Wayland Union Board of Education

The Wayland Union School Board met on Monday, November 11th, at Pine Street Elementary for their regular meeting.

All consent agenda items were approved.

Pine Street Elementary Building Report

• Principal Robyn Robinson began her presentation by recognizing staff members who were able to attend the meeting. She then invited several 5th grade students to read a portion of their essay that was read during the Veterans Assembly earlier in the day. Afterwards, a video was shared that was created by the Pine Street Guiding Coalition team which included their goals for this school year.

Committee Meeting Report - Curriculum & Technology Committee

• Peter Zondervan shared that the committee met on October 28th. The meeting was an overview of the district's current standing on several curriculum initiatives. Topics included the new elementary ELA programs that are being piloted and the technology budget.

Committee Meeting Report - Policy Committee

• Janel Hott read through the policy updates.

Report from Board Members who Attended MASB Leadership Conference

• Peter Zondervan shared that he took classes on board operating procedures, guided dashboards, E-sports, AI simplified session, managing a construction project and learning how to implement AI. Dan Cassini shared that the conference was a great validation that Wayland has good procedures in place. Theresa Dobry shared that she attended a session on Welcoming and Belonging, she encourages all staff and students to make sure everyone feels like they belong. Becky Hohnke shared that the motivational speakers were really inspirational. She also took a class that focused on mental health within school communities, which encouraged looking at the whole picture. Norm Taylor shared that it was nice to have the whole team there, including Mr. Reeves, and to be able to network with other boards. Jeff Koon shared that his big takeaway was how cohesive our board is.

Student Board Member Report

• Matthew Chubb and Teagan Robinson shared that trimester one is coming to an end with final exams being completed this week. Eco club just wrapped up their bake sale which is going towards their recycling efforts. E-sports is getting ready for their competition season. Student Council recently held a leadership day with MS and Pine Street students. Theater is preparing for their Christmas themed performance. Debate is preparing for state finals in December at Wayne State University. Boys basketball and the bowling team are hosting tryouts this week, girls basketball is holding tryouts next week. Girls Swim and Dive received 3rd at their conference this past weekend.

Governance Team Good News

• None.

No public comment.

Assistant Superintendent of Finance and Operations

• Leslie Wagner shared the year to date revenue and expenditures. Our GRBS Supervisor, Chrissy, received a nomination for Supervisor of the Year. Light poles are being updated in the high school parking lot. Chartwells is doing global eats again and they will have the smoothie bike at Steeby Elementary this Friday. Our administration team is fully staffed. Lastly, our two new buses hit the road last week.

Assistant Superintendent of Instructional Services

• Teresa Fulk shared that WUS was selected to send students to the technology summit in Lansing. Our school index scores came out on Friday, these are our school accountability scores but they are currently under an embargo.

Superintendent

• Tim Reeves shared that Teresa Fulk, Leslie Wagner and himself just finished attending all the building staff meetings. He also shared that the district is going out to bid on our pool in a week and a half. He congratulated Pine Street Elementary on another fantastic Veterans day assembly. Lastly, he shared that our board will be welcoming two new board members in January.

Request for use of buses for Grad Party 2025

• Standard request, no discussion.

Request for overnight field trip for FUTURES program

• The trip request is to visit Northern Michigan University in spring 2025.

Public Improvement Fund Projects for 2025-2026

• Leslie Wagner shared the public improvement list, these project will begin once the current school year ends. Projects include Steeby Elementary and New Administration Building parking lot, safety crosswalks and repainting the tennis courts.

Resolutions Authoring Public Entity Membership in the West Michigan Health Insurance Pool

• Leslie Wagner shared that MESSA increased their rates by 13% for the 2025 year. Two staff groups are requesting to move their insurance to West Michigan Health Insurance Pool to save money.

First Reading of Proposed Policy Updates and Changes

• Tim Reeves read through all the updates and changes to our policies.

Summer Tax Resolutions

• Approved.

80/20 Insurance Resolution

• Approved.

Jeff Koon thanked the students who attended the board meeting.

Norman Taylor also thanked the students for attending. He encourages everyone to thank a Veteran and he is looking forward to working with our two new board members.

Becky Hohnke wished a happy Veterans Day to Mr. Cassini and to all our veterans in the community. She also shared that she heard a lot of positives from the Leadership Day held by our high school Student Council, and thanked Pine Street for hosting the meeting.

Janel Hott thanked Mrs. Robinson for her hard work with the presentation. She also shared her love for the Veterans assembly. Lastly, she encourages everyone to attend the play coming up in a few weeks.

Peter Zondervan thanked Pine Street Elementary for hosting. He shared that he loves hearing what is going on with our students.

Theresa Dobry thanked Mr. Cassini for being involved in the military for 27 years. She also thanked everyone at Pine Street Elementary for all their work in honoring our Veterans.

Dan Cassini shared that Veterans Day is always a special day for him due to his family lineage. He thanks Pine Street for their continuous work to honor our Veterans.

The meeting adjourned at 7:17pm.

*Please note: This is a summary of the meeting. Official board minutes will be approved at the next regular board meeting being held on December 9th, 2024 at 6pm. The meeting will be held at Wayland Union High School.