District, Foundation Continue Discussion About Full Time Employee

A proposal to partner to hire a full-time foundation employee may have to wait as the district deals with other issues.

The Saline Area Schools district and Foundation for Saline Area Schools continue to talk about a proposal to partner in funding a full-time foundation staff position. On Monday, Saline school board trustees Lisa Slawson and Amy Cattell met with foundation trustees Reid Paxton and Dennis Valenti to discuss the foundation's proposal. The proposal is for the distrct to allocate $50,000 annually for three years. The foundation would match that allocation. The idea is to take the foundation, largely driven by volunteers, to the next level with professional fundraising and marketing. The position would coordinate and grow activities that have raised $260,000 for Saline Area Schools over the last three years. School officials say they see the …

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Saline Schools Host Open House for Parents New to District

On May 10, there will be open houses at Harvest, Pleasant Ridge and Woodland Meadows elementary schools

Parents new to Saline Area Schools are invited to attend open houses at Harvest, Pleasant Ridge and Woodland Meadows elementary schools at 6:30 p.m., May 10. The open house/information night for families who have children entering Saline Area Schools beginning in September of 2012. The focus of this evening is to meet the building principal and get an overview of how a school day looks and some basic policies and procedures at each building. Although the school will be open, this evening is not intended as a true open house where parents will visit classrooms and meet teachers. Rather, school officials will walk parents through a typical school day, lunch procedures, drop-off and pick-up loops, and other basic information. This evening is …

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Saline Teams Compete at Destination ImagiNation State Finals

Eight teams represented Saline Area Schools at the competition.

Eight Saline Destination ImagiNation teams ranging from the elementary to the high school level competed on April 21 at the Affiliate “State” Tournament in at Central Michigan University.  These 32 students represented eight teams that have worked hard since fall 2011 to complete a set of Central Challenges and Instant Challenges. Destination ImagiNation Inc., or “DI,” is a creative problem solving organization for students from elementary school through college. Teams of up to seven members compete in various challenges that require complex thinking, problem solving, teamwork and creativity. The organization holds regional, affiliate, and international competitions to encourage creativity in the world's youth. Here's a look at Saline's DI…

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Guest Column

Don’t Stop Believin’

How five kids from Saline won over thousands of people by persevering when their team project went awry.

Five Saline students came together last October to form a new Destination ImagiNation “DI” team. Although most of them knew that DI was a creative problem-solving organization for students in elementary school through college, they didn’t realize how much fun it would be, or how much they would grow in their complex thinking or teamwork skills. Last Saturday, April 21, this new team, “The 5 Einstein Aces,” comprised of third & fourth graders from Pleasant Ridge and Heritage Elementary Schools, made everyone at the Central Michigan University Event Center cheer.  Here’s how it happened… It all started with a technical task, their “central challenge,” where they designed and built equipment to retrieve parts and deliver products. Over the …

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Milan's Helber A Finalist for Saline High School Principal Post

Saline Area Schools will hold candidate forums May 2 at the high school.

Milan Area Schools assistant superintendent Julie Helber is one of three finalists in the running to be the next Saline High School principal. According to a press release from Saline Area Schools, a committee of parents, teachers, administrators and a student met for 10 hoursto interview eight candidates April 25. The committee selected Helber, Hartland High School assistant principal Alice Lashbrook, Hartland High School) and Plymouth High School assistant principal Tyrone Weeks. The district will be conducting simultaneous candidate forums beginning at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, May 2at Saline High School. The forums will each be 40 minutes in length and will allow the public, (students and parents) high school teachers, and administrators an…

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Board Asked to End Club Fee for SADD

Membership in the organization has plummeted since the district enacted a $40 club fee.

Membership in a Saline High School student group that works to curb drunk driving and other destructive behavior has fallen from 120 to 32 since the district instituted a $40 club fee. At Tuesday’s Saline Area Schools Board of Education meeting, Julie Soissen asked the board to waive the club fee for members of Students Against Destructive Decisions. SADD uses positive peer pressure and other tools to deal with the issues of underage drinking, other drug use, risky and impaired driving, and other destructive decisions. “We are fully aware of the school district’s financial crisis. Schools are struggling, no doubt. So are families. Part of the decrease we’ve seen in SADD comes from students having to choose between paying to participate in …

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Holden on MASB Spending: Stop Tripping Over Dollars to Pick Up Pennies

A five-year look at district spending shows Trustee Zimmer achieved MASB certification at a rate in line with other board members.

The $940 of school district money spent to make Trustee David Zimmer an MASB-certified board member was better than par for the course, according to running mate and fellow Trustee David Holden. At the April 10 meeting the Saline Area Schools Board of Education meeting enacted a moratorium on school board training expenses. During the discussion, it was revealed that the district had spent over $1,000 for Zimmer to take classes with the Michigan Association of School Boards. Tuesday, armed with more data than was available at the April 10 meeting, Holden vindicated his running mate. “I think that data shows that Mr. Zimmer accomplished his MASB certification in a very efficient fashion and is to be commended for that,” Holden said. Zimmer …

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john Waterman

9:12 pm on Sunday, April 29, 2012

If you we only have X dollars then our schools need to be a priority. I believe our schools need more funds to educate our children. If we only have so many dollars then we should dedicated those funds to our students and not school board members? Which takes us back to the beginning of the discussion. We can not expect to maintain one of the best school districts in the country without funding.   more ›

VIDEO: Woodland Meadows 3 Bee Special Report

Here's a video report produced by Woodland Meadows students and staff.

The Saline Area Schools Board of Education watched this special "3 Bee" report about Woodland Meadows Elementary School. The video is produced by students and staff.

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CARES Funds Soccer Field Developments, Digital Books Program, Girls Lacrosse and More

With a senior housing development planned for Maple and Woodland, development of the Industrial Drive soccer fields becomes more important.

The push is on to develop the Industrial Drive soccer fields. Last week, the Saline Area Schools Board of Education approved the expenditure of $44,700 which will be helped to install a well, provide irrigation and electricity at the new fields on Industrial Drive. The project was one of CARES fund projects approved by the board at the April 10 meeting. The Saline Area Soccer Association had requested $50,500 for the project, expected to cost $68,464. The first step, according to Community Education Director Brian Puffer, the development is contingent upon the property having a viable well. The Saline Area Soccer Association is committed to spending $18,000 up front to locate and drill a well. Superintendent Scot Graden noted that …

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