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Dearborn board approves omnibus package including Plant Moran owner's‑rep contract and first 2025–26 budget amendment
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Summary
On March 9 the Dearborn Board of Education approved an omnibus motion covering 12 action items — including an award to Plant Moran RealPoint to serve as owner's representative, acceptance of donations, and the first amendment to the 2025–26 budget — in a unanimous roll‑call vote.
The Dearborn Board of Education voted unanimously March 9 to approve an omnibus slate of 12 action items that included awarding a contract to Plant Moran RealPoint to serve as the district’s owner’s representative on a potential capital program and adopting the first 2025–26 budget amendment.
The motion to approve action items 1–12 was moved by D’Ambrosio and supported by Petlyakov and passed on a roll call of trustees present. The items listed on the agenda included warrants, multiple contract awards, personnel approvals, the district financial statement, the Plant Moran RealPoint contract and the first budget revision for 2025–26.
Tom Wall, the district’s chief financial officer, said the amendment shows the district with a modest general‑fund surplus and “our fund balance is at 33,000,000,” while cautioning that state and federal funding changes will affect future planning. “The general fund, even though it is balanced, we’re concerned about going forward because there’s a lot of things that are gonna be changing,” Wall said during the presentation.
Wall told trustees the district’s combined budget is “roughly over $400,000,000,” that state aid changes mean local tax increases can reduce proportional state support, and that the amendment shows a general‑fund surplus of about $188,000. He said the district is moving some surplus into the building and site fund to address pressing facilities needs and noted the district is continuing to pay down an interest‑free bond issued in 2010.
A grants presenter summarized a rise in grant funding for certain categories, saying the district opted into additional 31a funds and now has about $7 million in that allocation; she also noted ESSER federal COVID funds ended Sept. 30, 2024, and that grants require careful accounting and sometimes strict spending rules.
The Plant Moran RealPoint award (an owner’s‑rep engagement) was introduced earlier in the meeting; Paul Wills of Plant Moran told trustees the firm would provide program oversight, schedule enforcement and financial stewardship if the district proceeds with a large bond program and would offer fixed‑fee planning work during an initial phase. Wills said the firm’s role is “to translate complex technical data from architects and contractors into clear executive summaries” for board oversight.
Trustees asked about contract structure, vendor roles and fees; Wills said initial planning is structuring as a fixed‑fee month‑to‑month engagement and that subsequent implementation fees would be percentage‑based only if a bond measure is placed and approved by voters.
The motion’s roll call recorded affirmative votes from trustees present; the clerk completed the roll call as the omnibus motion carried. The board also accepted multiple donations to individual schools and the Dearborn Education Foundation’s partnership grant for the Salina Green Schoolyards.
Next steps: the district staff said they will continue bond‑related planning and report back to the board, and business office staff will bring forward the next budget discussions and the second budget amendment later in the year as state budget details become clearer.
