10.15.26
Zero-Mill Increase Bond Extension: Community Focus Groups
Recently, I invited students, staff, and community members to join an important conversation regarding our district’s upcoming zero-mill increase bond extension.
A zero-mill increase bond extension means the district can issue bonds to fund facility upgrades without raising your current school property tax rate. To help explain how this works and why the timing impacts our school improvements, we are hosting four interactive focus group forums:
October 19: Immediately following the School Board meeting
October 26: Immediately following the School Board meeting
November 2: 5:30 PM
November 9: 5:30 PM
All meetings will take place in the Wildcat Den at AHS.
These sessions are designed for open dialogue. Sitting in small table groups (5–8 people), you will have the opportunity to ask questions, share input, and help shape the future of our learning environments.
While we encourage attending all four sessions, your participation is welcome even if you can only make one or two.
If you are interested in joining us, please let us know by completing this Google Form.
Labor Agreement
Alpena Public Schools and the Alpena Education Association (AEA) have successfully ratified a new two-year collective bargaining agreement for the 2026–2028 school years, following an overwhelmingly supportive vote by both the APS Board of Education and AEA membership. Grounded in open communication and mutual respect, the negotiations successfully balanced competitive compensation for educators with the district's long-term fiscal responsibilities.
Key highlights of the new agreement include a 4% salary schedule increase for the 2026–2027 school year followed by a 2% increase for 2027–2028, as well as a hard cap of 18 students on special education caseloads to protect vulnerable learners. Additionally, the contract introduces standardized class sizes to optimize learning environments and establishes a joint Medical Insurance Committee to review plans and reduce out-of-pocket costs for employees and the district.
This agreement supports our Strategic Plan Personnel focus to attract, retain, recruit, and develop highly qualified staff.
Inclement Weather: Two-Hour Late Starts
As announced earlier this year, we are introducing a two-hour delayed start option when bad weather hits. Our primary goal with this option is to minimize the need to make up missed school days at the end of the academic year while maintaining the highest standard of safety.
When weather conditions are expected to improve enough by mid-morning to allow safe transportation, we will delay the start of the school day by two hours rather than closing entirely. Late starts do not replace full-day closures when they are necessary; rather, the delay provides crucial flexibility to ensure we maximize learning time without compromising safety.
Deciding whether to open, delay, or close school during a northern Michigan winter is one of the most challenging responsibilities a district faces, a challenge that existed long before my tenure as superintendent and one that will continue long after. Evaluating rapidly changing current and future weather conditions is inherently difficult.
Longtime community members may recall January 17, 2019, when rapidly deteriorating, unpredicted conditions required secondary students and staff to be sent home after first period. Conversely, there have been times when snow days were called early, even the night before, only for the predicted storm to miss us entirely.
Weather forecasting is not an exact science, but our priority never changes: the safety of our students and staff comes first. We will continue to make these decisions as early as possible using the best information available at the time, keeping safety at the heart of every decision.
Parent-Teacher Conferences
Parent-teacher conferences are approaching and serve as a vital connection between families, educators, and students. By strengthening these partnerships, we ensure our students receive the comprehensive support they need to succeed. Conferences are scheduled for October 29th and 30th; please watch for additional details from your child's school in the coming days.
These collaborative efforts directly support our Strategic Plan focus on Family and Community Partnerships.