Meeting Notes: January 12, 2026
Pool Demolition Discussed and Approved, Alleged 4th Amendment Violations, iWellness Update
At the Monday, January 12, 2026, Tecumseh School Board meeting, members voted to demolish the Tecumseh Community Memorial Pool after discussing the issue for an hour. The school will also form an exploratory committee to determine if the community wants to fund an all-new pool facility. The demolition process could take 12-18 months.
iWellness Update
In November, The Detroit Free Press reported on iWellness, a ed-tech company that Jacob and I began investigating after Tecumseh Public Schools implemented the program in March 2025.
The reporter has a follow-up story in the that focuses on Adam “AJ” Hartley, iWellness’ chief innovation officer. Hartley’s wife, Nicole, is iWellness’ co-founder and chief operations officer, and the report sheds light on the Hartleys’ various ventures. The Freep reported, in part, that it (emphasis mine):
“found in several instances that those businesses made money from public school districts where he served as administrator, blurring the lines between family and business. In at least one instance—when Hartley signed off on a project with his son’s office design company—a spokesperson for the Lansing Public School District, Ryan Gilding, wrote that Hartley did not disclose his son was the president of the company. A.J., Nicole, and their son did not respond to multiple email and voicemail requests for comment on this article.”
At the November 26 TPS board meeting, the first after the initial story broke, board members Lynne Davis and Jacob Martinez raised concerns about iWellness and student privacy. Nothing has been shared publicly about the district’s findings into the program.
You can read Jacob’s report on iWellness here on Substack. My report is on my website.
There’s more to this story, and more to come. I implore you to read both of the Free Press stories—they are deeply reported pieces. They raise serious questions about how these programs are vetted before getting into classrooms.
In the meantime, here is the Gemini AI summary of the Monday, January 12, 2026, Tecumseh Public Schools board meeting.
I. Call to Order and Organizational Meeting
Call to Order: The meeting was called to order at 6:00 PM [01:06].
Election of 2026 Board Officers:
Pledge of Allegiance: Led by Trustee McGee [05:03].
II. Superintendent’s Recognition and Highlights
STEM/PLTW Recognition: Praise for the hands-on, project-based learning in the Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) programs [07:05].
High School Career Exploration Fair: A summary of the fall event designed to help students explore various career paths [07:25].
Athletic Donation: Recognition of a $573.19 donation from McDonald’s following a digital fundraiser for the athletics department [22:25].
III. Public Comment
Student Privacy Concerns: A parent spoke against ongoing “unconstitutional searches” of student belongings for cell phones, citing Fourth Amendment violations [11:15].
Pool Facility Upkeep: A community member compared Tecumseh’s pool unfavorably to neighboring districts, urging the board to prioritize facility maintenance [13:58].
IV. Scheduled Committee Reports
Budget Committee:
Safety and Facility Committee:
Reported that the district’s solar agreement at Sutton saved $14,541 in the past year [19:12].
Curriculum Committee:
V. Discussion and Action Items: The Swimming Pool
Option 2 Selection: The board moved forward with “Option 2” regarding the swimming pool’s future [01:58:27].
Financial Reality: Discussion centered on the $15 million cost of a new pool versus the district’s primary mission to educate students on a limited budget [01:59:54].
Public Trust Debate: Trustees debated whether the decision broke the public’s trust regarding the sinking fund, with some members calling for increased transparency in upcoming communications [02:00:44].
VI. Closing Board Comments and Adjournment
The iWellness issue raises a critical question about ed-tech vendor vetting that goes beyond just privacy concerns. When administrators have financial ties to products they're approving for use, it creates structural conflicts that standard procurement oversight often misses. I've seen similar situations at other districts where the inital rollout looks fine on paper, but the actual implementation reveals gaps in due diligence. The 4th Amendment search issue compounds this, showing how tech-driven policies can shift school culture in unexpected ways.