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Edwardsburg board adopts series of budget amendments, contract renewals and policies in unanimous votes
Summary
At its June 10 meeting the Edwardsburg Public Schools Board approved multiple fiscal-year 2024–25 amendments and 2025–26 appropriations, renewed the food-service contract with Chartwells, adopted handbook revisions including a dress-code change and elected to keep the PA 152 80/20 health-insurance option. All recorded roll-call votes passed.
The Edwardsburg Public Schools Board of Education on June 10 approved a package of budget amendments and 2025–26 appropriations, renewed the district food-service management contract and adopted several policy items in roll-call votes that passed unanimously.
Board members voted to amend the 2024–25 general fund and to adopt the general appropriations for fiscal year 2026 after the district’s director of finance and operations reviewed estimates and highlighted areas of uncertainty, including final state foundation allowance figures and declining federal COVID-era funding. The board also approved separate amendments and appropriations for the food-service fund, student activity accounts and several special-revenue funds.
The board approved the annual renewal of the district’s food-service management contract with Chartwells at a state-approved increase of 0.0406 cents per meal (3 percent), and reaffirmed its annual election under Michigan’s Public Act 152 to limit district-paid health insurance costs to no more than 80 percent of the total annual cost of medical plans offered to employees for the 2025–26 school year.
Other recorded actions included adoption of student-handbook revisions (including a change to the dress code to prohibit holes above the knee), approval of the 2026 graduation date and a series of personnel hires. All motions presented for a roll-call vote passed with board members recorded as voting yes.
Votes at a glance - Amendment: General Fund (fiscal 2025 amendment as read aloud in meeting) — Motion passed (roll call: all members present recorded yes). Text read by board clerk included figures for total revenue and expenditures as placed in the resolution (transcribed in meeting packet); board discussion separately referenced staff estimates that revenues would be about $31,256,326 and expenditures about $32,880,093 for fiscal 2025. The resolution as read was adopted. - Amendment: Special Revenue — Food Service Fund (fiscal 2025 amendment) — Motion passed (roll call yes). Resolution text read: total revenues $1,407,583; total expenditures $1,726,600; estimated fund balance $277,781 (as presented in the board packet). - Amendment: Special Revenue — Student Activities Fund (fiscal 2025 amendment) — Motion passed (roll call yes). Resolution text read: total revenues $398,000; total expenditures $327,000; estimated fund balance $279,338 (as presented). - Adoption: General Appropriations Act for fiscal 2026 (general fund) — Motion passed (roll call yes). Resolution text read: total revenue $31,618,276; total expenditures $33,933,057; estimated ending fund balance $6,058,541; effective 07/01/2025. - Adoption: Special Revenue — Food Service Fund budget for fiscal 2026 — Motion passed (roll call yes). Resolution text read: total revenues $1,384,850; total expenditures $1,726,600; estimated ending fund balance $509,172; effective 07/01/2025. - Adoption: Special Revenue — Student Activity Fund budget for fiscal 2026 — Motion passed (roll call yes). Resolution text read: total revenues $398,000; total expenditures $327,000; estimated ending fund balance $288,425; effective 07/01/2025. - Public Act 152 election (health insurance) — Motion passed (roll call yes). Board elected the option under PA 152 to limit the district contribution to no more than 80% of total annual cost of medical plans for the 2025–26 school year, consistent with current bargaining language. - Chartwells food-service contract renewal (annual renewal under existing multi-year contract) — Motion passed (roll call yes). MDE (Michigan Department of Education) had approved the 3% management-fee increase; board approved renewal. - Student-handbook revisions (2025–26) including dress-code wording change (holes allowed at or below the knee; holes above the knee prohibited) — Motion passed (voice vote/roll call as recorded yes). - Graduation date 2026 set for May 21, 2026; board also approved a half-day for students with staff working the afternoon — Motion passed (voice vote recorded yes). - Personnel approvals (assistant superintendent appointment and listed building hires) — Motions passed (voice vote/roll call as recorded yes).
What the motions do - Establish the district’s adopted 2025–26 spending authority, including the operating mill levy described in the general-appropriations resolution. - Formalize the food-service contract terms for 2025–26 and the district’s election under PA 152 for employee health-plan cost-sharing.
Context and next steps During presentation, the district finance director said key variables remain unsettled, notably the final state foundation allowance per pupil and the loss of federal COVID funds, and the board was shown conservative enrollment and revenue assumptions used to build the 2025–26 budget. Several resolutions were read into the record by the clerk and then approved by roll-call votes. The board chair and finance staff indicated they will provide further budget details after state figures and fall student counts are final.
The full text of each adopted resolution appears in the board packet and was read into the record during the meeting; the board president closed the meeting by moving into a closed session later in the agenda.
