School Board Approves Full-Day Kindergarten

Here’s a recap of Tuesday’s Board of Education meeting at .

• The board voted 6-0 (Trustee David Friese was absent) to approve full-day kindergarten for the 2012-13 year. The extra lesson time could help the district achieve its goal of having students meet or exceed standards in reading, writing and mathematics by the end of third grade. Another factor is money, according to Superindendent Scot Graden. Districts are largely funded by the state on a per-pupil basis. New state legislation would reduce per-pupil funding for students enrolled in half-day kindergarten starting next fall.

• During public comment, Saline Education Association President Juan Lauchu told the board that the teachers union has twice offered concessions to the district during negotiations he characterized as positive. He said that the board’s “unwillingness” to move forward has left SEA members confused, and suggested teachers were becoming “distrustful” of the board. The contract between the teachers' union and district expires June 30. After the meeting, Superintendent Scot Graden said the discussions continue to be positive, but that negotiations are a matter of timing.

Two new members of the board, David Holden and David Zimmer, take office in January as David Medley and David Friese leave their posts. Zimmer and Holden campaigned on controlling costs in the district.

• Hoping to take fundraising for the district to a new level, the Foundation for Saline Area Schools is proposing a partnership to hire a full-time director. The deal would see the foundation and school district each contribute $50,000 annually for three years toward the creation of the position and funding operations. The foundation currently has $350,000 in the bank and raises about $80,000 annually. Foundation officials told the district a fulltime director could help the district raise $200,000 annually once established For years, the foundation supported the district by awarding grants to teachers who needed support for special programs. In recent years, the foundation has embarked on capital campaigns, raising $40,000 for the purchase of laptops and raising $65,000 to purchase materials for Project Lead the Way curriculum in the middle school. This year, the foundation is raising $70,000 in support of the “Kids Who Read Succeed” literacy campaign. No action was taken on the proposal. The board was asked to make a decision by February.

• The board approved the “Best Practices” resolution as submitted by finance director Janice Warner. Michigan’s School Aid Act provides districts with a $100-per-pupil grant if they have satisfied at least four of five “best practices” criteria by June 1, 2012. According to Warner, the district satisfied the criteria by becoming the policy holder for the employee medical benefits plan, developing a service consolidation plan, obtaining a competitive bid on non-instructional services and providing a link to the district’s financial data on its homepage.

The $100-per-pupil would mean about $530,000 for the district. The district has already budgeted on meeting the best practices and receiving the money.

• The board honored David Medley, who served as a trustee one final time. Medley was presented a plaque by Superintendent Scot Graden and school board President Chuck Lesch.

The following items were approved in the consent agenda:

• Payment of $887,269 in bills.

• Accepting the resignation of Tom Koskey as drivers’ education instructor.

• The recall of third grade teacher Kimberly LoRosa.

• The hiring of Kirk Rose as bus driver.

• Graden’s approval of the baseball team’s spring trip to Xenia, OH, from March 30-April 2, and the high school’s Model United Nations club trip to East Lansing, from March 23-25.