Custodians and Maintenance employees agree to wage concession to help District

At the request of the Lapeer Community Schools Board of Education, the AFSCME Unit, which represents the District’s 35 custodial and maintenance employees, reopened their current Master Agreement and agreed to wage concessions that will save the District $31,000 this school year.

The revised agreement was ratified by the union on December 22 and approved by the Board of Education at a meeting Thursday, January 7.

The Unit agreed to a two percent wage reduction applied retroactive to July 1, 2009. The agreement also extends the current contract through June 30, 2011. The contract was set to expire this June.

A formula in the contract addresses any potential wage adjustments for the next school year, but most likely will result in a pay freeze due to Michigan’s current economic climate.

“Once again, one of our bargaining units has stepped up and made a sacrifice during these difficult economic times,” said Superintendent Debbie Thompson. “The AFSCME Unit had a choice whether or not to reopen the contract, but did so to help the District and the children serves. This is another positive step in helping us address this year’s tough budget.”

Board of Education passes "Intent," but final decision on 'Race To The Top' is Monday

With several open questions about the local impact of approving a Memorandum of Understanding with the State on new Race ToThe Top legislation, Lapeer Board of Education members Thursday night, January 7, decided to wait on voting on the issue.

Instead, as allowed by the State, Board members approved a motion to signal the “intent” to approve the Memorandum of Understanding at a special meeting next Monday. The “intent” motion will be sent to the Lapeer County Intermediate School District today, Friday, January 8th.

“It’s still a moving target,” said Superintendent Debbie Thompson.

Recent legal opinions received by the District indicate that approving the Memorandum of Understanding could encumber the District with additional, long term financial commitments.

The action provides the District more time to get further opinions on the full impact of the Memorandum of Understanding before taking a final vote at the special meeting at 6 p.m. Monday, January 11, at the Administration & Services Center, 250 Second Street in Lapeer.

Elementary realignment plan approved by Lapeer Board of Education

New elementary school boundaries were approved by the Lapeer Board of Education at its regular meeting Thursday night.

Board members, as they did when the plan was presented in December, praised the administration for designing a plan that affected only three percent of the District’s 2,900 elementary school students.

State funding cuts, the previous closings of Attica, Irwin and Hadley Elementary Schools, and the upcoming closing of Elba Elementary School in June, coupled with the opening of two new sixth, seventh and eighth grade middles schools made the realignment a necessity.

The plan includes the option for parents of the small number of students scheduled for new schools to remain in their current building through the In-District Schools of Choice program. There also will be room for Out-of-District Schools of Choice. Both In-District and Out-of-District Schools of Choice parents must provide their own transportation.

Re-balancing the student populations, closing a building and designing more efficient bus routes all save money for the District which can be used for academics.

With the board’s approval Thursday night, all elementary parents will receive a letter about the changes and will be invited to meetings where the changes will be discussed. The In-District Schools of Choice will open in February and close in March. Staffing for each school will be determined in March and tentative teaching assignments announced in April.

Two Lapeer Board of Education members announce plans to run for re-election

Two Board members with expiring terms announced Thursday night that they would seek re-election to new four-year terms on Tuesday, May 4.

Mrs. Peggy Bush and Mr. John Nugent are completing terms on the Lapeer Board of Education and made the announcement at Thursday night’s regular Board meeting.

Mrs. Bush, a 14-year veteran of the Board, currently serves on two Board committees; Finance and Operation, and Teaching, Learning & Technology, and is a partner with Turrill and Schickler Elementary Schools. Mr. Nugent is Board secretary and serves on two Board committees; Teaching, Learning and Technology and Policy and Strategic Planning, and is a partner with Lapeer West High School.

Both members cited the good working relationships on the current Board and a desire to continue to see the District move forward.

State Representative Kevin Daley presents "Tribute" to Lapeer Board of Education

Each member of the Lapeer Board of Education was honored with a Tribute of Recognition by State Representative Kevin Daley, R-Lapeer County, at its regular board meeting Thursday night.

