Supt. Kudlak alerts school board to cut in state funding

At Monday’s virtual Zoom meeting of the Van Buren Public Schools Board of Education, School Supt. Pete Kudlak alerted the board to big cuts in funding that are coming due to the coronavirus.
He said since school aid is funded by sales tax and the state has been shut down to fight the virus there is little sales tax being gathered and the district will be taking a big hit in funding.
He said he expects from $300 to $1,000 less in school aid per student, which would be from $1.2 million to $5 million in total cuts.
“With either number there will be layoffs,” he said, noting the “feds” could bail out the state.
“Every district in the state will have a big cut,” he said. He said he doesn’t like to bring bad news, but he is trying to be transparent.
Board president Amy Pearce said people are anxious about supporting their families and keeping them healthy and safe.
“You’ve always been very transparent with our community,” she said.
“It’s particularly hard to hear it now” when teachers are trying to do new things with student education. He said in the midst of that they are having to handle the financial information.
“That’s tough,” Kudlak said.
Board vice president Susan Featheringill said the district has a fund balance, but cuts to the budget will eliminate that fund balance quickly.
Treasurer Simone Pinter said, “I would hope we wouldn’t have to depend on the federal government with everything that’s going on.”
Kudlak also reported that the graduation exercises planned for May 28 cannot be held at that time and possibly it could be the end of July or beginning of August and if it couldn’t be at Eastern Michigan University, as planned, it could be on the football field. Or, there could be a parade, he said.
Trustee Kelly Owen asked if they would have their senior party afterward and Kudlak said he doesn’t know and the staff would make that decision.
Kudlak said the previous Monday the Belleville City Council voted to put up banners along Main Street, High Street, and the Belleville Bridge with seniors’ pictures on them. He said Councilman Ken Voigt brought forth the idea and he and Voigt knocked the idea around and changed plans to make it work.
Kudlak said they can put up banners for 120 students at once for a month, in three groups. BYC would pay for it and Davenport volunteered to put them up and take them down. At first they thought the school and city would have to share the cost and work of putting them up and taking them down, he said.
He said Belleville High School is collecting pictures and getting permission from the parents. Just the first names will be used and the students will be able to keep the banner with their pictures.
Board secretary Darlene Gerick suggested the students could put their banners on long sticks and carry them in the parade.
Kudlak also noted that last week, the district distributed 9,604 free meals as a total for the week for students. Distribution is drive-through at the high school on Tuesdays and Thursdays.
Financial Director Sarah Cortese, who is a regular volunteer at the food distribution, said the previous Thursday they planned for 900 meals and gave out 1,016. She said they give out three meals to each student on Thursdays, so they distributed 6,096 meals that day.
She praised food service supervisor Karen Waller for her work and skill.
President Pearce pointed out a student doesn’t have to be in the Van Buren District to get the meals. She referred to the staff preparing and distributing the meals as “awesome.”
In other business at the 54-minute virtual meeting, the board:
• Approved the recommendation to purchase four buses at a total cost of $432,563. Cortese said several older buses have gone into unusable status this year due to various issues with aging buses on very rough road conditions. Cortese said they are working on revising routes for next year and hope to be able to reduce the total number of routes. If that doesn’t work out, they may need to come back to the board for approval to buy a couple more buses;
• Approved the Schools of Choice program participation for the First Semester of the 2020-21 school year. They will offer an unlimited number of openings;
• Approved a change to a board policy to comply with the COVID-19 Continuity of Learning Plan, required by the state. Instead of the C+ or better the board policy required “for credit for subject areas and courses in which a final examination is used as the assessment for successful attainment of the subject area content,” now it will be “a grade of D- or better is required.” This is equivalent to the 60% grade required by the state plan;
• Approved a motion that said the Van Buren Public Schools district is in favor of adding the Enhancement Education Millage to the November ballot. The first 2-mill, 6-year millage was approved countywide in 2016 and expires in 2021. If it doesn’t get on this year’s ballot, it can’t go on the ballot again until 2022 after it expires, Kudlak explained at a previous meeting. It needs school districts in Wayne County with more than 50% of the students to approve putting it on the county ballot. He said VBPS will lose about $300 per student if the millage is not renewed. The district received $1.6 million in the past. He said charter schools are now eligible for the millage, as well, so the district’s per-student amount will be down slightly from the current $360;
• Heard Director of Instruction Jeff Moore report that 550 Chromebooks have been distributed to families so far. He said they were at Rawsonville Elementary earlier that day and were at Tyler last week and Savage the week before. For families still in need of Chromebooks they should go to the district website and apply. He said now giveaways are scheduled at Belleville High School on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, as needed. He said it is the district’s intention to get them back to the school before fall classes to clean them up and get them back to the schools for fall classes. Also, graduating seniors need to turn theirs in;
• Heard Director of Student Services Karen Johnston announce that starting May 18 they will be returning medication to students’ families; and
• Heard Human Resources Director Abdul Madyun say he has been meeting one-on-one with principals about staffing. He said they are basing their decisions on the spring count. He said, “If we do make cuts, I would like to do so now, rather than waiting.”