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Lakeshore board approves nearly $4 million in classroom furniture, budget tweaks and two used vans
Summary
The Lakeshore School District board approved a not-to-exceed $3,924,944 classroom furniture package funded from bond savings, accepted a $62,666 bid for two used passenger vans, and adopted budget modification No. 3 and several personnel actions during its April 13 meeting.
The Lakeshore School District Board on April 13 approved a series of spending and personnel measures, including a not-to-exceed $3,924,944 purchase of classroom furniture using bond dollars, a $62,666 purchase of two used passenger vans and quarterly budget modification No. 3.
"We've had a lot of our projects go under budget and, some of that leftover money, we thought would be great to be able to go directly into the classroom in this way," said Greg Eading, who described the selection process and teacher input behind the furniture recommendation. The board authorized the purchase as a not-to-exceed amount to allow for final fine-tuning of specifications.
Tracy Althouse, who presented the district's financials and the budget modification, said the change in projected revenues amounted to roughly $500,000 and reflected received state aid adjustments and passthrough grant payments. She told the board that the district's fund balance is projected to end the year at about 11.12 percent after the adjustments.
The board also approved a recommendation from operations leadership to accept the lowest bid from Enterprise Car Sales in Grand Rapids to purchase two used 2010 10-passenger vans for $62,666. Superintendent remarks noted the district is taking advantage of available vehicles when they are found, given the difficulty of locating suitable used vans.
Several personnel items moved with the consent of the board: the hiring of Natalie Fultz for an elementary special education/social skills behavior teaching position for the 2026–27 school year and a package of administrator and director contract renewals for the coming fiscal year. The board approved a full leave of absence request for Hollywood Elementary teacher Hillary Burkett so she can pursue Board Certified Behavior Analyst certification.
All motions on the furniture purchase, van purchase, budget modification and personnel items passed on roll-call votes. The board closed the meeting after one public-comment speaker from the YMCA thanked the district for transportation support and partnership on youth programming.
The district said installations for the furniture will begin this summer for elementary buildings and start this winter for secondary buildings, with additional fall days used to finish remaining installs.
