School Board votes to move forward with selling vacant properties

At the March 26 regular meeting the Van Buren Public Schools Board of Education voted unanimously to sell the vacant properties it owns and move forward with negotiations with St. Anthony Catholic Church regarding the purchase of vacant land on Davis Street.
Board secretary Kevin English was absent.
It was noted the district would use a local Realtor, but it was not specified how the Realtor would be selected.
Over the past few months, the district has gathered information on the properties and then turned it over to an ad hoc committee to make a recommendation to the board.
The recommendation was to put all the properties up for sale, as is, but to retain one parcel that is not immediately of interest to buyers, so the district would still have one vacant parcel.
School Supt. Pete Kudlak said the district also will seek an evaluation from a solar company on the properties to see if one would be suitable for a solar field.
The properties going up for sale are:
• 19.84 acres on Denton Road, Canton Township, zoned R-1, Single Family Residential, estimated value of $533,478;
• 31.52 acres at 17601 Elwell Road, Sumpter Township, zoned AG – Agricultural, estimated value of $847,541;
• 10.93 acres on Morton Taylor Road, Van Buren Township, zoned R1B, Single Family Residential, estimated value of $279,377;
• 8.56 acres on Mary Catherine in West Willow, Ypsilanti Township, zoned R-5 One-Family Residential, estimated value, $230,170; and
• The Career Tech buildings and grounds on Sumpter Road are also up for sale. The property will be put up for sale as is and demolition considered if it doesn’t sell with the buildings.
The estimates were presented to the board in February and appraisals were due in March.
Supt. Kudlak said St. Anthony’s wanted a letter of intent to continue negotiations on purchase of the back 10 acres, which is in the city of Belleville and zoned R-1 One-Family Residential with an estimated value of $268,890.
Supt. Kudlak said he learned that in the past the district had been in negotiations with the church to buy the 10 acres beyond the fence, but at that time the appraisal turned out to be less than the offer, so the district backed off.
The vacant parcels on Elwell Road and Denton Road are being leased for farming on a yearly basis.
In other business at Monday’s 58-minute meeting, the board:
• Approved the second reading and adoption of 50 pages of Board Policies, as presented by board member Alison Bennett and recommended by NEOLA;
• Approved attendance of five students at the DECA Leadership Academy in Atlanta, GA, April 20-25. Chaperones are Jason Butka and Betty Small;
• Approved the resignations of teachers Sarah Garvey, Haggerty/Tyler, as of June 30; and Melissa Jowett, Owen Intermediate, as of March 23. Both had served less than one year;
• Approved the resignation of Theresa Holton from the Transportation Department as of March 19 after four years of service;
• Heard Financial Director Shareen Barker report the new payroll software is being phased in and they are working on the new district budget;
• Heard Director of Plant Operations James Williams say he is working on card access for the whole district, excluding the high school which has card access;
• Heard Human Resources Director Abdul Madyun report the insurance committee now is working with actual numbers. He said they learned the district paid $3.2 million for insurance for just the teachers and there were claims of just $2.1 million. He said the district could have saved $1.1 million just on the teachers’ unit. He said after spring break the committee will be considering all insurance options and may change what the insurance in the district is going to look like;
• Heard Supt. Kudlak say the optimum size of a school is said to be 5,000 students and Van Buren Public Schools has hit the “sweet spot.” He said you can’t get all the successes the district has had with a smaller student body and you can’t get lost in a larger population; and
• Heard Supt. Kudlak report the district has contacted the state for a waiver so the high school doesn’t have to make up two days and extend the school term through June 18. He said BHS is the only building that needed makeup days since the power went out in November and the March 13 threat closed that school. He said BHS students were due to get out Thursday, June 14, but they could move the exams to Thursday and Friday and get out June 15. Also, the school year is not over and there might be additional closings needed.