Dear Families,

While I am disappointed that the Securing Our Future Sinking Fund proposal did not pass, I am very thankful for the support it received. The proposal failed to pass by just 28 votes, which shows me that a significant number of people in our community supported the need to increase building security and fund major repair projects around the district. In the coming days and weeks, the Board of Education and I will begin planning our next steps as it relates to our capital needs. Please be assured, that despite this outcome, the safety of our students and staff will remain our top priority.

While we were hopeful that the Securing Our Future Sinking Fund proposal would pass, I did not want to put all of our eggs in one basket. As such, in September we applied for the Michigan State Police Competitive School Safety Grant Program (CSSGP). We were notified last week that we were awarded CSSGP funding in the amount of $244,915.00. These funds will be used to begin the process of replacing our outdated door access system and to implement a new visitor management system.

In Tuesday’s election, two current board of education members, Mr. Brent Earl and Ms. Grace Trudell won re-election, and Christy Conn was elected to the board. Mrs. Conn will begin her service to our district in January. I want to thank Mr. Gregg Gilligan for his service to the students, staff, and families of the district these past four years. I know he will finish his term by doing all he can to position the district for success in the future. While she did not win a seat on the Board of Education, I would like to thank Leslie Bohnett for her willingness to serve our district.

Last weekend we set our clocks back an hour, and as I am writing this, it is snowing, which means winter is near. While we strive to have school in session as much as possible, there are times when the winter weather creates conditions that are not safe for us to hold school. The decision to close school is not one that I take lightly. When conditions are such that there may be a need to close school, I follow the process outlined in our winter weather closing guidelines, which you can review here. If we do have to close school, we will do our best to provide parents with as much notification as possible. School closing alerts will be sent via our Parent Notification System, posted on the district website, social media channels, and broadcast on WHMI and several TV stations. Please take a few moments to review your contact information in PowerSchool to ensure that we have the most up-to-date email addresses and phone numbers for you. You can do this by following these instructions.

Last week, Congressman Mike Bishop stopped by Challenger Elementary to visit with students in Mrs. Abby Aldred’s third-grade class. Recently, several vocal music students performed with the Michigan School Vocal Music Association Regional Honors Choir. Next weekend, the Howell High School Performing Arts Department will present Shakespeare's “Twelfth Night.”  You can read about each of these stories below.

Congressman Bishop Visits Challenger Students

Last week Congressman Mike Bishop stopped by Challenger Elementary to speak with students is Mrs. Aldred’s third-grade class. The visit was prompted by letters that Mrs. Aldred’s class wrote to the congressman after they researched oil spills and different types of pollution in their science unit Earth and Me. During the visit, students asked Congressman Bishop questions relating to keeping the environment free of pollution, and the congressman read the students a book. You can read more about Congressman Bishop’s visit at https://goo.gl/SJyH2p.

Howell Public Schools Vocal Music Students Perform with Regional Honors Choir

Recently, 12 Howell Public Schools students performed with the Michigan School Vocal Music Association Regional Honors Choir. The students were selected for the choir following an online audition process. The students who performed were Isabella Armbruster, Audrey Davey, Kendall Derocher, Lola Dombrowski, Hailey Douglas, Ally Johnson, Chase Kovarik, Kirsten Patterson, Emma Roberts, Lily Sidorski, and Lauren Soderman.

Howell High School Presents “Twelfth Night”