In presenting each member with a Tribute of Recognition, Representative Daley praised the commitment, work and dedication of the Board members.

January is School Board Appreciation Month in Michigan. In this photo Rep. Daley presents the Tribute to Board member Michael Keller.

Lapeer East vs. Lapeer West High School basketball Girls'/Boys' doubleheader will be played

The Lapeer East/Lapeer West basketball doubleheader at Lapeer East High School will be played tonight.

The Girls’ team tips off at 6 p.m. and the Boys’ game begins at 7:30 p.m.

Some athletic practices may be held today, but coaches will contact their team members individually. Also any athletic practices on a snow day is not mandatory.

Schools closed today

Due to winter weather Lapeer Community Schools will be closed today, Friday, January 8, 2009.

Lapeer East student, Lynch Elementary student win GLTA bus design contest

Two Lapeer Community Schools students, Cameron Myers, a Lapeer East student, and Mya Bates, a Lynch Elementary School student, won a Greater Lapeer Transportation Authority art contest.

The students’ designs were chosen as two of the four designs that will be painted on four new GLTA buses due for delivery this month. This is the second year Lapeer students have had winning designs in the contest.

Congratulations to these two talented students who will now see their art traveling daily around the community.

To see the bus drawings go the District's photo gallery.

Lapeer East's Alex Hart attends National Youth Leadership Forum in Washington, D.C.

Alex Hart, a Lapeer East High School senior with a career goal of being involved in National Security, was selected to participate in an elite six-day national student forum in Washington, D.C. in October.

Hart was selected as a junior in high school to attend the National Youth Leadership Forum on National Security from October 13-18.

Only 300 students from around the country were selected for this inside look at the country’s current fight against foreign and domestic threats.

The conference included lectures, small groups and even one-on-ones with senior CIA, FBI Department of Defense, and National Security Administration officials.

“We were busy from 6 a.m. to 11 p.m. on different topics from different services,” Alex said.

On the last day of the forum, the students came together for a simulation of a real world crisis and the need to coordinate a plan of action and the writing of national policy.

“I applied for and received the position of Director of the CIA and head of National Intelligence,” Alex said. “This provided me the opportunity to grow as a leader and established my decision to pursue a career in National Security.”

As part of the exercise, students had to make decisions on troop movements and sensitive foreign relations issues.

During the week, students took field trips to many embassies and other national sites of interest.
After graduation, Alex is applying to attend the U.S. Coast Guard Academy. He has already spent a “Day with a Cadet” at the academy which solidified his goal of attending.

Statement on an incident at Lapeer East

Statement from Superintendent Debbie Thompson:

On Friday, December 18th, we became aware of an incident at Lapeer East High School that occurred at the school on Thursday night, December 17th. We immediately began an internal investigation. The nature of the incident caused us to promptly request an investigation by the State Police and the police immediately responded and began their investigation.

The safety of our students is our primary concern and the students involved in the incident were immediately suspended from school pending the outcome of our internal investigation.

Our first choice is to keep students and parents informed. However, the State Police has asked us to make no statements in reference to the specific details of the incident because it could hinder their investigation.

Holiday concerts from Lapeer East/Lapeer West

Lapeer West with guest conducter, retired band director Mr. Steve Burns.



Or for the full sized video click here for YouTube site.




For full-size version of this Lapeer West video click this link.

A portion of the Lapeer East concert in which students and Meijer surprise band director Mrs. Lyniece Fenner.



For the full-size video at School Tube, click this link.

Lapeer East's Cameron Myers highlighted in FJ column

The Flint Journal's Mark Spezia has written a nice column on Lapeer East wrestler, Cameron Myers.

New headlines about former Lapeer athletes

Lapeer East graduate Jake Long honored on All-Decade sports teams.

Lapeer West graduated Chuck Voss, a 2006 Distinguished Hall of Honor inductee, was honored as "Coach of the Year." For more on Chuck Voss go here.

All-State Athletes from East/West announced

So far four Lapeer high school athletes have been named to All-State athletic teams.

