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Livonia board approves playground, bond contingency, HVAC repairs, bus funding and budget amendment
Summary
The Livonia Public Schools Board on Dec. 16 approved a set of business items including a $209,700 playground purchase for Roosevelt ASD (Act 18 funds), a $150,000 summer 2024 bond contingency, $61,617 in HVAC repairs at Stevenson High, $5,352 additional bus funding, and a 2024–25 budget amendment increasing revenues and expenditures and authorizing transfers.
The Livonia Public Schools Board of Education voted unanimously on a package of business items at its Dec. 16 meeting, approving purchases and budget adjustments across facilities, transportation and instructional staffing.
Playground purchase for Roosevelt ASD: The board approved the purchase of a fenced playground structure for the Roosevelt Elementary ASD Center from Kids Stuff Play Systems (in care of Kennedy Recreation) for $209,700 (including contingency). Assistant Superintendent Phil Francis said the purchase will be paid from Act 18 special education funds and is intended to create a lower‑stimulation, secure play area for students, some as young as 3. The motion passed on a recorded roll call.
Bond contingency adjustment (summer 2024 projects): The board approved an additional $150,000 in project contingency for summer 2024 renovation projects, bringing the total contingency to $1,275,731 per the owner's representative recommendation. Francis described the action as an intra‑bond reallocation to cover unforeseen items billed late on completed projects and emphasized the approval allows staff to move dollars between bond project buckets; members confirmed these are bond dollars and not general fund operating dollars.
HVAC repair at Stevenson High School: The board authorized $61,617 (including a 3% contingency) to SysTemp Corporation for chiller/A/C repairs at Stevenson High School. Francis described this as a necessary repair to keep existing chillers operational while the district plans for eventual replacement through a future capital project.
Additional funding for Holland bus purchase: The board approved an additional $5,352 to the purchase order for Bluebird school buses from Holland Bus Company (PO adjusted to $631,027). Francis explained the increase corrects a vendor quote error that omitted seats; the buses will be purchased from 2021 bond funds.
Budget amendment, 2024–25: The board approved the district’s 2024–25 amended budgets across multiple funds. Mrs. Allison Smith said updated retirement funding increased projected revenues by $7,500,000 (from $175,600,000 to $183,200,000) and increased projected expenditures by $8,500,000 (to $185,600,000), leaving a projected ending fund balance of $30,900,000 (16.7%). Smith also described a $1,000,000 transfer from the general fund to the capital projects fund and other updates to beginning fund balances.
Personnel and other approvals: The board also approved hiring recommendations for teachers listed in the packet, granted tenure to one teacher (Melissa Brown, effective Dec. 5, 2024), adopted resolutions recognizing two retirees (Lisa Harden and Elizabeth McCann) and adopted board policy IFE on field trips following a second reading. All listed motions carried on unanimous roll calls.
Roll‑call tallies were recorded on the meeting record for each motion; where a roll call was taken the vote was 7–0 in favor. The board said staff will follow up on logistical items such as confirming event dates shown on presentation slides.
