Adaptive Summer cycling, Kids’ Corner Safety Upgrades to water polo equipment, a third round of CARES funding was approved by the Saline Area Schools Board of Education.
At its June 11 meeting, the school board approved a variety of projects, totaling $50,070. These were recommendation by the CARES Advisory Council and were submitted by Brian Puffer, Director of Community Education.
The projects include:
• Adaptive Summer Cycling for PEAC
• Air Conditioning Completion Project for Saline Area Social Service
• Enhancing SHS Tennis Courts with Benches for SHS Hornet Tennis
• Kids’ Corner Safety Upgrades for Saline Parks & Recreation
• Kids’ Summer Camp Patio Space for Saline Parks & Recreation
• New Goalie Equipment for SHS Field Hockey
• Saline Varsity Sideline Cheer Uniforms for SHS Varsity Sideline Cheer
• Sparkle & Shine STARS CheerABILITIES Squad for Work & Play Special Needs Resource Center, Inc.
• Water Polo Equipment for SHS/SMS Boys/Girls Water Polo
Here are a few of the things the grants will help:
For the Kids’ Corner Safety Upgrades, “This ($2,675) grant will allow us to improve the safety and functionality of the Kids Corner child care room at the Saline Rec. Center through a check in/check-out system and replacing two key pieces of outdated equipment.”
For the Adaptive Summer Cycling, the $5,625 grant will empower “individuals with disabilities through cycling to encourage community independence, and healthy lifestyles.”
For the Sparkle and Shine STARS CheerABILITIES Squad, the $4,000 grant will “provide members of the Sparkle and Shine CheerABILITIES Squad with the uniforms and equipment that will enhance their cheerleading experience and foster a stronger sense of belonging within the Saline community.”
Puffer said this is the last round for the 2023-2024 school year. He said they will go into a new set of rounds with a fund balance of just over $77,000. He said they are always looking for applications.
For reference, SAS voters passed the CARES Recreation Millage seven years ago for 0.5 mills for 10 years. The millage provides annual funding for five specific programs and also creates a Discretionary Fund, which may be allocated annually through a grant process to meet additional recreation needs.