Lapeer West golfer Catherine Benscoter was a Division II First-Team All-State selection.

Lapeer East football player Payton McCallum and Lapeer West football player Preston Haggadone were honorable mention All-State into Division 1-2.

Lapeer East soccer player Ethan Konschuh was an All-State honorable mention player.

We'll keep you posted on additional selections.

2009 fall Scholar Athletes from Lapeer East, West announced by Flint Metro League

The following students from Lapeer East and Lapeer West were named as 2009 fall scholar athletes by The Flint Metro League.

Lapeer East: Swim/Dive team, Katherine Baeckeroot*, Hannah Hastings; Boys/Girls Cross Country, Jamie Caminiti, Katelyn Davis, Hillary Davlin*, Ariana Donahue*, Amy Gaylor, Daniel Gildner, Kyle Griffin, Ryan Johnson, Anna Kluck, Aaron Knowlton, Allyssa Mazur-Batistoni, Dayno McIntyre, Stephanie Morris, Michael Puskar, Riley Sackett (also soccer), Tiffany Turner; volleyball, Casey Donovan*, Caressa Graves, Kayla Ortega, Ginger Pearson, Samantha Rubick, Jenna Vierk, Lindsey Weisler; football, Eric Dougherty, Neil Kuisell, Bryn Ludlow*, Alec Mihm, Zachary Nolan*, Eric Rieves, Adam Schroeder, Bradley Whittaker; soccer, Alexander Henson*, Nathaniel Herr*, Nathan Kolvek, Clayton Tomczyk*; golf, Emily Hilgendorf*; tennis, Nicholas Karava, Ian Komisak, Aaron Marietta, Bradley McCully, Henry Peabody, Jeffrey Tencza, Justin Townsend, Anthony Wagner. *Denotes All-League in sport played.

Lapeer West: Swim/Dive team, Lauren Barnes, Lindsey Buzzell; golf, Catherine Benscoter*, Lindsay Yateman; tennis, Eric Birkle, Jarrett Peplinski, Brian Stover; Boys/Girls Cross Country, Gina Cavanaugh, Megan Hurst, Patrick Martindale, Emily Nugent, Victoria Peet*, Haley Schroeder*, Aidan Smith; soccer, Matt Cox*, Brad Deane*, Scott Essenmacher, Johnny Kovalick, Nate Richards; football, Josh Francis, Dan Holbrook*, Kevin Roach*, Ken Smith, Nate Smith*, Brandon Szczesny*; volleyball, Elizabeth Gupton, Marisa Liburdi, Michelle Miller, Maddison Smith, Lindsay Thams*, Janelle VanWagoner. *Denotes All-League in sport played.

Flint Metro League announces All-League selections, many from Lapeer East, Lapeer West

Flint Metro League – All League selections

Lapeer East

Boys’ soccer: First team, Ethan Konschuh; second team, Clayton Tomczyk, Nate Herr, Alex Zavislak; honorable mention, Alex Henson, Phil Smith.

Football: First team offense, Sebashton Sullivan, Payton McCallum; first team defense, Anthony Hunt, Payton McCallum, Mike Sawchuk; second team offense, Bryn Ludlow, Anthony Hunt; second team defense, Isaac Joseph; honorable mention, Justin Hanson, Isaac Joseph (kicker), Zach Nolan.

Girls Cross Country: First team, Jenni Putz; honorable mention, Hillary Davlin, Alexis Whatcott, Arian Donahue.

Girls Golf: First team, Kelsey Robinson, Keely Turczyn; honorable mention, Emily Hilgendorf.

Volleyball: First team, Casey Donovan, Ellery Owen; second team, Devon Benner; honorable mention, Lisa Dinsmore, Sam Kazor.

Lapeer West

Boys’ soccer: Honorable mention, Josh Cebelak, Matt Cox, Brad Deane, Zach O’Brien.

