By DEB WUETHRICH

If all goes as planned, Tecumseh Public Schools will be one of three schools featured on a television show on Wednesday, March 24 at 8 p.m. With a 6-1 vote (Jason Sines voted no), Tecumseh Board of Education members approved the spending of $25,000 to contract with a professional marketing firm and be a part of WXYZ Channel 7 Detroit’s quarterly program called, “Best Schools in Michigan.” The programs highlight the best attributes of three featured schools each time.

The school board members held a special meeting Monday, Feb. 1, to learn more about a marketing plan that would include the professional production of a DVD that would air on the show and then be given to the district to use as it wishes.

Members of the board’s Executive Committee initially met last Thursday with Sue Goldberg, a representative of Sussman and Sikes, a marketing firm from Southfield, to discuss the possibility of being on the March show. The special meeting was held because the company required a short-turnaround commitment on the project.

“Marketing our schools has been something we’ve talked about quite a bit as a board and set as one of our goals,” said Board President Debbie Johnson-Berges. “We think we have a truly exceptional school with a lot of great programs, and that’s something that needs to be shown to those thinking of moving into the Tecumseh area.”

By CRISTINA TRAPANI-SCOTT

CLINTON — Village of Clinton Manager Kevin Cornish sought authorization from council during Monday night’s regular meeting to draft a letter to Pilkington stating that it would hold the company to an abatement agreement made in 2003 that requires the company to pay back taxes that were waived according to the abatement. The letter invites Pilkington to state in writing reasons it has for asking for a waiver of the agreement. It has until Feb. 17 to respond.

Pilkington announced last year that it would be closing its Clinton plant by summer 2010. In 1996, the company invested $5 million in new equipment and did the same in 2003. Pilkington sought tax abatements over a 12-year period. The 1996 project abatement may already have expired. Cornish said he would know for sure in two weeks. At issue is the 2003 abatement that wouldn’t expire until 2015. The abatement agreement says that should the company leave the area, the village has the right to ask the company to repay the abated taxes.

Ken A. Hermes, commercial controller for Pilkington North America OE Division, attended last month’s regular meeting asking the village to consider waiving the obligation. He said that the language in the agreement stated that the village had the “right” to ask for the money, which gives the village the option to say yes or no. He added that the company was not going to make money by not paying the taxes. “We’re in the red and we want to be less in the red,” said Hermes.

Cornish said at last month’s meeting that his job was to protect the interest of the village. Since then, he has met with Lenawee County Treasurer Marilyn Woods, Lenawee County Equalization Director Marty Marshall, Clinton Township Treasurer Joanna Thompson, Township Assessor Tim Vorhees and Township Deputy Treasurer Jan Pittman. He said the group concluded that a letter should be drafted.

By DEB WUETHRICH

A tentative agreement between the Tecumseh Administrators Association (TAA) and Tecumseh Public Schools will find the district’s principals making a 10 percent contribution toward their insurance premiums each month for 2009-2010 and 2010-2011 (to begin on March 1, 2010). Up to now, the principals have made no contribution toward premiums.

The groups agreed to proposed language outlining a district payment of 90 percent towards the premiums during a negotiating meeting held January 28, with members contributing the remaining 10 percent on premiums of approximately $1,350 per month.

“I thought that was pretty good news,” said Superintendent Mike McAran, who added that Tecumseh Middle School principal Rick Hilderley spearheaded the effort. “We were pretty pleased that they stepped up and took a larger deduction. That’s a step in the right direction because things are going to have to change in the way that schools do things.”
Chief Financial Officer Bill Wright said that although the district has managed to build up its fund balance, there won’t be enough to carry the school into the future.

“Over the next two years, we won’t have enough fund balance to carry us, and that’s why we have to make cuts in the area of $2.3 million,” said Wright. “We’re talking about tough times.”

Wright said that what has made budgeting even more difficult has been the fact that school districts did not know what their School Foundation Allowance would be until a Revenue Estimating Conferences held January 11.

Other Tecumseh Public Schools groups that already have agreed to making a 10 percent contribution toward insurance premiums are the custodial/maintenance unions, and central office staff.

