June school board meeting: all grades improve in NWEA English Language Arts, planning to commence for 2027 construction at MHS
by Melissa Yekulis
The monthly school board meeting for Manchester Community Schools was called to order on Monday, June 15, following the budget meeting. One board member was absent from the meeting.
The meeting began with the approval of the agenda. A request was made to add a committee discussion and goal-meeting discussion to the agenda. The agenda was approved unanimously with the new additions.
The board voted to unanimously accept and approve the Consent Agenda as it stood, consisting of the Board of Education Meeting Minutes, Business Office Report, and Personnel Report. Two staff members were acknowledged and thanked for their work, as they are exiting the district, before the Consent Agenda was formally accepted.
There was no Public Participation.
There was no Old Business.
Under New Business, a series of field trips, loans, and contracts was reviewed. Each item was reviewed on an individual basis and the board unanimously voted to approve each item. Field trips for the high school band to travel to Nashville, Tenn., in March 2028 and Entrepreneurial STEAM to travel to Austin, Tex., at the end of July were both approved. A Resolution of State Aid Notice and the School Bond Loan Fund were each approved. Finally, contracts for Michigan High School Athletic Association (MHSAA) membership, Michigan Association of School Boards (MASB) membership, the Co-Op Renewal lease agreement, and the Rehmann Engagement Letter for continued financial auditing were each approved for the coming school year.
Building department reports have been posted and made available for viewing on the district website. During that time, Sarah Mason, the food service director, presented an update on the program, including information on the end-of-the-year cookout at Klager and the end-of-year opinion surveys from the students.
Superintendent Head was next to briefly present to the board with a focus on updates from Bond Meetings and a review of academic data from Klager and Riverside with alignment to the district’s Michigan Integrated Continuous Improvement Plan.
It was shared that work is now in full swing at Riverside with demolition and upgrades. Currently, everything is on schedule. Work is also being done on making plans for building designs for the Junior/Senior High School for next year’s bond updates.
A presentation was also made on the academic growth observed through annual NWEA testing that took place this last year at Klager and Riverside. All grade levels demonstrated significant growth within English Language Arts. Many grade levels demonstrated significant growth within Math.
Information was also shared in how growth was made in alignment with the MICIP goals. The implementation of Multi-Tiered Support Services, the districtwide implementation of Professional Learning Communities, and the continuation of professional learning with Dr. Dickey are all making progress and will continue next year.
There was no Public Participation.
There was a brief discussion around the last workshop the school board participated in. They are currently in the process of creating an ad hoc subcommittee to review the district’s entrepreneurial STEAM program.
An additional discussion was centered around the benefits of developing a strategic plan versus developing district goals. The board has a strong desire to have more community input involved in the development of what they create for the next school year. Due to summer vacations and holidays, it will not be possible to have groundwork prepared for the next board meeting. They hope to have a planning meeting before the August board meeting.
Two rounds of kudos were offered that evening. Jennifer Caszatt was recognized for the work she is doing to complete classes through MASB. The Riverside faculty and staff, Central Office, and the maintenance and custodial staff were recognized for the work they did in getting packed up and moved at the end of the year to empty Riverside for the bond upgrades.
The board voted to go into a closed session to review updates on contract negotiations and perform the superintendent evaluation at 7:06pm. The motion passed unanimously and public participants were dismissed for the evening.
The next public board meeting will take place on Monday, July 20, at 6pm, in the Junior/Senior High School Media Center.
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