The Wayland Board of Education Monday evening approved a proposal to provide wi-fi Internet service for students on 23 buses in the fleet.

The board has agreed to pay ByteSpeed $75,555 to provide mobile WiFi equipment and one year of, subject to Erate grant reimbursement. There also will be an $9,053 stipend.

Assistant Superintendent for Instruction Theresa Fulk said, “This will allow students who don’t have high-speed Internet at home to get their homework done before and after school.”

She added that the wi-fi service can be used by parents to determine where their children’s bus is en route to home or school.

Fulk noted the wi-fi program would be available to high school and middle school students, but elementary students are not allowed to take their iPads home.

In other business at Monday’s meeting, the board:

• Was told about a “clean” opinion from Plante & Moran auditors for the 2022-23 budget, which noted $40.2 million in revenue, about $38 million in expenses and a fund balance of 21.3 percent, or $8.1 million.
• Learned that the homecoming campaign for the “Be Nice” anti-bullying program raised more than $8,000.
• Was told by Assistant Supt. for Finance and Operations Leslie Wagner that the revenue from the agreement with the Gun Lake Casino over the past year was $1.92 million.
• Heard from Middle School Principal Carolyn Whyte that the population of students in grades 6 through 8 is 650.
• Learned that health insurance rates for the coming academic year have increased by 5%.
• Heard a presentation by members of the Middle School Student Council, led by President Dawson Babiak (see cover photo).