News Photo by Reagan Voetberg Alpena High School senior Liam Kieliszewski talks about the robot that the Wildcat robotics team built for last year’s robotics competitions.

By REAGAN VOETBERG

News Staff Writer

ALPENA — The Alpena Public Schools board of education approved bids for summer 2026 Safe, Warm, Dry Bond work and reviewed the progress of the district’s strategic plan.

The Alpena Public Schools board of education met for their February regular board meeting and their annual strategic planning summit Monday night in the Alpena High School Wildcat Den.

SAFE, WARM, DRY BOND WORK

At the board’s workshop meeting on Feb. 16, Facilities Supervisor Simon Zolnierek said that the district has some funding leftover from the Safe Warm Dry Bond that will be used this summer on what he called “extension” projects. Bond work was expected to be completed last summer.

Work will be done at Ella White Elementary, Thunder Bay Junior High, Lincoln Elementary, and AHS.

Superintendent Dave Rabbideau said in a phone interview that there are seven projects being done at those locations.

The original roofing over the gym, band area, and cafeteria will be replaced at TBJH.

Inside the building, the science room tables and boilers at TBJH will be replaced.

At Ella White and Lincoln, the kitchen grease traps will be replaced, and at Ella White, a substantial number of lockers will be replaced.

At the high school, construction workers will be finishing putting up brown paneling on the outside of the gym and B House.

The board approved bids from Clark Contracting Services for $721,400, Versatile Roofing Systems for $598,585 and $253,800, Stanson Floor Covering & Furniture for $2,691, Murray Painting Co. for $13,900, Remer Plumbing for $454,517, and Northern Power Electric Service Inc. for $31,595. That adds up to a total of $2,076,498 for those seven projects.

STRATEGIC PLANNING SUMMIT

At the third annual strategic planning summit, community members and APS staff heard about the progress happening in implementing the district’s strategic plan in each of the five pillars.

ACADEMICS AND PROGRAMS

Secondary Instructional Coaches John Caplis and Melissa Jarema presented on the curriculum work being done at the secondary level. They discussed reviewing standard assessments with teachers and helping them create tests that accurately measure students’ understanding of the concepts. Caplis said they are working to create assessments that are balanced, putting equal weight on each standard being assessed.

WHOLE CHILD DEVELOPMENT

Rabbideau discussed the work being done to create a unified system for student behavior data, which was talked about in detail at the board’s Jan. 12 meeting. The goal is to ensure that data pulled from any building in the district uses the same code or wording to describe student behavior. The system will provide consistent, accurate data for teachers and staff.

PERSONNEL

Human Resources Director Michel Vilas discussed the 27l funding that will be distributed to all APS staff at the end of the school year as a bonus. The funding, according to the State School Aid Act, is meant to increase compensation for educators and offset normal costs associated with retiree health care benefits. The district received $524,000 total in funding.

Full time staff hired prior to Jan. 19 will receive $1000 at the end of this school year. Part time staff hired prior to Jan. 19 will receive $500. Staff hired after Jan. 19 will receive $500 if full time and $250 if part time.

The total count of APS staff at the end of the school year could change those figures, but Vilas said that staff will receive at least those amounts at a minimum.

FAMILY AND COMMUNITY PARTNERSHIP AND STEWARDSHIP

Rabbideau combined the last two pillars into one presentation and shared an update about the work being done by KingScott. In November. KingScott hosted a community forum to inform the public about two scenarios that would eliminate the usage of Sunset School and the administration building on Gordon road. Rabbideau has stated that no changes will take place for at least three years.

Rabbideau said that KingScott is continuing to study the district and using feedback from the community survey to update their master plan scenarios. KingScott is planning to host another community forum before the district’s spring break.

IN OTHER BUSINESS

*Representatives of the AHS Wildcat robotics team, including two students, spoke to the board about their team. They demonstrated last year’s robot and explained what it was built to do.

* The board voted to approve the purchase of 320 Chromebooks from Vivacity in the amount of $111,920.

*The board voted to approve the purchase of Fortinet FortiGate-200G next-generation firewall protection and five years of FortiCare Premium and FortiGuard Unified Threat Protection services in the amount of $19,427.

*The board voted to adopt the proposed 457(B) retirement plan amendment as presented.

*The board voted to approve the SOAR Room renovation project at Ella White School and the associated 10-year lease agreement, subject to the following conditions:

Final project approval is contingent upon bids remaining within established budget parameters and consultation with Alpena Public Schools.

If bids exceed the budget, the Board shall reevaluate the project before proceeding.

The 10-year lease is contingent upon the completion of renovations and approval by both Boards of Education, at which time the superintendents are authorized to sign the final agreement.

*The board voted to approve the 2026-2027 APS calendar with a student start day of Aug. 31.

Reagan Voetberg can be reached at 989-358-5683 or rvoetberg@TheAlpenaNews.com.