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Board approves legal counsel, personnel delegations, safety and water plans, graduation-credit change and other organizational items
Summary
The Midland Public Schools board approved a slate of organizational, compliance and policy updates Jan. 21, including designation of legal counsel, fiscal authorizations, statutory safety and water plans, and a graduation-credit change tied to a new personal-finance requirement.
The Midland Public Schools Board of Education approved a package of organizational and compliance items during its Jan. 21 meeting, including appointments, fiscal designations, personnel delegations, safety- and water-management plans, and a graduation-credit policy change tied to a new personal-finance requirement.
What the board approved - Legal counsel: The firm Thrun Lehi PC was designated as the board’s legal counsel through Dec. 31, 2025; the superintendent may retain specialized counsel as needed. - Fiscal depositories and authorizations: Huntington Bank and any other public depositories qualified under the Revised School Code were named as approved depositories; the treasurer is the district’s legal financial officer; the superintendent and associate superintendent for finance were authorized to sign checks. - Personnel authorizations: The board delegated authority to the superintendent (or designee) to sign legal documents relating to personnel actions that the board has approved and to accept resignations and retirements through Dec. 31, 2025. - Employee medical benefits: The board reaffirmed use of the “hard cap” contribution method under Public Act 152 of 2000 for the current fiscal year; the district’s collective bargaining agreements use the hard-cap method. - Administrative assistant authorization: The superintendent’s designee (the administrative assistant to the board) was authorized to assist the board secretary with election matters through Dec. 31, 2025. - Cardiac emergency response plans (CERP): The board approved the district’s CERP in order to comply with recently enacted state requirements (House Bills 5527 and 5528) that require schools to adopt and annually review cardiac emergency response plans. - Drinking water management plan: The board approved a district drinking water management plan to comply with the Clean Drinking Water Access Act of 2023; administration noted the plan lists every child-accessible drinking outlet, sampling schedules and filter-replacement schedules, and will be certified annually. - Major change proposals and graduation-credit policy: The board approved a policy update (Policy 5409) to increase graduation requirements from 22 to 22.5 credits starting with the class of 2028 to accommodate a new 0.5 personal finance credit, and approved two major change proposals (conversion of an economics/personal-finance course and implementation of secondary English language development classes). - Personnel/human-resources items and consent agenda: The board approved items in the consent agenda including hires, resignations, payment of district bills (the packet documented $11,550,339 in payments for November 2024) and listed legal payments; trustees discussed the annual retainer to Thrun Lehi PC ($2,500 was listed in the packet) and asked staff to clarify billing practices. - Gifts: The board accepted a named gift of $7,800 to support a softball shed at Midland High School and listed additional gifts totaling $14,110.87 for information.
Votes and notable procedural items - Some votes were voice votes recorded as “motion carries”; a limited number of items recorded roll-call or noted abstentions. For item 7.2 (fiscal designations) Treasurer Jonathan Lauterbach abstained because Huntington Bank is a client of his firm; the board recorded “1 abstention, motion carries 6–0.”
Why this matters: The approved compliance plans (cardiac emergency response and drinking water) reflect recent state law changes and require annual reviews and public approval by the board. The graduation-credit change implements a newly required personal finance credit and affects future diploma requirements. Trustees said they will follow up on legal-retainer details and post more public information about water sampling and the bond proposal.
Ending: Administration said it will provide requested clarifications on the legal retainer and maintain annual certification schedules for the water and emergency plans.
