Meeting Minutes: Spring Lake Public Schools Board of Education

What is the body?

The Spring Lake Public School Board is the seven-member board whose members are elected to govern the Spring Lake Public Schools district.

• When: 6 p.m. Monday, Sept. 21, 2026
• Where: The Media Center at the Spring Lake Intermediate School, 345 Hammond St., Spring Lake
• Duration of meeting: 20 minutes.
• Members present: President Jennifer Nicles, Vice President Kelly VanderHoek, Secretary Curt Theune, Treasurer Christopher Beck and Trustees Dustin Brown, Trustee Paul Aldridge and Trustee Courtney Holmes.
• Agenda: The agenda can be found online here.
• Packet: No supporting materials for the agenda were available to the public.
• Agenda amendments: No amendments were made to the agenda.

Consent agenda

• The regular meeting minutes were approved for Aug. 17.
• The following items were approved in the financial reports:
  • Accounts Payable: Food Service, SLCFAC, General Fund, Student Activity, etc., totaling $3,122,061.
  • Payroll: $2,485,559

Action items

1. Motion to approve the following new hires:
   1. Karlee Husmann, Shared-Time PE Teacher, St. Mary’s School Suni VanDamme, SE Paraprofessional, SL Intermediate School
      1. Vote: Approved unanimously (voice vote).
2. Motion to approve Spring Lake High School Travel Club France Trip for summer break of 2028:
   1. Vote: Approved unanimously (voice vote).

Closed session

The published agenda listed two reasons for closed session: property discussion and superintendent's quarterly evaluation.

However, the chair dismissed attendees in advance of the board going into closed session.

According to the Michigan Open Meetings Act, public bodies must conduct a roll call vote during an open meeting and state the specific purpose of the session to enter a closed meeting. The vote must be a two-thirds majority of the body's members and the specific statutory purpose for the closed session must be entered into the open meeting's minutes.

The OMA is silent as to how to leave a closed session. A motion may be made to end the closed session with a majority vote needed for approval. While this is a decision made in a closed session, it is not a decision that “effectuates or formulates public policy.”

When the public body has concluded its closed session, the open meeting minutes should state the time the public body reconvened in open session and any votes on matters discussed in the closed session must occur in an open meeting.

— Submitted by Karen Obits