Live Blog: Farmington School Board to Act on RFPs

Farmington Schools officials are expected to vote tonight on whether to accept private contracts for custodial and transportation services, or accept a proposal from the district's union staff, which is expected to come in short of a savings goal set by the district.

We're live-blogging tonight's meeting, which begins in Hunt Auditorium at at 7:30 p.m.

10:44 p.m. Brouillette gives a shout-out to the champion Harrison High Robohawks, for their first place finish at the World Robofest Senior Game Competition Saturday. And that's a wrap. Look for Carol Lundberg's complete coverage of tonight's vote tomorrow in Farmington-Farmington Hills Patch.

10:37 p.m. "I know this has been a difficult process," Supt. Sue Zurvalec said. "These were not easy decisions to make. I knew that you would, as you always do, exercise due diligence... and do what is right."

Oddly, there are no comment cards for the public comment portion of the meeting.

10:25 p.m. The board has taken a well-deserved recess. We got a little behind on our vote count in previous updates, so here's the tally: Wallach, Clay, Devine, Bolsen and Brauer voted for both contracts; Brouillette and Reid voted against.

10:21 p.m. Board president Howard Wallach is speaking off the cuff, which is unusual. He said the process from the beginning was just to get information, and from the beginning, the board was attacked. His "venom", he said, has been directed at three governors, and the legislatures they worked with, to put Michigan education in the position it is today. The board is not afraid to make tough choices, he said, and sometimes makes choices the administration and committees do not recommend. "We also have to make tough choices, because Lansing won't," he said.

Union busting, he said, has never been on "the radar screen." He thanked union leaders for understanding the seriousness with which the district was approaching the issue. He said he made his decision on Monday afternoon at 4:30, when he saw the spreadsheet with the final information and saw the difference was just one-quarter of one percent of the budget.

"There's no way in hell I'm letting you lose your jobs over that," he said.

10:11 p.m. Board member Sheilah Clay said, "You came close enough for me, for what we asked you to do," she said. The vote's 4-2; the decision now rests in the hands of board president Howard Wallach, who sat with union officials last week to help hammer out this agreement.

10:05 p.m. Board member Tim Devine said the district is not in a good financial position, and things are going downhill fast. He said the district has to look internally to save money and address the gap between expenses and revenues. He said the union's sacrifices sufficiently meet the call made to support services and is hinting the teachers and administrators should also be asked to make the same level of sacrifice. "We'll look to the administrators for leadership in that regard," he said. He votes in favor of the motions; the vote is now 3-2 in favor.

9:55 p.m. Priscilla Brouillette said she will support outsourcing, because it insulates the district from rising benefit and pension costs. She said she is impressed by the professionalism of SODEXO and believes they will bring the district superior cleaning to what the in-house operation can currently provide. The vote is 2-2.

9:51 p.m. Board member Karen Bolsen is concerned that private firms are under no obligation to hire district employees, and won't pay living wages. With an 18 percent fund balance, she said, "this is a rainy day fund and it is pouring," she said. Bolsen is voting in favor of the motion; it's 2-1.

9:45 p.m. Board member Frank Reid said nothing takes priority over the district's students. He said he was moved by the efforts of the Association to reach the goals that were set, but they weren't met. He is really concerned about the on-going finances for the district, and he won't support the motion. We're at 1-1.

9:45 p.m. Brauer will cast her vote in favor of the motion "because I want to keep our family together."

9:43 p.m. Debby Brauer starts board comments with a great quote: "What a roller coaster." The one thing that has come through, she said, is that everyone has pulled together to make it work.

9:41 p.m. There are no more comment cards, public comment is closed. Board deliberations are about to begin.

9:31 p.m. Stephanie Riley is the child of two retired Farmington Schools administrators and the parent of a North Farmington graduate. She works for the district and said she came to Farmington Schools to give back to the children what she got as a child in the district.

9:29 p.m. "I appreciate the board's courage in making the right decision ... I am confident we can rebuild the relationship that was damaged in this process," Laurie Moore, executive director for Farmington Coordinating Council, said.

9:15 p.m. Mary Bohme got rid of her gum in the speech she was going to give, after hearing the motion. She said the district had restored hope that she and others had lost. Wallach thanked her for not putting the gum under a desk.

9:12 p.m. Richard Green, who heads up the Farmington Coordinating Council, said he's certain the union can meet the conditions set forth. He said he really wishes the district had started working with the union from the beginning. "Give us the opportunity to prove we're here for the children ... that we're here for the district," he said.

9:04 p.m. Greg Green's mother worked for the district, and his daughter now works for the district. "Being in a school district, it's just fun. You're excited about coming to work, you're happy to be there," he said.

9:01 p.m. A district employee is talking about problems with SODEXO, including a number of lawsuits and contracts lost, because the terms of their contracts were not met. I did a Google search on some of those allegations and found this: cleanupsodexo.org

8:45 p.m. It's kind of amazing how many employees of the district have lived here for years, were raised here and are now raising their children here.

8:38 p.m. Retired Uniserv director Zan Alley came to the meeting because she was concerned about the threat of privatization. She fears the relationship between the district has been harmed by the fact that officials did this under the threat of privatization. "Don't make me come back again," she said.

8:32 p.m. Clay also made the same motion, with the same conditions, for the transportation services contract. Wallach explains that this is a self-executing motion. If it is approved, the contract proposals made on May 6 are accepted, provided each of the units ratify contracts by May 17, 5 p.m. If that does not occur, the district goes with the outsourcing contracts, with no further action required.

8:30 p.m. The motion by Sheilah Clay, which includes a lengthy intro, is to accept the proposal from the unions, provided the unions ratify a tentative agreement with the district that includes the proposal conditions, before May 16, 2011 by 5 p.m. If the agreement isn't ratified, the district goes with SODEXO, the successful private bidder for custodial services and issues layoff notices to employees. That got a big round of applause.

8:25 p.m. After recapping what happened at the last meeting, Ruhland is reporting on work to date with the unions. Board president Howard Wallach met last Thursday night with each of the bargaining groups. Ruhland called the concessions given by the union "significant". They represent a savings each year of $2.3 million in wage cuts, increased benefit contributions, vacation and holiday time accruals and more. The groups did not reach the target, but they did make a "good faith effort" and reflect a "deep desire to remain employees of Farmington Schools." All those factors deserve consideration, he said.

Wallach is holidng 30 comment cards – and they're still coming.

8:21 p.m. Dave Ruhland will be speaking next on the RFPs, to bring everyone up to date.

8:13 p.m. The District purchases 38,000 pizzas every year, according to Executive Director of Business Mary Reynolds. They're looking for bids for those pizzas; Reynolds said the bids will apply whether the district purchases the pizzas or they are purchased by an outside vendor. The District will also look for bids to upgrade its computer network, going from one gigabit to 10 gigabits – for those of you who know that means.

7:40 p.m. Board member Karen Bolsen provided a legislative update, noting the recent that would result in large reductions to per pupil funding. She urged citizens to contact their state legislators, noting that with adequate funding "perhaps we wouldn't be where we are tonight."

First item under Evidence of Excellence: Congratulations to Farmington Schools United Percussion Ensembles, all of which earned top honors in state competition.