School Board votes 6-1 to keep Haggerty School up for another year

The Van Buren Public Schools Board of Education voted, 6-1, to keep Haggerty School up and running for another school year, but the Early Childhood Development Center (ECDC) is to be razed.
At the March 27 regular meeting, School Supt. Pete Kudlak asked the board for direction on Haggerty School. James Williams, director of building and grounds, presented an evaluation done by a RESA (Wayne County Regional Educational Service Agency) representative, Neil Greene. The building is in good shape, but needs a boiler and LED lighting, the report said.
Greene gave several options for the building.
“We spent a lot of taxpayer money on Haggerty when we passed a bond,” said Trustee Sherry Frazier, referring to 17 years ago.
The building now houses Great Start School Readiness program, adult transition classes, Head Start, and a latchkey program. Kudlak has already warned the latchkey program that the school may not be available for next school year.
“It is not dilapidated,” Trustee Frazier said. “I visited there on Friday. It’s my voting precinct. It has a rather pleasant atmosphere. There’s no evidence of the roof falling in … There are two leaks.”
Supt. Kudlak asked Frazier to hold her comments until the end of the presentation.
Williams presented options for the building that included minimum repairs, implementing a five-year-plan to bring it up to standards, or closing the building to either mothball it or demolish it.
He reeled off a list of costs, with the boiler issue $10,000 to $30,000.
“We could put a Band Aid on, but we wouldn’t want a high-quality boiler in there if it is going to be closed,” Kudlak said.
Williams said they have paid $3,500 in boiler repair so far, and the work’s not done. He said mothballing the building would cost $117,939 a year and for five years that would be $589,695. Refurbishing the building completely would cost about $2.44 million over five years. And, demolishing the building is estimated at $245,560.
Kudlak said the staff at Haggerty now doesn’t feel a part of the district and, “We need to do a better job there.”
He said at the moment the district could close an elementary school and move the kids to another school. He said if they do decide to close the school, they have to remember the 200 students predicted by Plante Moran to arrive in the near future.
Kudlak said they could put $2.5 million aside to build a new building in the future.
Williams said Head Start, which is at Haggerty, was paying $40,000 a year rent in the past and now it’s down to $25,000 because of fewer students.
Frazier said she thinks the board should form a committee to study how to enhance and make preschool a priority. “We have to have some kind of vision.”
Frazier said the RESA person said Haggerty was in “nice shape,” but needs a boiler and lighting.
“There’s all kinds of issues here.
Williams said it was built in 1957.
Frazier made a motion to continue the operation of Haggerty School with minimum repairs for one more year and to form a committee.
She said they should postpone a decision until the board can study the issue and find options.
“I think there’s a rush to judgment,” Frazier said.
Secretary Kevin English said the district is losing money hosting the daycare.
Board president Keith Johnston said he wouldn’t be opposed to closing the school for a couple of years.
Frazier said she recommends that board members go over and see the school before making any decisions.
“It is old,” Johnston said.
He called for a second to Frazier’s motion and English seconded the motion.
Trustee Simone Pinter said teachers at the school should come in and tell the board what they think.
The motion passed, 6-1, with Johnston casting the only no vote.
In other business at the March 27 three-hour meeting, the board:
• Voted unanimously to get an engineering plan done so specifications can be drawn up to go out for bids for knocking down the ECDC building at Edgemont School and putting in a parking lot for parent parking. Low bidder was Hennessey Engineers at $19,400. Money for the project is from the Sinking Fund. Kudlak said the engineering design would be good for a long time, if they don’t want to proceed at once;
• Approved paying $7,250, plus expenses, to the Michigan Association of School Boards to assist the school board in drawing up a new strategic plan for the district. Debbie Stair presented the plan, which will take three or four months to complete and lots of meetings with stakeholders. She said Dr. Rod Green will be working with the district on the data-driven plan;
• Heard Wanda Travis, a vocational rehabilitation counselor with the state Department of Health and Human Services, ask businesses in the area to offer work experience for disabled student workers in their own community. She said she has more than 30 students in her program here. Travis said the state pays for their wages. Businesses may call Belleville High School for more information;
• Approved hiring Amber Milkovich as a special education paraprofessional at Edgemont as of March 27 and Mary Voigt as executive secretary to the Special Education Director at the administration building as of March 20;
• Approved terminations of the following teachers: Jennifer Nordin of Owen who is resigning as of April 12 after 17 years of service; Kimberly Ferrell of BHS, retiring July 16 after two years of service; and Jon Moore of Savage, retiring July 16 after 20 years of service;
• Approved hiring Jordan Hovis as a social studies teacher at McBride as of March 14; Catherine Kaczmar as an art teacher at McBride as of March 29; and Hannah Sabol as a counselor at BHS as of March 27;
• Approved the field trip request of senior David Date and DECA advisor Jason Butka to attend the International DECA (Distributive Education Clubs of America) conference April 25-30 in Anaheim, CA. David is BHS’ first-ever qualifier for the competition. The student’s family is funding the trip;
• Approved McBride Middle School’s eighth graders’ annual trip to Washington, D.C. for April 11-14, 2018. Student cost is $779 each and is self-financed with scholarships available;
• Heard a presentation by BHS principal Stacey Buhro and five staff members on instructional changes for the 2016-17 school year at BHS;
• Heard a required annual report from John Leroy, principal of McBride Middle School, on progress with the Focus School designation. McBride was named a Focus School by the state in 2015 because the gap between the highest learners and the lowest learners was too great. The goal is to close the gap;
• Heard a report on academics and test scores by Jeff Moore, curriculum director;
• Approved the second reading and adoption of updates to the board policies;
• Heard an informal update on the ongoing superintendent evaluation;
• Heard English give a legislative report; and
• Heard Frazier say that during the BHS band’s concert at Hill Auditorium in Ann Arbor, school board members Kelly Owen and Allison Bennett sat with the person who caused all the litigation at Savage Elementary School. She said board members should be reminded to be careful when there is pending litigation. She said several members of the audience brought this up to her. She said Collins Blaha lawfirm billed the district another $8,901.50, “as this black spot on our district continues.”
A closed session had been on the agenda to consider the Savage law suit, #16-cv-11805, but the board did not go into closed session.