The Belleville View, May 2, 2013
1
Weave the Web: Make sure to click on www.heritage.com around the clock for the most in-depth coverage. See most popular story ... “Iron Man 3 goes back to basics.” Check out our video: ■ Red Wings vs. Anaheim in Stanley Cup playoffs Click on the “jobs” tab on the home page of our website or go directly to http://jobs.heritage.com. Join us on Twitter: Become a Belleville View follower. Click on the Twitter tab on the home page of our website or go directly to http://twitter.com/ BellevilleView. The Belleville View is looking for Community Bloggers! If you live in the great- er Belleville area and are interested in writing about local events, news and views or even your own interests and hob- bies, please contact Michelle Rogers at [email protected]. The Marketplace: Local ads are just a hop away at the MIcentral. com marketplace. While you are there, you can check out all the special supplements of Digital First Media newspapers in Michigan. Click on “mar- ketplace” on the home page of our website or go directly to www.market- place.micentral.com. VOL. 29, NO. 18 THURSDAY, MAY 2, 2013 50 ¢ The SPORTS Saline takes down Ypsilanti in doubleheader See Page 1-B COMMUNITY Belleville High School senior prepares for final few weeks of school See Page 1-C Printed on recycled paper Editorial Page 6-A Death Notices Page 16-A Sports Page 1-B Travel Page 6-C News Tip Hotline: 248-745-4613 INDEX Building consultant outlines plan to upgrade schools By Jerry LaVaute Heritage Media VAN BUREN TWP. — Paul Wills, the Plante Moran Cresa consultant to Van Buren Public Schools on facility usage and care, outlined the near-term plans for the district’s sinking fund, intended to maintain buildings. Wills said that the millage funding pro- vides between $1.2 million and $1.5 mil- lion annually depending on property tax assessments. He said it was approved by voters in November 2008 when the bond to build the new Belleville High School also was approved. The largest single near-term project is planned for Owen Intermediate School, replacing its 137,000-square-foot roof. The construction contract was awarded to Superior Roofing for $268,000, plus a con- tingency of $35,000. Superior was the low bidder among three other bidders. The highest bid exceeded $400,000. The roof replacement will be completed by the end of July. Other planned projects listed by Wills included: ■ Resurfacing key areas of the McBride Middle School parking lot. ■ New parking spaces at Edgemont and Rawsonville elementary schools. ■ New glass and glazing on entrance doors and windows at Tyler and Savage elementary schools and McBride Middle and Owen Intermediate schools. ■ Classroom renovations, including drop ceilings, in select classrooms at McBride and Owen schools. In other business, school board offi- cials received an update on plans to reopen Haggerty Elementary School in the fall as the new home for early child- hood development programs and the Transition Program, designed for special education students 18 and older. Haggerty also will host a latchkey pro- gram like several other district schools. Diane Kullis, district special services supervisor, said the latchkey program at the Haggerty site will be expanded to five days each week. She said other school- based latchkey programs will continue as before. Kullis and Karen Johnston in the spe- cial services office outlined progress on plans to reopen Haggerty: ■ Classrooms were approved for use by the fire marshal. ■ Classrooms have been assigned to teachers. ■ Playground equipment at the early childhood development center will be moved to Haggerty. Kullis said the equipment currently at Haggerty is too large for small preschool children. Kullis added that a fence will be installed around the playground equipment for safety. ■ An open house before the new school year begins will be scheduled. Jerry LaVaute is a special writer for Heritage Media. District encouraged to identify reasons for personnel departures By Jerry LaVaute Heritage Media VAN BUREN TWP. — What appeared to school board Trustee Sherry Frazier as a rash of recent retirements from the Van Buren Public Schools prompted her to ask the administration about introducing formal exit interviews with school employees who are plan- ning to leave for a variety of reasons: retirement, relocation, other employ- ment or other reasons. In their regular Board of Education meeting April 22, several teachers’ retire- ments were announced, including Ron Stokes, with 25 years in the district and Tim Ottewell, with 24 years of service. Also included among teaching staff retir- ees was Paul Smith, with 40 years service. Among non-classroom teaching support staff, Dorothy Peters, Constance Frank and Ronald Small had already retired or planned to retire by May 1, before the school year officially ends. “I’ve mentioned exit interviews since last year,” Frazier said. “It’s a sign of a quality business.” Frazier said she thought it