School Board re-elects Amy Pearce as president at Jan. 12 meeting

At the Jan. 12 organizational meeting of the Van Buren Public Schools Board of Education, Amy Pearce was re-elected board president for 2026.
Also re-elected to their positions were vice-president Dionne Falconer, secretary Darlene Loyer Gerick, and treasurer Calvin Hawkins.
The board voted to establish regular meeting dates, time, and place; approved resolutions to establish depositories for school funds and to authorize investments for 2026; and to designate the superintendent’s office to post board meeting notices under the Open Meetings Act.
It was noted that most of the meetings will be on the second and fourth Mondays at 7 p.m. The May 26 meeting is on a Tuesday and there will be just one meeting next December. Two workshops have been set for 6 p.m. at the administration building, one on Tuesday, Feb. 17, and one on Monday, March 16, mainly to discuss the structure of future workshops and to discuss schools of choice.
Board committee membership for 2026 is the same as what it was in 2025:
• Facilities – Calvin Hawkins, Darlene Loyer Gerick, Wade Fields;
• Finance – Amy Pearce, David Shall, Dionne Falconer;
• Health – David Shall, Dionne Falconer, Calvin Hawkins;
• Policy – Amy Pearce, Wade Fields, Vic DeLibera; and
• School Improvement – Darlene Loyer Gerick, Amy Pearce, Vic DeLibera.
Two members of the board are appointed to the Reinstatement Committee per month and the 2026 list is the same as in 2025.
Also, as part of the organizational meeting, the board members received several gifts to mark School Board Recognition Month, including a link to bring them swag from the Van Buren Public Schools, a folder from the district with a certificate identifying each member as a “Champion for Students,” and certificates from the Michigan Association of School Boards and the Wayne RESA (Regional Education Service Agency).
The organizational meeting closed and the regular meeting continued.
In other business at Monday’s 45-minute public meeting, the board:
• Approved spending $2,751,126 for the Rawsonville Elementary School Classroom HVAC, Ceiling and Lighting Upgrade with money coming from the district’s Sinking Fund. The board was told most of the units have exceeded their 25-year lifespan and are experiencing recurring mechanical issues. The work will start in April and run through the summer with completion in time for fall classes. Sealed bids were accepted in November for the project and it was discussed in detail at the Dec. 15 meeting;
• Accepted the retirement of Belleville High School Spanish teacher Allyson Newman after 31 years of service as of Feb. 28; and accepted the resignation of BHS teacher Brent Coeling as of Jan. 3 after less than a year of service;
• Approved hiring Michele Kirkwood as a Tyler Elementary School teacher as of Jan. 5;
• Accepted the retirement of Diane Martila as a cook in food service after 22 years of service as of Jan. 1; the resignations of Cynthia Maschat as a school bus driver as of Dec. 15 after six years of service and the resignation of food service worker Wesley Ronquillo on Dec. 17 after less than a year of service. Also accepted was the termination of bus driver Daniel Vealey on Jan. 6 after 24 years of service;
• Approved the hiring of custodians Austin Blaska-Reyes and Collin Ward, both as of Jan. 5; secretaries Pamela Smith at Rawsonville Elementary as of Dec. 19 and Katherine Douglas at BHS as of Jan. 5; and paraprofessionals Lueberta Browne at Edgemont Elementary as of Jan. 5, Danielle Whigham at McBride Middle School as of Jan. 12 and James Belle at McBride as of Jan. 8, and Diaviana Gilliam at McBride as of Jan. 26;
• Heard director of student services Julien Frazier announce the Unified Basketball team’s first home game was the next day and the Unified horticulture program is continuing into the second semester. He said a big event for the Unified program will be at 7 p.m., Feb. 17 and everyone is invited;
• Heard school superintendent Pete Kudlak announce that the district’s Educational Foundation will hold a Disney Trivia Night on Feb. 20 in the BHS Commons, with tickets at $10 each and Kudlak in costume. He said there will be a raffle for a trip to Disneyland;
• Also heard Kudlak announce that Peyton Trammer, a senior on the track team, broke the state record in the 60-meter dash at 6.68 seconds. He said Peyton’s feet hardly touch the ground. The girls’ state champs basketball team was featured in a television show on Saturday, he said;
• Heard trustee Wade Fields announce he attended the Robotics kickoff on Saturday and the new competition will involve six-inch-diameter balls to be shot into hampers. He said the program calls to switch sides every 20 seconds on who can score;
• Heard president Pearce say that she and secretary Gerick will travel to Washington, D.C. for the National School Board Association meeting on advocacy issues on Feb. 1 and 2, with Feb. 3 as a day on the hill to meet with elected officials; and
• Went into closed-door session to “consider material exempt from discussion or disclosure by state or federal statute,” Open Meeting Act Section 8(1)(h). After that meeting, the board adjourned without action.