Meeting Notes: September 8, 2025
Updates on board behavior norms, pool, career corner, and operations funding
Transcription by SonixAI
Committee, Operational, and Superintendent Reports summarized by Grok (AI)
Members absent: none
Trustee McGee led the pledge of allegiance.
Good News - Hilton
Daisy the support dog was discussed. Facility dogs support calmness in educational settings, and Hilton says studies show there are benefits. Funding has been donated from various businesses, organizations, and individuals in the community.
Public Comment
Tim (VanAtter), 1985 graduate. In 2011, Griff Mills requested considering a baseball field. Since then, minimal maintenance performed. Last painted in 2019, Tim helped pay for it himself. Tim makes the point that inability to pass the bond is the reason for the lack of upkeep. At this point, the three minute timer goes off. Trustee Brooks then says, “Greg…” into the mic to urge Trustee Lewis, who was listening intently, to cut the speaker off. Lewis allows the speaker to continue briefly.
Tim asks why the school district cannot support general maintenance, given the support they’ve received from the community. He asks why it’s assumed that “things will continue to go down this path”. Lewis suggests having the AD or Mr. Mattison getting in contact with Tim to follow up.
Committee and Operational Reports
Curriculum Committee (Jacob Martinez): The committee discussed a $245,000 Title III grant for literacy curriculum (to be spent by September 2026, requiring timeline adjustments), integration of the History Day essay contest (theme: "Revolution, Reaction, and Reform") into third-grade social studies, and a $6,000 kiln(?) purchase for high school ceramics.
Operations Update (Josh Mattison): In week four of the 2025–2026 school year, Mattison reported completing over 150 summer projects, including furniture additions, door replacements, parking lot resurfacing, deep cleaning, and preventive maintenance. The IT team inspected 2,000 Chromebooks and upgraded networks. Since August, 735 work tickets were submitted (up from 442 last year), with 75% resolved (552 completed), split evenly between maintenance and technology. Trustees asked about ticket trends, attributing increases to greater system familiarity and higher expectations. Mattison noted ongoing capital planning amid challenges like the cancellation of a USDA REAP solar-roofing project due to federal clean energy cuts, shifting roof costs to district funds.
Pool Steel Investigation Bid Summary (Aaron Phillips, McCarthy & Smith)
Construction manager Aaron Phillips presented bids received on September 3 for scaffolding and selective demolition to enable structural engineering inspections of the pool building. Six bids were submitted: four for demolition (low: $22,000 by DKI International) and two for scaffolding (low: $44,959 by Seaway Scaffolding). The recommended total award is $66,959, $20,000 under the $85,000 estimate. Post-bid interviews confirmed scopes. Additional costs include $20,000–$30,000 for engineering and soft costs, totaling about $150,000. Protective measures like plastic sheeting will safeguard the pool basin. Trustees discussed bid variances (labor hours, union factors) and confirmed no schedule acceleration from early voting, as engineering availability dictates a November start. The board deferred action to the next meeting.
Board Norms Review (Lynn Davis)
Davis reviewed proposed updates to the 2021 board norms for discussion. The first norm expands "treat each other with dignity and respect" to include "one another, our community, and TPS staff and families," emphasizing authentic engagement. The second refines "seek to understand topics prior to voting" to incorporate "carefully considering relevant data and evidence." No vote was taken; trustees were invited to suggest revisions for future consideration.
No Action Items
The board opted against suspending rules for immediate pool bid approval, citing no timeline benefits and potential rental cost increases.
Consent Agenda
The board unanimously approved the consent agenda, including minutes from the August 25, 2025, meeting, on Brooks' motion.
Superintendent's Report: Career Corner Overview (Matt Hilton and Meagan Way)
Hilton and Director of Instruction Meagan Way presented the new "Career Corner" section on the district website, developed since the 2022 strategic plan to guide pre-K–12 students in post-secondary planning. Key components include:
Career Development Model: A 27-page document adapting Michigan's model with grade-banded targets (e.g., awareness in elementary, exploration in middle school via Educational Development Plans starting in seventh grade, preparation in high school with talent portfolios and assessments). It incorporates career zones, clusters, pathways, the Michigan Merit Curriculum, CTE programs, and the "three E's" (enlistment, enrollment, employment).
