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NILES — Brandywine Board of Education members have started the process to change their terms from four to six years and to also have student representation on the school board.

      Action on both matters came at Monday’s school board meeting. The meeting was held at the Brandywine Innovation Academy Conference Room after a year or more of meetings being hosted in the Middle/Senior High School Media Center and being available for viewing on YouTube.

      Board members and Superintendent Travis Walker first discussed changing the length of board terms at their Jan. 6 meeting. Board terms have been four years long with three or four board members up for election every two years.

      Walker noted earlier this month that about 60 percent of school boards in Michigan have six year terms. He said districts like Brandywine decided on four year terms because it was thought that it is difficult to get people to run for six year terms.

      Walker said having four year terms meant that there are potentially three or four new board members every two years. He said that if the length of the board term is changed, there would be two and at the most three board seats up for election every two years.

      With the new policy adopted Monday, the changes will go into effect in the 2026 election cycle. The four board seats up that year will be divided between two being for six years and two for four years. The board terms in all subsequent elections will be for six years.

      With the student body representation on the school board, the discussion earlier this month centered around getting student perspectives coming directly to the board. Walker said then that some school districts have already made that change.

      As approved by the board Monday, board members will approve two student representatives to the board. The student representatives will be able to participate in board discussions and attend committee meetings but will not be allowed to vote or take part in closed sessions. Walker will develop an application form for interested students to fill out.

The superintendent will arrange for the student representatives to have a place on the agenda in order to bring items to the board that are of concern or interest to the student body. The student representatives are then in turn tasked with bringing back board decisions to the student council.

In other action, board members changed the evaluation schedule for the superintendent. Recent changes in state law allows school boards to not evaluate superintendents annually but every two or three years if they have received the highest evaluation rating. Board members decided to do the superintendent evaluation every two years rather than every year.

Board members also approved the implementation of 90 day plans for the district’s strategic plan goals. The 90 day plan covers a variety of topics covering academics and programs, culture and learning environment, communications and engagement and facilities.

Monday’s meeting featured the start of a new monthly reports from district administrators. Monday’s reports came from Merritt Principal Matt Severin, Elementary Assistant Principal Melissa Foster, Middle/High School Principal Evan Winkler and Adult, Alternative and Special Education Director Elise Sorensen.

In addition, there was an academic highlight on an effort to improve math and overall academic scores. Becky Lokey reported that the district is supporting efforts to build instructional routines to guide students to better math proficiency. The effort is being done through teacher training and materials.