Page 8/The Sun and News, Saturday, June 19, 2021
with all the new changes and
the unknowns of what mid-
dle school would be like.
“But, to make matters
even worse, it made me feel
isolated from everyone else.
Even though I was the short-
est one in my class, the
teachers would still put me in
the back of the classroom or
at the end of the row because
I didn’t wear a mask.
Teachers would question me
about wearing a mask and
why I was not wearing one.”
Chloe went on to say she
had to undergo COVID-
testing every week to be able
to play sports.
“It was very traumatizing
and scary for me,” she said.
Chloe’s mother, Moni,
shared a story of an incident
toward the end of the school
year involving her daughter.
“A substitute teacher
yelled at her in front of the
entire class, telling her to put
a mask on, saying they had
no idea why she wasn’t
wearing a mask, and demand-
ed that they tell her the rea-
son why in front of all those
students,” Lomakoski said.
At times, the stress got to
be too much for Chloe.
“She would come home
crying and upset numerous
times after fellow students
yelled at her in the hallways,
demanding that she put on a
mask, telling her she looked
weird, and constantly asking
her what’s wrong with her,”
her mother said.
Chloe and Moni
Lomakoski were among
more than two dozen parents
and students who spoke out
against mask mandates and
other COVID-19 measures at
the meeting. Many of the
parents who attended are part
of a group called “Stand Up
TK,” which is part of a grow-
ing number of parent groups
around the state who are urg-
ing local school boards to
eliminate mask mandates
and oppose vaccination
requirements.
The parent group, “Stand
Up Cal,” made a similar
demand to the Caledonia
Community Schools Board
of Education last month, and
is expected to make another
demand when that board
meets next week.
The constant thread
through the more than hour-
long public comment period
in Middleville was to let par-
ents have the final say on
whether their children should
wear masks or be vaccinated,
not the school district.
“I do not feel it’s the
school’s responsibility to tell
me what is best for my kid.
That’s my job,” said Steve
Hildabrand, a father of six
who had a son graduate from
TKHS last month. “I’m
going to ask you to please
stop making decisions for
parents. Leave it out there for
us to make those decisions,
whether it’s vaccinations,
masks, whatever it may be.
It’s time to let the parents
make the decisions for their
own kids.”
Keara Hilton, one of the
organizers of Stand Up TK,
shared results of a Freedom
of Information Act request
she submitted to the district.
She said the district had 134
reported cases of COVID-
among students and teachers
during the past school year.
She said those positive cases
led to 1,186 quarantine
orders, where students who’d
had close contact to a posi-
tive COVID-19 case would
have to quarantine for two
weeks. She said the informa-
tion supplied by the district
disclosed that only six of
those quarantine cases devel-
oped COVID-19 themselves.
“Six! That is 0.5 percent
of students becoming ill as a
result of supposedly being in
close contact with someone
who tested positive,” Hilton
said. “Students missed weeks
of school – many were quar-
antined more than once – and
suffered depression, anxiety
and stress in having to con-
tinuously adjust to changes
in their educational platform
- all for a 0.5 percent risk of
becoming ill.”
Hilton appealed to the
school board and
Superintendent Dan
Remenap to speak to the
county board and to the
Barry-Eaton District Health
Department to advocate for
students.
“Be leaders. Our children
are counting on you, and
now is not the time to be
complacent or passive,” she
said.
Some parents said they
were ready to remove their
children from the district and
either homeschool them or
send their children to a pri-
vate school.
In an email Wednesday
afternoon, Remenap said he
would advocate in-person
instruction with no mask
mandate when classes
resume in the fall.
“It is my intention to hold
in-person instruction, five
days a week, without any
masking requirements in the
fall,” Remenap wrote in the
email. “This would only
change by a change in law or
lawful order. We want our
families to be able to choose
what they prefer in the fall.”
TK school board member
Sarah Alden acknowledged
the parental concerns
Monday.
“We’ve heard a lot, not
just tonight, but throughout
the year from our communi-
ty,” she said.
Alden offered a board res-
olution acknowledging stu-
dents, parents, teachers and
staff for all they went through
this past year, and calling for
the board to follow “applica-
ble” guidelines, rules and
regulations regarding
COVID-19, “while advocat-
ing at the same time for deci-
sions to be made locally,
where possible,” she said.
“Each student and family
is different. Each student and
family has their own values,
their own beliefs. We, as a
board and as a district,
acknowledge that and recog-
nize that. We understand that
to be extremely important,”
Alden said. “Our guiding
principle here is that we do
what’s best for kids ... pan-
demic or no pandemic, we
continue to be that way.”
After an amendment by
board member David Smith,
the board approved the reso-
lution unanimously.
Remenap said he hopes
the district is “at the back
end” of the pandemic, and
drew applause from some
parents toward the end of the
meeting about advocating for
students and families.
“I want to make it perfect-
ly clear that I will continue to
advocate for the families of
TK schools to have choices,”
Remenap said. “I also want
to say that it’s important for
all of us to recognize that
every challenge is an oppor-
tunity. Our kids are watching
us right now, in how we
cooperate, in how we talk,
and how we disagree.