By DEB WUETHRICH

Communities in Schools of the Tecumseh Area (CISTA) will host The Taste on Saturday, Feb. 6, 2010, with the theme “Food and Feud: Area restaurants present a culinary experience with community members feuding for kids,” based on the popular TV game show. The Taste will take place at Tecumseh High School from 5:30-7:30 p.m. The event is sponsored by United Bank and Trust.

In a break from tradition, a special “Savor the Experience” activity, a beer and wine tasting event, will take place after The Taste, from 8:00-9:30 p.m., sponsored by and held at Cambrian Assisted Living. In previous years, the event was held before the Taste.

“We’re going to lead off with our wonderful, talented high school kids featuring Concert Women, Company Showchoir, and Roadshow, the band that backs up Company,” said Susan Reeder, Executive Director of CISTA. “The Feud part of the event is getting really interesting and I think it’s going to be exciting.” Reeder said that the Feud will begin at 6:40 p.m. with four teams made up of community members challenging each other. Chris Ayotte, who also is an Elvis impersonator, will take on the role of Richard Dawson, The Family Feud’s TV host.

Reeder said that the first teams up will be a United Bank and Trust Team challenging a team from First Federal Bank; then, a City of Tecumseh team will challenge a team from Tecumseh Public Schools. The winners will then challenge each other for the title of Ultimate Champions for Children.

“We surveyed students at our schools for the ‘Survey Says’ questions,” said Reeder, who added that members of Tecumseh Police Officer Kelley Hissong’s unit in Afghanistan also contributed some responses. “We wanted to pay tribute to our troops in some way so we included them,” Reeder said.

By DEB WUETHRICH

A spokesperson for SEAC (Special Economic Advisory Committee) informed members of the Tecumseh School Board Monday night that one of the things that the committee of citizens studying Tecumseh Public Schools financial situation agreed on was the need to better market the school district and its positive assets.

“You don’t hear about cuts in Hudson, Addison or Adrian,” said Stan Ames, who made a presentation for the group assigned to review the district’s financial condition and to consider areas of recommended study for further cost-cutting. “They’re all doing the same thing we are, but we’re the ones with the black eye. We really need to do a better job promoting the positives instead of bickering,” Ames added.
 Over a period of three meetings, one in December and two in January, approximately 25 members of the committee worked toward fashioning a statement regarding TPS finances.  SEAC’s assessment included making some recommendations regarding areas the board might focus on as it develops next year’s budget, which has a projected $2.3 million deficit.

The committee pointed out the sense of urgency in pursuing measures to reduce costs, partially because the state requires a balanced budget by July 1. Ames said when the group first met, schools were facing dire predictions for next year, and although an additional cut to the school foundation allowance of $127 per student did not take place, actions must still be taken because while the district could work out of its $1.9 million fund balance, that would be a one time only situation.

By DEB WUETHRICH

Tecumseh District Library visitors may notice the plastic sheeting covering areas of the facility undergoing some renovation over the next few months, but services are expected to operate as normally as possible during the process.

“Our intent is to keep our services up and running,” said Gayle Hazelbaker, TDL’s director. Actual construction activities take place after hours from 2 a.m. until 10 a.m. “That’s when they’ll do the noisy stuff which will be less disrupting to patrons,” Hazelbaker said.

The facility was originally built in 1962, and became a district library six years ago, governed by a seven-member elected board who serve as representatives of the community to oversee the library and its policies. The need to make changes surfaced as part of the library’s five-year Strategic Plan, which extends to 2013, a community survey conducted last fall, and patron input.

A major thrust of the project is to upgrade the technology, adding 10 computers to the existing eight, with four of those to be utilized in the teen area. The library soon will have more cozy and comfortable areas where people can use Wi-Fi services with their laptops as well, including a central lounge with a fireplace.

“At the beginning of our strategic plan, we committed to have one computer available for every 1,000 people served, and we serve a direct population of just under 18,000,” said Hazelbaker. She said the board wasn’t exactly sure how they’d do it, and thought it would be at the end of the plan. “As the economy worsened, we found that we were helping a lot of people with their resumes and assisting with on-line job searches and accessing unemployment services online. More people were bringing their laptops from home, because some had canceled their connection services, and we realized that maybe we needed to speed things up.”