Career Pathway Documents: 17 one-page guides per cluster (e.g., agriculture), detailing occupations by education level, labor market outlooks, recommended courses, Tech Center programs, post-secondary options, and local employers. Updated annually based on course catalogs and distributed at events.
Portrait of a Tecumseh Graduate: Outlines four areas—academic proficiency, self-awareness, social awareness, career readiness—with emphasized skills like growth mindset and critical thinking. Developed with input from parents, students, and the curriculum committee; next steps include curriculum integration.
Conduit to the Trades: A QR-code wall display in the counseling hallway providing apprenticeship resources and connections, aimed at real-time student support during planning.
Trustees commended the comprehensive approach, asking about updates (annual), state reporting (none required), comparisons (district-leading in county and state), market data integration (via "hot jobs" projections), and catch-up for older students (via EDPs). Suggestions included relocating the trades display for greater visibility and sharing success stories.
Future Agenda Items and Board Comments
Hilton previewed next meeting topics, including good news, discussions, action items from this session, and an ISD proposal for community engagement and strategic plan renewal. In comments, Lewis congratulated Way on the literacy grant, noted an upcoming farewell for staff member Kim Foley, endorsed McGee's visibility idea for trades resources, and reflected on Vannatter's contributions to athletics. He and Hilton discussed incorporating athletic facilities (turf lifespan, tennis courts) into capital planning via sinking funds. Davis advocated for equitable reviews of arts facilities (e.g., music equipment) alongside athletics and highlighted Michigan's delayed state budget as a recurring challenge.
The meeting adjourned on Brooks' motion.
Final Thoughts
Evaluation of Music/Arts Funding
After a brief discussion of evaluating funding for our sports facilities, Trustee Davis called for an equal evaluation of music/arts funding. Clip below.
Bravo, Trustee Davis. Bravo! This was so refreshing to hear. When I campaigned with Holly (my wife) last year, so many folks in this district were concerned that we put all our focus on sports at the expense of the arts. We all love a good football game, but the arts are paramount to an education. We must treat the arts as equal to or more important than sports. Kudos to Lynn for driving this point home!
Board Norms
Bravo again to VP Davis for bringing up new phrasing for board behavior / norms. Calling out “one another" and “the community” in treating others with respect directly addresses past misbehavior and refocuses board members toward a warmer relationship with the community.
Time Limits
In this abnormally short board meeting, there was one public comment. The public comment was limited to three minutes, as is the policy. As Mr. VanAtter ran over time, Trustee Lewis continued to listen respectively even as the timer went off. Trustee Brooks was having none of this, whispering, “Greg…”, to urge Trustee Lewis to hold the speaker to their allotted time. Lewis then allowed 30 more seconds (clip below).
The timed public comment policy was debated earlier this year, with Trustee Davis bringing up a valid point that she was almost late for a flight due to an extraordinarily long comment from Tim Simpson (as a member of the public, before he was elected). While this is a compelling reason for time limits, I would point out that nothing like that has happened in the two years I’ve been following this board. Brooks/Simpson ran as “concerned parents”, and yet they both seem all too willing to shut down concerned parents now that they are on the other side of the table.
I recommend extending the public comment limit to five minutes, with exceptions made if the speaker is on point and there is no one else in line. Mr. VanAtter might have made his point within three minutes if he spent less time apologizing for his point, but he did bring valuable historical data to the conversation. Public comment serves quite literally as a “community notes” function, giving greater context to discussions held. It’s worth listening to the full statements.
“Tell me how we could fail”
My work brought me to Tokyo this week, where I’m currently writing this article. Each conference I attend typically begins with a military commander asking, “How are we going to achieve our goal?” At this event, the meeting began with a different question. The commander here, a former A-10 pilot, said he didn’t want folks to tell him how we’d meet the goal. He wanted to know how we could fail.
His outlook on the process made me think of some of the tough, and sometimes unpopular questions asked by board members. Trustee McGee consistently asks for worst-case scenarios regarding our budget. Trustee Simpson recently asked the financial impact of assuming the pool is beyond repair. These questions sometimes draw the ire of other members, and even members of the community, but it’s time we start asking the tough questions.
Future Articles
I still owe my readers a follow-up article on the state of our finances for the current year. I’ve been traveling non-stop lately for work, but I am now back in Michigan for the time being, so I will begin work on that article this week.
Thanks for reading!