“This is an outstanding
opportunity for us, as adults,
to model cooperative dissent
and model things we haven’t
seen on the TV for the last
year.”
162502
VILLAGE OF MIDDLEVILLE
COUNTY OF BARRY, MICHIGAN
NOTICE OF ADOPTION OF ORDINANCE AND
SUMMARY OF THE REGULATORY EFFECTS THEREOF
PUBLIC NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that the Village Council of the Village of
Middleville (the “Village”) has adopted Village Ordinance No. 2117 (the “Ordinance”).
The principal provisions of the Ordinance are summarized as follows:
Section 1 of Ordinance No. 2117 amends Section 70-131 of the Village Code of
Ordinances (the “Code”) to define “Service Connection” and clarify that it is not part of
the Public Sewer System.
Section 2 of the Ordinance amends Section 70-139 to provide that property owners are
responsible for the operation and maintenance of Building Sewers (up to the property
line) and Service Connections (from the property line to the main).
Section 3 of the Ordinance provides for the publication and effective date of the
Ordinance. Village Ordinance No. 2117 will become effective upon its publication or
upon the publication of a summary of its provisions in a local newspaper of general
circulation in the Village.
A copy of the foregoing Ordinance, Ordinance No. 2117, may be examined or purchased
at the Village offices, 100 East Main Street, within the Village, during Village office
hours.
Dated: June 19, 2021 VILLAGE COUNCIL OF THE
VILLAGE OF MIDDLEVILLE
Father's Day gifts...
for your kids
If you’re a dad, you may
be in line to get some nice
gifts on Father’s Day. But
your greatest gift may be
your ability to help your
children. One way of doing
that is to get them started in
the world of investing –
and making a few invest-
ments on their behalf.
Here are three possibili-
ties:
- 529 plan – If you invest
in a 529 education savings
plan, your earnings can
grow federally tax-free,
provided the money is used
for qualified educational
expenses. (Withdrawals not
used for these expenses
will generally incur taxes
and penalties on investment
earnings.) If you invest in
your own state’s 529 plan,
you might receive some
state tax benefits, too,
depending on how your
state’s tax laws apply to
529 plans. State-by-state
tax treatment may vary, so
you’ll need to consult with
your tax professional about
your situation.
Provided you stay within
certain limits, you can also
use a 529 plan to pay for
qualified K-12 expenses
and registered apprentice-
ship programs. And you
can even use it to repay
certain qualified student
loans, within limits.
A 529 plan can affect
financial aid, but its effect
is generally lower than that
of other assets. And as the
account owner, you have
control of your 529, so, if
one child decides not to go
to college or pursue further
education, you can switch
beneficiaries.
- UGMA/UTMA account
- When you establish a
special type of custodial
account known as either
UGMA (Uniform Gift to
Minors Act) or UTMA
(Uniform Transfers to
Minors Act), you are pro-
viding financial resources
that can be used for educa-
tion or another purpose that
benefits your child, such as
summer programs.
One potential benefit of
an UGMA or UTMA is that
some of the earnings will
be taxed at the child’s rate,
which is likely lower than
your own. Plus, UGMA/
UTMA accounts typically
allow a wide range of
investment choices. How-
ever, once children reach
the age of majority (typi-
cally 18 or 21) they gain
complete access to the
money and can do whatev-
er they want with it. - IRA – A child with any
taxable compensation, such
as money from an after-
school job, is eligibleato
fund an IRA. You may want
to open one on your child’s
behalf – and you can
“sweeten” the offer by
matching some of their
contributions. You can’t
directly invest in the IRA,
but you can give your child
money for that purpose.
Keep in mind, though, that
the total amount contribut-
ed can’t exceed your child’s
taxable compensation for
the year.
An IRA is a great intro-
duction to the world of
investing. For one thing,
your child can make small
contributions throughout
the year, so investing in an
IRA doesn’t seem burden-
some. Also, since an IRA
can be invested in different
types of securities, your
child can learn about vari-
ous investment vehicles –
stocks, bonds, mutual funds
and so on. Plus, you can
point out that, with a tradi-
tional IRA, taxes won’t be
due on the earnings until
your child starts taking
withdrawals decades from
now. (And with a Roth
IRA, withdrawals are tax-
free, provided certain con-
ditions are met.)
On Father’s Day, you can
show your appreciation for
whatever gifts you receive
from your children. But by
investing in their future,
you can gain some longer-
term contentment.
This article was written
by Edward Jones for use by
your local Edward Jones
Financial Advisor.
Edward Jones, Member
SIPC
CHARTER TOWNSHIP OF CALEDONIA
BOARD OF TRUSTEES
Meeting Minutes
The minutes for the June 2, 2021 Township Board of Trustees
Meeting which were approved on June 16, 2021, are posted at
the Township Offices at 8196 Broadmoor Ave., and on the web-
site at http://www.caledoniatownship.org.
Thornapple Kellogg Schools parent Moni Lomakoski
speaks to the district’s school board Monday night,
talking about the impact mask mandates have had on
her two daughters.
DEMAND, continued from page 1