Football: First team offense, Nate Smith, Tyler Andrews, Cody Ellsworth, Kevin Roach; first team defense, Kyle Bannister, Brandon Szczesny, Preston Haggadone, Jake Fenslau, second team offense, Jake Fenslau, Landon Warren; second team defense, David Price, Justin Slater; honorable mention, Dan Holbrook, Lance Machiniak, Dustin Masha, David Price, Dan Raymond, Aaron Seacrest, Nate Smith(defensive back).

Girls’ cross country: First team, Tori Peet; second team, Hayley Schroeder.

Girls’ Golf: Catherine Benscoter, Kim Brown; honorable mention, Elizabeth Rodela, Lauren Weeks.

Volleyball: Second team, Lindsay Thams; honorable mention, Jessica Eckel.

Combined Lapeer East/Lapeer West Swim/Dive Team

Second team: 200IM, Emily Shallman (East); 100 Butterfly, Emily Shallman; 400-yard freestyle relay, Emily Shallman, Lori Noelle (West), Katherine Baeckeroot (East), and Emily Corriveau (East); third team, 500-yard freestyle, Katherine Baeckeroot; 200-yard freestyle relay, Emily Shallman, Sarah Crittenden (East), Gabby Ralston (East), and Emily Corriveau; 100-yard breaststroke, Emily Corriveau.

Congratulations to all these fine athletes

Lapeer West's Mike Ogg named "Girls' Golf Coach of the Year" by The Flint Journal

Lapeer West teacher and coach Mike Ogg was named Girls’ Golf Coach of the Year by the Flint Journal on December 6th.

Ogg led the Lapeer West girls’ golf team to an undefeated, first place finish in the Metro League and to the State Finals and a 7th place finish there in 2009.

In 1978, Ogg began teaching in New Lothrop and coached football, volleyball, basketball and baseball at New Lothrop until 1985. From 1985 to 1998 Ogg worked at General Motors, but still coached 8th grade softball for three years during that period.

In 1998, Ogg resumed his teaching career at Lapeer Community Schools. He also coached freshman volleyball at Powers Catholic for one year.

In his coaching career at Lapeer Community Schools, Ogg has coached 8th grade girls’ basketball (5 years); girls’ softball (4 years); and varsity girls’ golf (7 years).

In total, Ogg has coached 55 teams in seven sports, including 40 teams from 8th grade to seniors in high school.

“Lapeer West is very proud to have Mike as part of our coaching staff,” said assistant principal and athletic director Mary Haslinger. “He is a dedicated coach who is able to bring out the best in his athletes.”

Lapeer staff, students and families chip in to make holidays brighter for many local residents

Lapeer County families in need were the recipients of thousands of food, gift and clothing donations this holiday season from the Lapeer Community Schools family.

Schools throughout the District sponsored Goodfellows food drives in November and early December. Not all kept exact records of donations, but a few examples show the generosity of the students, the students’ families and staff.

Most of the Goodfellows non-perishable food and paper products come from donations from the Lapeer schools and this year’s result was larger than the 2008 drive, said Karen Rykhus, Goodfellows president.

“We were able to help more than 200 Lapeer County families,” Mrs. Rykhus said. “They did an awesome job. They came through like gangbusters.”

Lapeer East and Lapeer West each collected more than 2,800 individual food donations for a total of more than 5,700 donations.

Students and staff at Lapeer West also helped a number of families with gifts through a “Giving Tree” effort.

A Toys for Tots effort at Lapeer East collected more than 650 toys, the best in the school’s history. All are destined for Lapeer County children. East National Honor Society students also helped with the packing of the food for distribution.

In addition to the Goodfellows food drive, Zemmer Junior High School staff, students, parents and general contractor Barton Malow employees at the Rolland-Warner Middle School site, donated $2,200 through a “Penny War” to make Christmas a happy one for 11 children from four families. Student council shopped for the children and each family also received a gift card from Meijer.

Murphy Elementary School students collected 2,163 cans of food and the Murphy staff adopted several families.

The Murphy community also donated nearly 100 new and gently used coats. Students in one Murphy class made scarves for special needs students at the Lapeer County Intermediate School District Education and Technology Center.

