The regular/organizational meeting was held starting at 6:00 p.m.
Organizational items, such as approving the legal name of the school district, bank resolutions, school district legal counsel, district media contact, and scheduling of school board meetings for the next year were completed. The board meeting for June 2026 will be changed to the third Monday of the month, June 16th, instead of the second Monday, to allow time for the amended and proposed budgets to be completed.
The June 2025 regular and special meeting minutes and treasurer’s report were approved with no changes.
There were no public comments.
Mrs. Elizabeth Scott was appointed the special liaison to the Michigan Association of School Boards, with Mrs. Kristin Flick appointed as the alternate.
Mr. Tim Evans was appointed as delegate to the Jackson County School Board Association, and Mr. Chris Blackledge was also appointed as the alternate.
Mrs. Elizabeth Scott was appointed the school board representative on the Hanover-Horton Education Foundation Committee, and Jamie Dittenber is the community member appointed to the committee.
Mrs. Tonya Sears was appointed the school board representative on the Lucile McGee Scholarship Committee.
Mrs. Kristin Flick and Mr. Leon Densmore were appointed as the school board representatives on the Ruth Creps Scholarship Committee.
The board approved a list of recommended workshops and in-service training sessions throughout the year for board members.
The board approved the length of school term for the 2025-26 school year, as required by the school code. School districts must provide 180 days and a minimum of 1098 hours of pupil instruction, which has not changed from previous years.
In order to meet the requirement for pupil accounting auditing, the board approved a list of courses offered by the district.
The updates in the student handbooks for the elementary, middle school, high school, and athletics for the 2025-26 school year were approved.
The board approved newly created Parent Contracts and Student Contracts that must be signed for each sport each year by both parents and student athletes. These contracts set in place the behavior expectations for sportsmanship, both in person and on social media, and outline consequences for violations.
The board discussed the recommendations of a small committee to streamline our school colors, logo, and branding. Mr. Chris VanEpps, Athletic Director, presented his ideas for updating the look of the high school gym, the re-arranging of banners and sports trophies, changing the entrance to the auxiliary gym entrance for games, and the general overall look of the high school lobby, gym and hallways.
The board approved the addition of a sentence in the administrative contracts of the superintendent and building principals (Mrs. Bergstrom, Mr. Ayers, Mrs. Duffrin, Mr. Waltz, Mr. Cottrell, Mr. VanEpps) that was inadvertently left out when the contracts were revised a few years ago. The sentence reading, “A Cash in Lieu Option is available at a rate of $500 per month” will be added to the Insurance section of Appendix A of the contracts. This is in line with the teacher contract.
Motion by Mr. Evans and support by Mrs. Scott to add a yearly stipend to the salary of the current Transportation Director in place of the previous cost of providing work coveralls, jeans, and utility cloths from a uniform company.
A quote from Challenger Technologies, LLC was accepted to install a fiber internet connection to the athletic complex. This is necessary because the ISD will no longer support our current point-to-point connection.
The proposed ballot language and resolution for the renewal of the sinking fund millage, which will expire with the 2026 tax levy, was approved. This is for a continuation of the millage rate of 0.9576 mill for a period of eight years (2027-2034). The ballot will be included in the November 4, 2025 election.
The board accepted with regret the resignation of Mrs. Shelley Job, whose retirement will be effective on December 31, 2025. Mrs. Job has been with the district for 28 years.
Superintendent Bergstrom reported to the board members on the following:
- The Michigan Association of School Boards is no longer partnering with NEOLA for the implementing and updating of school board policies and are instead endorsing Thrun Law Firm. Some county schools have already made the switch to Thrun. Superintendent Bergstrom will do some investigating as to the process and cost of making a switch to Thrun.
- The board will meet on August 4, 2025 to review the progress of two students who were on long-term suspension last school year and will decide whether the students will be able to return to school for the 2025-26 school year.
The board members commented on the following:
- The board thought the meeting was very productive.
- Thank you to Chris VanEpps for his great ideas and passion for improving the aesthetic of the building for students and community.
The regular meeting was adjourned at 8:15 p.m.
