BENZIE COUNTY CENTRAL
SCHOOLS
BOARD-O-GRAM
A QUICK UPDATE ON THE SEPTEMBER 8, 2008
BENZIE COUNTY CENTRAL BOARD OF EDUCATION MEETING
"Reaching for Excellence"
Student
Council
Student Council representative Kaile Cota updated the board on opening school activities. Plans for
Homecoming 2008 are being fine-tuned. Homecoming is scheduled for Friday, October 3 with both jr.
varsity and varsity football games vs. Suttons Bay. Many homecoming activities will take place the
week of September 29. ** A reminder that Parent-Teacher Conferences will take place the
following week on October 8-9 with no school for students on Thursday & Friday, October 910.
Technology
Initiatives
Matt Goodhue of Common Sense Computing provided a demonstration to the Board of Education
on our portable laptop computer initiative. This is one of many technology initiatives undertaken by
the district this year and are now available for use by staff and students in the MS/HS and Platte River
Elementary.
Recycling
Update
Marlene Wood-Zylstra updated the board on the status of recycling initiatives throughout the county,
specifically, the cardboard recycling taking place on the high school and Betsie Valley campuses. The
district will be working closely with Marlene to move towards paper recycling in the MS/HS and efforts
will be made to contract local waste vendors.
08-09 Student Preliminary 08-09 enrollment data was reviewed. Our initial count as of September 5 indicates Betsie
Enrollment
Valley-186; Crystal Lake-207, Lake Ann-261, Platte River-317, Middle School-266, High School-605,
Migrants-7, ECP-18 for a total of 1867. The district projected a loss of 80 students for the 08-09
school year. However, initial indications show that we did not lose as many students as anticipated
throughout the summer. These numbers will be fine-tuned for the official count day on September 24,
2008.
November
Election
The board discussed the November 4 election. Board members Jim Sheets and Kim Lathwell will not
be seeking re-election. Tom Stapleton, Jr. and Lorraine Nordbeck have completed the required
nominating petitions and will appear on the November 4 ballot. These terms of office take effect
January 1, 2009.
403 (b)
Regulations
A presentation was made on the new requirements that will impact school districts across the country
through recent IRS regulations. Effective January 1, 2009 schools will now be required to be
extensively involved in the administration of 403 (b) plans. Benzie Central is partnering in a
consortium with school districts throughout northwest Michigan to provide expertise and counsel in
working with each of our employees and their 403 (b) plans to meet these IRS regulations. Detailed
documents will be shared with each employee regarding the impacts of these requirements as they
are finalized in advance of the January 1, 2009 deadline.
Appointments The Board of Education formally approved the appointment of Shannon Bishop to the Lake Ann
special education position. Shannon was previously involved in the NW Michigan Bilingual program
and worked in our elementary buildings. The board also appointed Romeldo Clawson to the Betsie
Valley p.m./Saturday high school custodian position. After the close of the vacancy posting, Melissa
Burch has been formally approved to the Lake Ann kindergarten position.
Resignations The board formally accepted the resignation of high school custodian Dan Fast effective September
19, 2008. Dan has accepted a position with the Michigan Department of Natural Resources.
 Our next regular Board of Education meeting is scheduled for
7:30 p.m. Monday, October 13, 2008 at Lake Ann Elementary.