Prank killed uncle

Dear Editor,

In the early morning hours of Sunday, Nov. 6, 1977, Kelly Leroy Nadeau was struck and killed by an automobile on the corner of M-15 and Perry Road. Kelly had stopped to move some barricades in the road on M-15 that someone had placed there as a prank.

This prank cost Kelly his life.

He was married and had a beautiful daughter, three days old. She would never know her father except for the stories that family and friends would tell her. Kelly was a wonderful person who enjoyed life and lived it to the fullest. At the age of 23 his life ended and the hole in the hearts of everyone that knew him started and has since grown. We miss and love him very much. It has been 39 years and we are hoping someone out there knows who the pranksters were that placed the barricades in the road and will come forth.

Kelly has not been forgotten by his family and friends. If you have any information please contact Michael at 810-614-7982 or 989-795-2655.

Michael Greenwood

Spotless financial audit

Dear Ortonville-Brandon community,

As a school district, our business is teaching and learning. Everything that we do directly or indirectly connects with our primary mission of doing what is best for the youth of this community. One of the often underappreciated duties that we have as a school district is to appropriately manage our district’s annual and long-range budget. This is an area that takes great discipline, long-range planning, and teamwork. While this area has always demanded our best work, the following are a few financial variables that have made our work even more important over the past decade:

· State per-pupil funding decreased by $470 per student in 2010 and is just now returning to that level.

· Like people across the nation, we have seen massive increases in employee health care costs.

· Retirement costs to districts have more than doubled in the past 15 years.

· Enrollment fluctuations have negatively impacted 70 percent of districts in the State as a result of the State’s declining birthrate, the opening of hundreds of charter schools across the State and the expansion of school-of-choice options.

· Operational challenges such as our waste water treatment issues continue to grow as our facilities age and must be maintained.

Through all of this, the Brandon School District has made the tough decisions and done so while continuing to improve student test scores. With this in mind, I would like to highlight three indicators that highlight our board of education and financial team’s commitment to outstanding fiscal stewardship:

· Spotless Financial Audit – Our district’s financial team, led by CFO Jan Meek, received yet another perfect audit this fall.

· Balanced Budget – The district has had a balanced budget for each of the last 3 years after several years of deficit budgets.

· Fund Balance Growth – Fund balance refers to a district’s rainy day fund. The State of Michigan is very concerned with any district that is at or below 5 percent. Brandon has been able to significantly increase its fund balance from the 5.7 percent level it was at in 2013.

While we have so much to do and challenges such as the waste water treatment plant ahead of us, we want the community to know that we are and will continue using resources wisely. In the end, we know that these decisions will ultimately pave the way for an even brighter future for our children.

Have a great month of November! Go Blackhawks!!!

Matthew S. Outlaw