was unusual that employees were retir- ing before the end of the school year, leaving the district to find temporary replacements until the end of the school year. Supt. Mike Van Tassel said he had been working with human resources Director Shonta Langford- Greene on a format for an exit interview with school district employees. He noted that he’s not fond of the term “exit interview.” The format for the interview was discussed among board officials and the administration. Whether the interview would be face-to-face with the departing employee, or whether it would be completed anonymously in writing was not decided. Instead, school board President Brent Mikulski and Trustee Scott Russell encouraged other board members to let Van Tassel and Langford-Greene complete their evaluation and return to the school board with a recommenda- tion. A timetable was not discussed. Jerry LaVaute is a special writer for Heritage Media. Follow his blogs “Pa’s Blog” and “The Eye of the Storm” at http://jlavaute.blogspot. com. He can be reached at [email protected] or call 1-734-740-0062. ‘Read-ioactive’ students Students from Savage Elementary School show their best mad scientist faces during the Scholastic spring book fair April 12 to 19. The theme, A Story Laboratory: READioactive, was the inspiration for a schoolwide contest Friday. Winners at each grade level received a free book from the fair. “The kids literally ran to the shelves to pick a book they had their eye on,” librarian Pam Bradley said. “I’m thrilled to see kids this fired up over reading!” Many books of all varieties were present at the book fair. A fourth-grade student said, “This book fair was the best and I can’t wait to start reading my new book!” Photo courtesy of Van Buren Public Schools Join us on online! We already have several hundred fans on Facebook and Twitter. Find us on Facebook by searching for The Belleville View and follow us @BellevilleView on Twitter. Used Car Special 9800 Belleville Rd Belleville, MI 48111 Exit 190 just off I-94 (734) 697-9161 www.atchinson.net * A/Z Plan Pricing. 10,500 miles per year. Includes Factory and Renewal Rebate. Requires $2,000 due at signing plus taxes and plates. With Approved Credit. **A/Z Plan Pricing. All rebates to dealer. May require Ford Credit Financing. Plus taxes and fees. May require trade-in. Some restrictions apply. See dealer for details 2008 Ford Escape Limited Moonroof, Leather $12,999 New Car Special 2013 Ford Focus SE. $129 per month* 24 month lease. Buy For $15,590
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The Belleville View, May 2, 2013
Transcript of The Belleville View, May 2, 2013
Weave the Web:Make sure to click
on www.heritage.com around the clock for the most in-depth coverage. See most popular story ... “Iron Man 3 goes back to basics.”
Check out our video:
■ Red Wings vs. Anaheim in Stanley Cup playoffs
Click on the “jobs” tab on the home page of our website or go directly to http://jobs.heritage.com.
Join us on Twitter: Become a Belleville
View follower. Click on the Twitter tab on the home page of our website or go directly to http://twitter.com/BellevilleView.
The Belleville View is looking for Community Bloggers!
If you live in the great-er Belleville area and are interested in writing about local events, news and views or even your own interests and hob-bies, please contact Michelle Rogers at [email protected].
The Marketplace: Local ads are just a
hop away at the MIcentral.com marketplace. While you are there, you can check out all the special supplements of Digital First Media newspapers in Michigan. Click on “mar-ketplace” on the home page of our website or go directly to www.market-place.micentral.com.
h e r i t a g e . c o m
VOL. 29, NO. 18 THURSDAY, MAY 2, 2013
50¢
The
SPORTSSaline takes down Ypsilanti in doubleheader
See Page 1-B
COMMUNITYBelleville High School senior prepares for final few weeks of school
See Page 1-C
Printed on recycled paper
Editorial Page 6-ADeath Notices Page 16-ASports Page 1-BTravel Page 6-C
News Tip Hotline: 248-745-4613
INDEX
1A
Building consultant outlines plan to upgrade schoolsBy Jerry LaVauteHeritage Media
VAN BUREN TWP. — Paul Wills, the Plante Moran Cresa consultant to Van Buren Public Schools on facility usage and care, outlined the near-term plans for the district’s sinking fund, intended to maintain buildings.
Wills said that the millage funding pro-vides between $1.2 million and $1.5 mil-lion annually depending on property tax assessments. He said it was approved by voters in November 2008 when the bond to build the new Belleville High School also was approved.
The largest single near-term project is planned for Owen Intermediate School, replacing its 137,000-square-foot roof. The construction contract was awarded to Superior Roofing for $268,000, plus a con-tingency of $35,000. Superior was the low bidder among three other bidders. The highest bid exceeded $400,000. The roof replacement will be completed by the end of July.
