Board Meeting Recap – May 13th

With board President Lisa Slawson on the 8th grade trip to Washington D.C., Vice President Trudy Driscoll stepped in to run the meeting last night.

We began by introducing our new Director of Elementary Special Education, Ms. Cherie Vannatter. We are very excited to have Ms. Vannatter back in Saline. Together with Ms. Carol Melcher, Director of Secondary Special Education, we are poised to provide enhanced support to our special education staff and families.

Ms. Jamie Aumend and Ms. Linda Duvall provided an excellent overview of the French Exchange program involving Saline Middle School students. We were able to see the planning and coordination that is required along with the benefits to our students.

Assistant Superintendent Tom Wall presented an overview of the 2008-2009 budget. We will be presenting a balanced general fund budget near $50 million for next year. As part of the budget presentation, School of Choice information for next year was discussed.

Using remaining bond funds, we approved the bids on the Pleasant Ridge site improvements for $743,000. You can learn more about the project by clicking here.

We approved an architect contract in the amount of $46,500 for the Henne Field re-development from previous accrued CARES funds.

On the downside, the Board did approve a resolution to layoff 15 teaching staff for the 2008-2009 school year. This was a difficult situation for the members of the board, however, it was necessary as we move to different schedules at both the middle school and the high school. Several of the staff are likely to be recalled to other full or part time positions.