persuaded to have a big sendoff instead, which they did.
Kudlak said later that the special buses were funded by the district. He said it was a holiday week end and would have cost extra for the school bus drivers. He said they also hire such buses for the basketball team.
“I love this town,” said board member Kelly Owens, who noted she was raised elsewhere, but has lived in the Belleville area for longer than she lived in that place and now Belleville is her home. “I love everything about it… I love the students.”
No coaches or football team members were present to hear all the comments.
In other action at Monday’s meeting, the board:
• Approved the 2024 BHS field trip to France that would start a week after school ends in June 2024 for about 20 French language students in grades 9-12. The student-funded trip is at a cost of $5,455 per student;
• Approved the BHS Student Council State Leadership Conference field trip to Grand Rapids for 18-21 students on Feb. 24-27 by school bus;
• Heard Rob Kakoczki of Plante Moran Cresa give a quarterly update on the 2019 bond projects and their progress. The original bond was $35.5 million. The Early Childhood Center is 98% complete and Owen Intermediate School updates are 99% complete. Design and bidding of the next projects are slated throughout 2023 with construction in 2024. These are renovations to McBride Middle School, Edgemont, Rawsonville, Tyler and Savage, along with the high school band bleachers for the football field and IT upgrades. He said he expected to bring schematic designs for the projects to the board in March or April;
• Approved the resignation of Owen teacher Jackie Kennedy Nelson as of Dec. 6 after less than a year of service; and the employment of Kari Safieddine to teach sixth grade at Owen beginning Dec. 2;
• Approved the employment of Kyron Carroll as of Nov. 15 and Diane Falson as of Nov. 16, both as custodians in the Building & Grounds department; Jacob Puma as of Nov. 16 as a paraprofessional at Tyler and Markiea as of Nov. 21 as a paraprofessional at Rawsonville; and Gloria Cook as a substitute school bus driver as of Nov. 28;
• Heard Kudlak say the E sports team is doing fantastic this year. There are two teams and they have semifinals on Dec. 9 and final competition on Dec. 10. He said they could bring home scholarship money. Board member Dione Falconer said her son’s team is in Lego Robotics competition this Saturday. Kudlak said teams from the elementary and intermediate schools are also involved;
• Heard president Pearce report that she loved that there were two sets of actors for the recent production of “The Importance of Being Earnest” and it was very good. Also she said the Craft Show at BHS to earn money for the Class of 2023 was sold out and brought a large crowd of buyers; and
• Went into closed-door session to start Kudlak’s annual personnel evaluation of his job as superintendent. Pearce said the board is doing the evaluation in two sessions, like it did last year, to avoid having to work late into the night. The evaluation will be brought for a vote in public session when it is complete.