by Joe Schultz
Wayland Union Schools Superintendent Tim Reeves told Board of Education members Monday evening that school districts across the state are not hopeful that a budget will be completed in Lansing by the end of the month.
Reeves told the board that meanwhile the free school breakfast and lunch meals still will be provided at least until the end of October. However, starting Nov. 1, schools will start charging families for meals. There will still be assistance for families that cannot afford the meals, but they will need to complete a form to apply for that government assistance. This change, and the form will be communicated to the parents electronically.
The current state budget impasse also will make meeting payroll difficult. Wayland school district has enough funds to make payroll into November, but if the budget stalemate continues past Nov. 20, it would be forced to seek a loan to pay faculty and staff.
Administration officials did not have any answers for the board as to what the loan would look like because they are just starting that process with the bank.
The board during the work session also was given a presentation about the power of GIS in planning and education. GIS, which stands for Geographic Information System, is a tool school systems use to make better planning decisions.
GVSU graduate advisor Griffin Thompson explained that though the school district is enrolling most of the eligible middle and high school students, they are only getting about half of the eligible preschool students. Thompson and faculty advisor Dr. Kin Ma, said there are more private options for preschool children. The private options shrink when it comes to middle and high school students.
In other business Monday, the board:
- Was presented options for changing the legal counsel they have been using for creating and updating policy.
- Was presented with strategic plan goals and their status Board members Pete Zondervan and Erin Stepek recommended that the status of the goals be placed on the school website to improve transparency.
- Announced that on Monday, Oct. 13, there will be a ribbon cutting ceremony for the new administration building. that formerly was the University of Michigan Health Care West location. The event will take place at 5:30 p.m., before the October board meeting. There also will be an open house for the building Nov 10.
