Meeting Notes for April 4, 2025

Solar project, pool project, and AP classes

Members absent: Jacob Martinez, Lynn Davis

Quick Notes

The meeting opened with recognition and appreciation for our student achievers in multiple categories. Many group photos were taken, so I will leave it up to TPS media to properly announce the awards.

Jon Zajack presented his winter sports summary, noting that our overall student athlete GPA was 3.33, and that Kristy Zajack won coach of the year in multiple divisions.

Kelli Glenn discussed Red Rover, the program she suggests adopting to track employee timecards. Current timecard system, Frontline, she says is cumbersome and time consuming to use. The new program will cost $17k with an annual subscription of $11k.

Megan Way gave an overview of TPS career and technical education (CTE). A Career and Technical Education (CTE) program in public schools is an educational pathway that equips students with academic knowledge, technical skills, and practical experience to prepare them for careers in various industries or further education (summary provided by GROK AI).

Way discussed requirements for teachers to teach CTE classes. She mentioned that our district would need to contribute 15% of the total cost of this program so that we have “skin in the game”, with LISD funding the remaining portion as I understood it. Our district has about 250 students that participate in a CTE type program.

Trustee Brooks reported that they renegotiated our natural gas rate, locked in for three years but with slight increase. She discussed replacing fire alarm system in middle school, and redoing the water fountains. She mentioned that they asked for grant from state, got denied, but will apply again.

Curriculum committee: “Portrait of a Graduate” was discussed. This is a program where TPS looks into what we want a TPS graduate to look like from multiple aspects. They received feedback from several committees (including student advisory committee). Trustee Davis is currently working on this with a committee of teachers and counselors.

Budget: Trustee Simpson mentioned that there is a per-pupil funding rate being increased (around 4%), but tempered the news by reminding everyone that it barely keeps up with inflation. He mentioned that kindergaten enrollment is up, graduating approximately 185 kids this year. He reported that the budget committee talked about how to fund the pool, still have 35k that we haven’t spent, still have 18k from last year, and will probably use that money to fix *inaudible*. I believe he referred to a portion of the pool, but I’m not sure. It is my understanding that the $35k and $18k refers to budget per year, not total remaining from entire sinking fund.

Policy Update: Mr. Hilton discussed ESTA (earned sick time act), said it won’t affect our bargaining agreement, in the future we will provide sick time to even part time and hourly employees. ESTA is not on top of or in addition to current regulations. ESTA would be pro-rated, after probationary period.

He then discussed Title IX, a federal law that prohibits sex-based discrimination. The changes made revolved around who/how respondents to an accusation can make an appeal, with three options currently available: irregularity, new evidence, or bias of the coordinator.

Mr. Hilton discussed an unsolicited offer for Herrick park and Patterson, but this is old news now as the offers fell through: Herrick Park offer falls through (behind a paywall). Hilton suggested broadening zoning to increase potential investors. Trustee Miller suggested working with the city. Trustee Lewis then mentioned that the sinking fund money will not cover the cost of demolishing or upkeep on these buildings as it has already been “spent” (I think he meant allocated). He said we don’t want to be a blight on the city, but we can’t ask for more money.

Solar Recomendation

The board voted to approve placing solar panels on TMS and THS. Mr. Mattison is the expert on this, so I’ll let him explain:

I would emphasize two of Mr. Mattison’s points:

1. No sinking fund dollars are being used for this project

2. It’s actually saving us $2m

For my part, I have solar panels on my house. Everything that Mattison said about the solar project lines up exactly with my experiences and with my research. Solar retailers can be a bit overzealous with their promises on how much energy panels can generate in Michigan, but overall I’m happy with mine and this package Mr. Mattison has put together is definitely saving this district money. Well done.

Pool Closure

Mr. Hilton addressed every detail of the pool closure in his opening remarks below.

