TR school board meeting Monday

Three Rivers Community Schools has called a special meeting for 8 a.m. Monday at Superintendent Roger Rathburn’s office.

The lone agenda item indicates a “resolution to borrow” will be contemplated by the district’s seven-member board of education. The unidentified expense ties in to an energy-conservation project approved by the board earlier this month. The project is part of a Performance Agreement for Comfort, which provides services designed to reduce energy use and operational costs.

The energy-efficiency measures are expected to save the district about $200,000 annually, district officials said.

Paraprofessionals agree to contract

Members of the Three Rivers Community Schools Board of Education earlier this week approved a contract agreement with the district’s team of paraprofessionals.

The union representing the 42-person group of paraprofessionals – the Service Employees International Union – agreed to the one-year contract. Terms of the deal include no changes in salary and a decrease in the number of sick days from 10 to eight.

TR Schools – Reorganizational meeting

Three Rivers Community Schools’ Board of Education will see the positions of president, vice president, secretary and treasurer filled by the same people for the 2010-11 fiscal year as they were the previous year.  Following action at its annual reorganizational meeting Monday, Susan Schmidtendorff was nominated and approved as president, Matt Bradford as vice president, John Rentfrow as secretary and Waneta Truckey as treasurer.  In another matter Monday, Schmidtendorff, Christy Trammell and Pete Bennett were sworn in to begin new terms.

Millage request in Colon

Colon Community Schools officials on Monday spent nearly two hours going over information and fielding questions relevant to September’s two-part millage request.

Superintendent Lloyd Kirby and board of education President Ernie Baker said the 3-mill request and an additional 2.6-mill referendum proposal would allow the district to take advantage of a $15 million, low-interest federal loan.

A number of questions about the vote centered on specific areas of building improvements and their costs. Kirby said the district’s website is due for an overhaul July 27 and a breakdown of proposed improvements and item-by-item costs should be posted on the site by the end of the month.

A vote on the requests will be taken during a special election Sept. 14. The district will forfeit the $15 million loan if voters don’t approve at least the first of the two requests.

District officials said the interest rate on the loan could be about 0.50 percent. If it comes in at 0.75 percent, the district will pay $1 million in interest.

Rep. Lori comments on education budget

State Rep. Matt Lori issued a press release last week regarding legislators’ approval of Michigan’s K-12 education budget.

Lori said the ability to get the budget approved months before it was due could be attributed to the efforts of first-term lawmakers from both parties. Lori said the group had been pushing behind the scenes to get the budget approved earlier in the year so schools will have time to adjust their budgets accordingly.

Lori, a Constantine-area resident, said the matter is a victory for the bipartisan freshman caucus. He said that when people are committed to working together instead of fighting, it’s possible to find compromises to which both sides can agree.

The state’s K-12 education budget is on its way to Gov. Granholm for her endorsement. The rest of the state’s budget, meanwhile, remains to be completed. Lori said he supports legislation to move the budget deadline to July 1 – three months before the start of the new fiscal year and dock lawmakers’ pay for each day the budget is late.

New program for young learners

The St. Joseph County Great Start Collaborative and Great Start Parent Coalition have teamed up to promote the Sandbox Party for Michigan’s Youngest Learners. The group was launched in Lansing late last week.

The non-partisan, non-political party represents the interests of Michigan’s youngest residents, from newborn to 5 years of age. Brenda McGowan, who leads the St. Joseph County Great Start Parent Coalition, said the Sandbox Party gives advocates for young children a rallying point to ensure children start kindergarten ready to learn.

The 55 Great Start Collaborative and Great Start Parent Coalition organizations in Michigan are coordinating local Sandbox Party outreaches, including information about candidates running for office.

More information about the local chapter of the Sandbox Party may be found at sjcgsc.org.

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