Other planned projects listed by Wills included:
■ Resurfacing key areas of the McBride Middle School parking lot.
■ New parking spaces at Edgemont and Rawsonville elementary schools.
■ New glass and glazing on entrance doors and windows at Tyler and Savage elementary schools and McBride Middle and Owen Intermediate schools.
■ Classroom renovations, including
drop ceilings, in select classrooms at McBride and Owen schools.
In other business, school board offi-cials received an update on plans to reopen Haggerty Elementary School in the fall as the new home for early child-hood development programs and the Transition Program, designed for special education students 18 and older.
Haggerty also will host a latchkey pro-gram like several other district schools. Diane Kullis, district special services supervisor, said the latchkey program at the Haggerty site will be expanded to five days each week. She said other school-based latchkey programs will continue as before.
Kullis and Karen Johnston in the spe-cial services office outlined progress on plans to reopen Haggerty:
■ Classrooms were approved for use by the fire marshal.
■ Classrooms have been assigned to teachers.
■ Playground equipment at the early childhood development center will be moved to Haggerty. Kullis said the equipment currently at Haggerty is too large for small preschool children. Kullis added that a fence will be installed around the playground equipment for safety.
■ An open house before the new school year begins will be scheduled.
Jerry LaVaute is a special writer for Heritage Media.
District encouraged to identify reasons for personnel departuresBy Jerry LaVauteHeritage Media
VAN BUREN TWP. — What appeared to school board Trustee Sherry Frazier as a rash of recent retirements from the Van Buren Public Schools prompted her to ask the administration about introducing formal exit interviews with school employees who are plan-ning to leave for a variety of reasons: retirement, relocation, other employ-ment or other reasons.
In their regular Board of Education meeting April 22, several teachers’ retire-ments were announced, including Ron Stokes, with 25 years in the district and Tim Ottewell, with 24 years of service. Also included among teaching staff retir-ees was Paul Smith, with 40 years service.
Among non-classroom teaching support staff, Dorothy Peters, Constance Frank and Ronald Small had already retired or planned to retire by May 1, before the school year officially ends.
“I’ve mentioned exit interviews since last year,” Frazier said. “It’s a sign of a quality business.”
Frazier said she thought it was unusual that employees were retir-
ing before the end of the school year, leaving the district to find temporary replacements until the end of the school year.
Supt. Mike Van Tassel said he had been working with human resources Director Shonta Langford-Greene on a format for an exit interview with school district employees. He noted that he’s not fond of the term “exit interview.”
The format for the interview was discussed among board officials and the administration. Whether the interview would be face-to-face with the departing employee, or whether it would be completed anonymously in writing was not decided.
Instead, school board President Brent Mikulski and Trustee Scott Russell encouraged other board members to let Van Tassel and Langford-Greene complete their evaluation and return to the school board with a recommenda-tion. A timetable was not discussed.
Jerry LaVaute is a special writer for Heritage Media. Follow his blogs “Pa’s Blog” and “The Eye of the Storm” at http://jlavaute.blogspot.com. He can be reached at [email protected] or call 1-734-740-0062.
‘Read-ioactive’ students
Students from Savage Elementary School show their best mad scientist faces during the Scholastic spring book fair April 12 to 19. The theme, A Story Laboratory: READioactive, was the inspiration for a schoolwide contest Friday.Winners at each grade level received a free book from the fair.“The kids literally ran to the shelves to pick a book they had their eye on,” librarian Pam Bradley said. “I’m thrilled to see kids this fired up over reading!”Many books of all varieties were present at the book fair. A fourth-grade student said, “This book fair was the best and I can’t wait to start reading my new book!”
Photo courtesy of Van Buren Public Schools
Join us on online!We already have several
hundred fans on Facebook and Twitter. Find us on Facebook by searching for The Belleville View and follow us @BellevilleView on Twitter.
1A
Used Car Special
9800 Belleville RdBelleville, MI 48111Exit 190 just off I-94 (734) 697-9161
www.atchinson.net* A/Z Plan Pricing. 10,500 miles per year. Includes Factory and Renewal Rebate. Requires
$2,000 due at signing plus taxes and plates. With Approved Credit. **A/Z Plan Pricing. All rebates to dealer. May require Ford Credit Financing.
Plus taxes and fees. May require trade-in.Some restrictions apply.
See dealer for details
2008 Ford Escape Limited Moonroof, Leather
$12,999
New Car Special2013 Ford Focus SE.
$129 per month* 24 month lease.Buy For $15,590
