Wayland Union Board of Education

The Wayland Union School Board met on Monday, September 11, 2023 at Dorr Elementary School for their regular meeting.

All consent agenda items were approved.

Dorr Elementary Building Report

• Principal Robin Seniura began her report by introducing staff members who were able to be in attendance for the meeting. Mrs. Seniura stated that Capturing Kids Heart was a huge initiative throughout the building including implementing social contracts, the EXCEL model, Good Things, and more. The current initiative is to do a school wide launch at the end of the school day. Dorr Elementary saw a decrease in behavior referrals between the 21-22 and 22-23 school years. Dorr Elementary also had a successful academic year, with 80%+ reaching ELA growth and 70%+ reaching math growth for the NWEA. Dorr Elementary was highly effective for the 9th year in the row.

Report from MASB Back to School Legal Issues Workshop

• Jeff Koon summarized the training by going over the topics that were discussed. These topics included Title IX, parent's role in education, open meetings acts, and employment law recent changes that could impact bargaining.

Governance Team Good News

• Tim Reeves shared that he spent some time at Dorr Elementary and he loved seeing how excited the students were to attend lunch. Dan Cassini shared that he got to enjoy lunch with some Dorr Staff and he enjoyed going into some classrooms. Pete Zondervan mentioned that he and his wife are celebrating their 15 year wedding anniversary. Janel Hott attended the Hot Air Balloon festival and got to enjoy one of Jill Terrell's delicious grilled cheeses.

Student Board Members Report

• Ava Makowski and Mathew Chubb shared that Student Council is in full swing planning homecoming week events. SADD is beginning to plan Hallowed Halls for October 31st. NHS is currently planning their fall induction ceremony. LOC Club is working on planning a blood drive. ECO Club is hosting the Cinderella Project with PALs to collect homecoming dresses to share with girls who can't purchase their own. Theater is working on their 2 upcoming shows. All sports have had a great start to their seasons.

No public comment

Assistant Superintendent of Finance & Operations

• Leslie Wagner shared the budget versus actual report. Currently, both bond projects that have gone to bid have come back under budget. The free meals program is going very well, currently 80% of the high school and middle school students are utilizing the program. Pete Zondervan expressed interest in expanding the free meals into the weekend or summer. Teresa Fulk explained that those are two different grant programs, but the district is always looking for programs to benefit our families.

Assistant Superintendent of Instructional Services

• Teresa Fulk mentioned that Kids Read Now is coming to an end, with participation doubling from last year. NWEA fall testing is wrapping up this week and Running Records are beginning. The State of Michigan no longer requires schools to complete 98b reports, but testing data will still be presented to the board during the September work session. Next week, 12 staff members will be going to Apple to learn about Apple's new Computer Science Curriculum. Later in the school year, Apple will be coming to teach alongside our teachers to introduce our students to different computer science career paths.

Superintendent

• Tim Reeves shared that he has been enjoying getting out to all of the buildings at different times of the day. He shared that students are still being enrolled in the district so our numbers are rising. With breakfast and lunch numbers rising, we are looking to add support in our food service department. In addition, for the first time, there is a 3rd grade field trip happening in partnership with the Gun Lake Tribe in early October.

• Tim Reeves shared that Teresa Fulk met with principals to work through the curriculum side of the strategic plan. He and Leslie Wagner met with the operations department heads to discuss their goals and objectives moving forward for the year.
• A more in-depth dive into the bond project will be held at the September 25th work session. The pool committee has currently visited 5 pools, and 1 more will be looked at this Wednesday, September 13th. So far, the bids were very competitive and came in under budget, any money saved throughout the bond is expected to be used to complete additional projects such as updating electrical wiring at the high school.

MASB Fall 2023 Delegate Assembly

• Dan Cassini shared that they are required to select delegates and alternates for the assembly. He requested that an email be sent to himself and Tim Reeves if a board member is interested in representing the district.

Erate reimbursement purchase for WiFi service on buses

• Teresa Fulk shared that Scott Getter did the research on an opportunity for the district to test WiFi on the buses at no cost to the district for the first year. The district will pay for the service upfront, but Erate will 100% reimburse the district. The main advantage is safety and educational activities. WiFi will allow students to access reading resources, homework, etc, which is extremely beneficial for students who don't have access to WiFi at home. In addition, Traversa (Ride360) is unable to send signals once the bus leaves the WiFi of the district, having WiFi on the bus would allow parents to actively receive updates on their students whereabouts while on the bus.

Athletic Trainer Services

• Approved

Change of meeting time for Regular Board Meetings

• Approved

Closed Session

• Approved

Jeff Koon would like to welcome Matt to the board and Ava back to the board. He is thrilled to have had the opportunity to go on the pool tours and he is excited to build a great facility for the district.

Janel Hott gave her kudos to the student board representatives on doing such a thorough report. She enjoyed walking through Dorr Elementary and loves their 'all means all' mentality.

Norman Taylor welcomes all staff back to the district.

Theresa Dobry thanked Mrs. Seniura for welcoming the board into the building and she welcomes the student representatives back for the school year.

Pete Zondervan loved Dorr's send off of "you matter today and you'll matter tomorrow."

Dan Cassini thanked the audience for coming out to the meeting, especially the high schoolers.

Becky Hohnke was able to attend lunch with Dorr Elementary staff today. She shared that she had a conversation surrounding the amount of waste occurring due to the free lunches. She would also like to have high school sports team visit the elementary buildings in their uniforms and give out high fives before/after school hours. She also expressed concern about the communication happening between parents and the transportation department at the beginning of the year.

Board recessed at 8:13pm before going into closed session.

*Please note: This is a summary of the meeting. Official board minutes will be approved at the next regular board meeting on Monday, October 9, 2023 at 6pm. The meeting will be held at the Middle School.