VBPS students all qualify for free lunches for five years

Starting this fall, all the students in the Van Buren Public Schools qualify for five years of free lunches and breakfasts.
This was part of the report at Monday’s district budget hearing. Finance Director Priya Nayak said because of the number of free and reduced lunches in the district they will get everyone eating free next year. This will be reimbursed by federal funds, she said.
School Supt. Pete Kudlak said they still will be asking parents to fill out the paperwork for free and reduced lunches so that the district can qualify for another grant for the future.
After the public hearing on the budgets, the board approved the amended 2022-23 budgets and the 2023-24 budgets.
Total revenue expected for the 2023-24 general fund budget is $66,504,162 and total expenditures expected are $69,529,771, with the difference of $3,025,609 being taken from the fund balance. The projected fund balance on June 30, 2024 is $4,493,479.
Director Nayak said there are assumptions on how many students there will be in the fall and how much the state will pay for each, so the numbers are only good guesses at this time of the year. They have assumed a student count of 4,250 and possible state aid of $9,450 each, but they also have enough set aside enough for 50 students if that many less show up.
Besides the general fund, also passed were amended and new budgets for the funds for special education, food service, sinking, capital projects, debt, and student activities.
In other business at the two-hour meeting, the board:
• Approved the May 15-17, 2024 trip for eighth graders to Washington, D.C. Cost to student for the bus trip is $818 each and there will be fund raising and scholarships available;
• Approved the resignation of Richard Shafer from Edgemont after 11 years of service as of June 30 to become a social worker in another district; and the resignation of Anna Algulov, a teacher at Rawsonville, after four years of service as of Aug. 14;
• Approved the hiring of speech pathologists Olivia Campbell for McBride Middle School, Rachel Lott for the Early Childhood Center, and Brooke Westover for Savage Elementary; and Rebecca Parise as a social worker at Savage, all as of Aug. 23;
• Approved the retirement of Linda Martin from food service after 17 years as of June 19; and the resignations of Tina Carter as secretary at Belleville High School as of June 26 and two years of service, and Amanda Seng as bus driver after one year of service as of June 23;
• Approved the hiring of the following non-instructional employees: Antionette Streater and Anita Fahey as custodians; Zachary Schneider as mechanic in the bus garage, Gregory Martinez in maintenance for Building & Grounds; and full-time secretaries Dawn Spicer at BHS and Kelli Suvada at McBride;
• Heard the spring building presentation for Owen Intermediate School from Principal Jason Salhaney;
• Approved the two-year union agreement with the Van Buren Food Service Association, with a 50-cent raise each year and attendance and longevity bonuses. The agreement is already ratified by the union;
• Approved the three-year union agreement with the Van Buren Association of Educational Secretaries with an adjusted payscale to competitive rates with a focus on starting salaries, which went up $2. The agreement already is ratified by the union;
• Approved purchase of Security Camera Upgrades and replacement at BHS and the Transportation bus yard at a cost of $223,476.20 which includes contracts with Security101, Infinity Technology Group, and a 10% contingency;
• Approved the 2023-24 resolution for L-4029, spelling out the millages to be levied on tax rolls;
• Approved the agreement for 2023-24 with Stepping Stones Group, a special education services provider that furnishes special services the district doesn’t have and is only used as necessary; and
• Heard parent Racquel Bean, who had been at the last school board meeting with the same problem, ask for information on the hacking of her daughter’s cell phone. She said on Dec. 21 someone sent an email under her daughter’s name and she didn’t send it. She spelled out information she had obtained identifying the woman who sent it. She said this woman not only hacked into her daughter’s phone but has attacked Racquel’s network and phone. She said this is a crime and she can’t understand why the Van Buren police department immediately closed the case. “I know this woman. I know who she is,” Bean said, adding because the woman is tied to Owen School she doesn’t know if the board feels a liability. “It seems like a merry go round … I don’t want anything from the school. I want information.” A July 5 meeting has been set up with Supt. Kudlak and Bean was asked to bring all her evidence. She said her daughter missed the last three weeks of school at Owen and will be going to the high school this fall.