Supt. Van Tassel announces loss of 155 students in fall count

Van Buren Public Schools Superintendent Michael Van Tassel announced at Monday’s school board meeting that the district student count is down 155 students from last school year’s tally.
He said the district is still in the “middle of the count window” and so that may not be the official final count.
Supt. Van Tassel said the district had projected a loss of 130 students and the 155 is 25 more than expected. He said this means the district will get about $185,000 less in per-pupil state aid than expected.
He said the losses occurred in Kindergarten and other school districts in the area also report low Kindergarten counts. And, the senior class that graduated last spring was large. The next senior class is smaller, but the freshman class coming up is another big class, about 500.
As part of his Superintendent’s Report that recently was added to the agenda, Supt. Van Tassel announced the topics of Friday’s professional development day for teachers, when students will have the day off. He said Curriculum Director Jeff Moore just finalized the agenda and he passed the agenda out to board members.
Van Tassel also explained the state’s change from giving the ACT to the SAT and that ninth, tenth, and eleventh-grade students will be taking this new SAT. “This is the first time anyone’s seen this new SAT,” he said. “It’s a big deal for our staff” and “a big cultural shift for our students.”
The announcement Van Tassel made at the end of his report was that the state of Michigan flag is now at all of the schools. He said he had this done because it’s the “patriotic and appropriate thing to do.”
“Is there any way to track what happens to these students?” asked Trustee Sherry Frazier, wondering if they are getting a unique high school education on line.
“That’s a scary thought,” Van Tassel said. “A lot of students don’t have the ability to focus at that level.”
He said 504 students left the district, with 200 of those going out of state and going out of district.
“We need to come up with a plan,” Trustee Frazier said encouraging the board to do some salesmanship in selling the Van Buren Public Schools.
She said places like Bethany Daycare get children at age three or four and the children are committed to going there. In previous comments she said the Bethany children go on to Keystone Charter Academy instead of Van Buren schools.
“Early childhood development is important,” Frazier said. “We need to get the children as early as possible.”
“But, the state doesn’t want to fund that,” Van Tassel said.
Also at Monday’s meeting the board:
• Approved attendance at the Outback Bowl in Florida Dec. 27-Jan. 2 for about 215 members of the BHS Marching Band. Cost to students is $1,250 each. Travel is by chartered bus and overnight stays are in Orlando, and Tampa;
• Approved the resignation of BHS teacher Jessica Harmon after one year as of Sept. 25. She reportedly was recruited by another district;
• Approved hiring the following teachers as of Oct. 5: Tanya White as instructional coach at Tyler/Owen, Melanie O’Neil as French teacher at BHS/McBride, Shawn Johnson as BHS Math teacher, and Andrew Pitzer for BHS social studies (NT); also as of Oct. 12, Melanie Matthews as Edgemont instructional coach; and as of Oct. 19, Tracy Causey-Bryant as Savage instructional coach;
• Approved the terminations of Kathleen McQuaid on Oct. 5 after 10 months in Transportation and Linda Cobb, the Owen secretary, as of Oct. 6 after nine years of service to the district. Trustee Frazier voted no on the consent agenda motion that approved this, later saying it was because she opposed Cobb’s termination;
• Approved the resignation of non-instructional staff member Nicholas Loechli of McBride after two years of service as of Sept. 25; and the retirement of Kathy Jones of Transportation after eight years as of Oct. 12;
• Approved the hiring of Kurt Long in the Custodial/Maintenance Department as afternoon custodian as of Sept. 30;
• Ratified the contract with Van Buren Food Service Association union members, who will get a 1% raise this school year. Budget implication is $5,231;
• Heard McBride Middle School Principal John Leroy, Assistant Principal Rod Fisher, and Academic Support Administrator Laura Maher give a presentation on instructional changes at McBride for this school year. One of the big changes is new teacher support. Fisher said of the 30 teachers at McBride, 10 are new (one or two-year) teachers. They also told of a new Class Dojo that allows parents to check on their child in school every hour. They also are intent on keeping kids in their seats and not sending them home for infractions;
• Approved the purchase of two school buses from the Hoekstra MSBO/MAPT Bus Purchase Program in the amount of $171,647. These are one 47-passenger lift bus at a cost of $92,631 and one 47-passenger special needs bus at a cost of $79,016. Hoekstra was the low bidder of three, without adjustable accelerator/brake pedals and the corrosion and structural warranty. The district is purchasing the buses with the warranty, which is not provided by the other vendors. The two buses being replaced are more than 12 years old. Frazier said it is peculiar to be spending money on buses while the district is losing students;
• Approved the second reading and adoption of a long list of updates to Board Policies necessary due to changes in the law;
• Approved a resolution urging the state legislature “to support and continue the current opportunity for school districts to purchase electric supply at significant savings from alternate energy suppliers.” The resolution said by participating in the Electric Choice Program the Van Buren Schools have been able to reduce its energy rates by over $727,000. Van Tassel said he will send the resolution on to the legislature, noting pending changes are political and if the state policy changes, the Van Buren district will be unable to get cheaper power; and
• Was reminded of next Monday’s work/study session at 7 p.m. at the administration building. On the agenda will be discussion on how to handle the teacher evaluation tool changed by the law, Data Dialog, and the school suspension program.