Wayland Union Board of Education

Wayland Union Schools Board of Education held their regular board meeting on Monday, November 8, 2021 at Dorr Elementary School. There were two public comments from community members concerning contact tracing and a board policy for limiting time for public comment.

Dorr Elementary Principal, Robin Seniura, gave a positive report for the school, highlighting that at the end of the 2020-2021 school year, 81% of students showed typical growth for math, and 73% of students showed typical growth for reading. The school was rated “highly effective” again for the seventh year in a row.

The Budget Report was given by Assistant Superintendent of Finance & Operations, Pat Velie, who stated that the district’s fund balance is currently at 18.6%. The district has closed all bond funds as of June 30th, 2021 and are notifying the treasury that we are closing the 2018 Bond issue as fully expended.

Student board members, Haylee Jasinski and Summer Morrison highlighted happenings from Wayland Union High School including an upcoming play “A Christmas Story” on November 18-20, a Mental Health Awareness Week in early December, and a Toys for Tots campaign coordinated by both SADD and Student Council. The high school had a successful Hallowed Halls event for Halloween and a Harvest Hop for students with Individualized Education Plans.

Superintendent Dr. Christina Hinds gave her report that included an update on the new Operation Thrive - Resilience Champions program being implemented with staff. Thirty-five staff members were trained in October. A staff culture assessment survey has been distributed. The survey will assess the unique stress barriers of our staff and the strength of relational trust between administration and staff. The final day of training will be November 17th. Dr. Hinds also mentioned that the ACHD has hired a Health Resource Advocate for both Hopkins and Wayland Union Schools who will start on November 15th. The district has begun a school safety training program with the Allegan County Sheriff’s Department, which included a specialized training for our bus drivers. All employees, departments and buildings will participate in the training this school year. She also noted that the investigation on the Homecoming Dance is still underway and we are waiting for the lab results from the State crime lab. As soon as those results are provided, this information will be shared.

The school board adopted a new five-year district Strategic Plan after hearing a presentation from Jack Temsey, a consultant for MASB, who presented a summary. The Strategic Plan process began this summer with over 1,700 community stakeholders providing input. There was a retreat held on September 11, 2021 that included teachers, students, parents, administrators, and board members. In October, the district admin team met to formulate first year objectives for the five goal areas. Here they adopted a new mission, vision and belief statements and determined five main goal areas. Our revised mission, vision, and believe statements are as follows:

Wayland Union Schools Mission Statement

We will challenge and inspire all students to become lifelong learners and

productive citizens.

Wayland Union Schools Vision Statement

Challenge and inspire all students.

Belief Statements

We believe in all students.

We believe all students can learn.

We believe in providing meaningful opportunities for all students.

We believe in fostering diverse and trusting relationships.

We believe community involvement is essential for student success.

In other business, the school board approved the purchase of a maintenance truck, the high school orchestra field trip to New York, and the middle school choir trip to perform at Cedar Point.

*Please note: This is a summary of the meeting. Official board minutes will be approved at the next regular board meeting on Monday, December 13, 2021.

Website: waylandunion.org
Location: 850 East Superior Street, Wayland, MI, USA
Phone: (269) 792-2181