Hilton said the most responsible decision was to do it (closure) now to ensure long term viability. Dehumidification and ventilation had broken down recently, and the systems date back to 1989. They’re at the end of their usable lives. Further repairs were not recommended, or cost effective. The system broke down three times over six weeks, leaving us with costly repairs each time. The planned reopening will be mid-August. We’re doing it now so we don’t affect the swim seasons, and are ready to do roof replacement in 2026. He emphasized that this is not an additional cost.

Ms. Eubanks was congratulated for doing a wonderful job finding alternatives for our affected programs. Full refunds were provided, and passholders will receive automatic extensions. Trustee Brooks mentioned the Christian family center offering reduced rates with pass and DL.

Public Comment

Zeke Jones: Shared disappointment in AP Calculus requiring more students to enroll, thus lowering the availability of the class.

Bryce Jones: Acknowledged Heather (McGee), Michelle (Malewitz), and Jacob (me) for keeping the community informed. He said his son, Zeke, received conflicting information in regard to AP class offerings. For transparency, he would like to know what classes did not get sufficient enrollment numbers. He then asked what are we doing to call attention to these classes.

Hilton: Acknowledged Jones and Jones. Will always work to maximize resources, including core instruction, music, electives, etc. Would also like to reduce kindergarten class sizes. Neither scenario is fiscally sound or sustainable. Our funding model doesn’t keep up with inflation, so we have to make tough choices. He then went on to list multiple classes that we do offer for AP. A list of those courses was discussed here:

Board Comment

Brooks: Wished a happy birthday to Rick Hilderly, who was in attendance.

Miller: Commended FFA girls for getting up in front of crowds, then commended the younger Mr. Jones for getting in front of the board to comment publicly.

Lewis: Commended staff, noted the money saved by staff finding grants.

My Thoughts

Timed Comment

I’ll start with the negative first. The 3-minute timer beeps before and after public comment offend me. I met a man last week who spoke at a board meeting for the first time last year. He mentioned the atmosphere being unwelcoming, and cited Mr. Rebottaro “waving his stopwatch” as a factor. Former Mayor Baker once told me that he never times public comment because he truly wants to hear what folks have to say. In the two years I’ve been attending board meetings, we rarely have more than two people giving public comment, and they rarely go over two minutes. Board members will go on much longer with inconsequential banter. It’s time to put away the timer.

Transparency

I wondered why former superintendent Hilderly was in attendance during the discussion on solar panels, and I finally got my answer. It seems Mr. Hilderly is now a licensed agent with Sunguard Services. I went back through previous meetings and found that Josh Mattison did mention that Mr. Hilderly was working as a sales rep for one of the solar companies in consideration. I’m a firm proponent of solar myself, and I would imagine Mr. Hilderly brings unique knowledge to the table given his past experience with TPS. I appreciate Mr. Mattison’s commitment to transparency.

Public Comment

I want to thank Bryce Jones for his recognition of the work I do trying to keep folks informed. He also thanked Michelle Malewitz, who I am also eternally grateful for. Michelle provides input for many of my articles, and has been my go-to source for matters related to special education (as well as for our son). I also want to thank Trustee McGee, as Bryce also did, for always being willing to listen to my concerns. She is passionate about this district, and we’re so happy to have her on the board.

Leadership

The same man who expressed his frustration for the atmosphere at board meetings also shared that he’d be interested in a Governor Hilton. As would I. As I campaigned for school board last year, I met many residents that had lost faith in our district to spending money wisely. I told residents to put their faith in Mr. Hilton, and he hasn’t let us down. He’s been transparent, he listens, and he’s not afraid to make the tough choices. I am optimistic about the future of this district with Hilton at the helm.

Future Format

I am working on a project to expand Educate Tecumseh utilizing our local library. I would love your input on which format would be most useful for you. Please consider voting in the poll below so that I know which direction to go. My goal is to have Eduate Tecumseh available on your favorite podcast platform. I will post the results in my next article.