At Lynch Elementary, 1,305 items were donated to the Goodfellows drive and three families were adopted. Student council also held a returnable can drive for another family and raised $52.

Students in one Lynch sixth grade classroom donated $5 each and purchased items off the giving tree. A retired teacher who now lives in a nursing home was also adopted by the Lynch staff and will enjoy a happy Christmas.

“This has been a very tough year for so many of our families,” said Superintendent Debbie Thompson. “Once again the generosity of our staff, students and their families astounds me.”

Mayfield Elementary students and staff collected 1,099 items of food for Goodfellows and adopted a large family for donations of Christmas gifts.

Turrill Elementary students collected 1,745 cans of nonperishable items for the Goodfellows drive. The school has also started a fund, patterned after a similar one at Maple Grove Elementary School that helps families all year round.

Students at Elba-Seaton, Maple Grove and Schickler Elementary Schools also had successful Goodfellows drives, but totals were not available.

Staff at the Administration & Services Center adopted a family with a “Giving Tree” effort and supplied them with gifts, food and gift cards to brighten their season.

A couple of school support groups also kicked in with help for the community.

At the November luncheon, members of the Lapeer High School Alumni Association donated $540 to Goodfellows, $89 to Holiday Depot, donated six large black plastic bags full of toys, 43 grocery bags full of food and three large boxes and three large bags of new and gently used winter clothing, such as coats, hats, blankets, scarves, mittens and leggings.

A Craft Fair at Lapeer East in early December included a food drive for Kids In New Directions and visitors brought nearly ten boxes of donated food.

Transportation employees agree to wage concession, thanked by Superintendent

At the request of the Lapeer Community Schools Board of Education, the Lapeer Transportation Association, which represents the District’s 59 bus drivers, reopened their current Master Agreement and agreed to wage concessions that will save the District $37,000 this school year.

The revised agreement was ratified by the Association on Thursday, December 17 and approved by the Board of Education at a meeting also on Thursday, December 17.

The LTA agreed to a two percent wage reduction applied retroactive to July 1, 2009. The agreement also extends the current contract through June 30, 2011. The contract was set to expire this June.

A formula in the contract addresses any potential wage adjustments for the next school year, but most likely will result in a pay freeze due to Michigan’s current economic climate.

“We appreciate the LTA working with us during these difficult economic times,” said Superintendent Debbie Thompson. “The union did not have to re-open the contract, but did so in the best interests of our District and the children it serves. It is a significant step that helps us address this year’s difficult budget.”

Elementary realignment, new boundaries discussed at Board of Education meeting

Only three percent of the District’s 2,900 elementary school students will be impacted by a proposed realignment of the District’s elementary schools boundaries for 2010.

With continued State funding cuts, the previous closings of Attica, Irwin and Hadley Elementary Schools, the future closing of Elba Elementary School in June and the opening of two new sixth, seventh and eighth grade middle schools, the need to realign and rebalance student population among the remaining buildings was a necessity.

In designing new bus routes and boundaries, the District’s elementary principals, central office administration and transportation department were able to keep all but 101 students within their current school boundaries.

Even with the realignment, there will be room for In-District Schools of Choice that will allow parents flexibility in keeping their students in a particular school even if it is outside the particular boundary for their children. In those cases parents will have to provide transportation to the selected school. There will also be room for Out-of-District Schools of Choice.

“We expect every student will be able to remain in his or her current school if parents choose Schools of Choice,” said Superintendent Debbie Thompson.

“Our administration and transportation department should be commended for proposing boundaries that affect only three percent of our elementary population. Through Schools of Choice, all of our students have the opportunity to remain at the schools they now attend for the 2010-2011 school year,” said Board of Education President William Laidlaw. “This decision illustrates the District’s commitment to providing a stable learning environment for our students and families within the community.”

In January, all elementary parents will receive a letter about the changes and be invited to meetings where the changes will be discussed. The In-District Schools of Choice will open in February and close in March. Staffing for each school will be determined in March and tentative teaching assignments announced in April.