The consensus among Wayland Board of Education members Monday night was that things seem to be getting back to normal in the school district.

Wayland, like so many other school systems, was reeling from the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020 and 2021 until the start of this academic year, but virtually all reports were about how things have improved.

“There’s a definite difference, a different feeling,” said Board President Dan Casini.

Board Treasurer Peter Zondervan said data shows Wayland still struggles with loss of students to private and religious schools, but he expects the situation will be turned around. He noted that Moline Christian recently came up with a free tuition incentive to attract more students.

Pat Velie, assistant superintendent for finance and operations, told the school board that the local district enjoyed an uptick in enrollment of about 60 after losing more than 200 during Covid. The fall student count officially was pegged at 2,823.7.

Among the school buildings, only Dorr and Baker Elementary have reported enrollment declines this year.

Velie said the good news is that Wayland still has a general budget fund balance of 18.8 percent to the good, but she cautioned that expenses are climbing between 6% and 12% because of inflation.

The meeting was the last for the board for 2022 and the first for Jeff Koon, who was elected in the Nov. 8 election.

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

• Learned that the Gun Lake Tribe has asked to use the middle school gym sometime in January for a ceremony.
• Was told by Velie that eight of the 10 payments for the high school science wing project have been completed.
• Officially approved the five-year contract with Applied Imaging for servicing copiers in the district.
• Was told by Supt. Tim Reeves that he will attend the Wayland City Planning Commission meeting Dec. 13, when discussions will be held about requests for marijuana retail businesses. Including one at the former Simply Celia’s on South Main that is fairly close to Pine Street Elementary.
• Witnessed Reeves congratulating KayLee Martens for his winning Christmas card design.
• Listened to a presentation on the school year so far by the Student Council.
• Heard a couple of selections from the high school jazz band, under the direction of Kelli Tilley Smith. They performed “Big Noise from the North Pole” and “What a Wonderful Word.”
• Was told the Wayland Middle School choir will sing “The Star Spangled Banner” for the Grand Rapids Griffins hockey game Jan. 6.