Traverse City Area Public Schools (TCAPS) trustees Monday discussed plans to tackle several sustainability initiatives in 2026, including having all schools achieve “Green School” status, reducing food waste in cafeterias, and completing paper and garbage audits – with students helping lead the effort. Trustees also approved a new contract with Superintendent Dr. John VanWagoner and voted on board leadership for another year, with President Scott Newman-Bale, Vice President Erica Moon Mohr, Secretary Josey Ballenger, and Treasurer Scott Hardy all reappointed to their roles for 2026.

Sustainability Goals
A sustainability committee consisting of internal TCAPS stakeholders and community representatives – an initiative championed by late Trustee Holly Bird – has been meeting for over a year to set environmental goals for the district. The group now has a recommended “1.0 plan,” or a first set of initiatives to be tackled by the school system.

Trustees discussed the proposal Monday ahead of a February vote to adopt the plan. VanWagoner reviewed the goals with the board, which fall into four major categories including Michigan Green Schools, Food Service, Energy, and Resource Efficiency. Michigan Green Schools is a statewide program to help Michigan public and private schools achieve environmental goals. To earn certification as “Green” under the program, schools must complete at least 10 approved environmental activities throughout the school year. Schools can also achieve “Emerald” status by hitting 15-19 activities, or “Evergreen” status by completing 20 or more activities.

VanWagoner said TCAPS is aiming to have every school hit at least “Green” status in 2026. A “core belief” of the sustainability committee is “empowering students,” he said, with kids helping lead the effort to identify and implement environmental changes. For example, in the category of Food Service, cafeterias will have student “food champions” who support initiatives to reduce food waste. Waste audits – documenting the amount of food thrown away to set a baseline and reduce that volume going forward – and a potential partnership with Food Rescue are other goals. TCAPS is also exploring transitioning from disposable plastic cutlery to metal silverware in cafeterias.

In the Energy category, targets include completing energy efficiency and solar energy audits. TCAPS also plans to apply for grant funding to repair two broken solar arrays at Central High School and Traverse Heights, according to VanWagoner. The district hopes to establish an ongoing preventive maintenance plan for solar arrays. In Resource Efficiency, meanwhile, TCAPS plans to have an elementary school challenge in which students will compete for prizes such as extra recess or movie/game times with ideas to make their schools more sustainable or environmentally friendly, with winning ideas replicable throughout the district. TCAPS also plans to conduct paper and garbage audits, with trustees taking a first step Monday to reduce paper waste by no longer defaulting to printing board packets.

VanWagoner noted that the 1.0 plan is not the “be all of everything the group wants to do” but rather an initial one-year action plan. More ideas, including based on trustee feedback, could be incorporated into future years and plans – covering efforts ranging from composting to greenhouses to recycling, the superintendent said.

Superintendent Contract
After a year-end performance evaluation in December that netted VanWagoner an “A” effectiveness rating, trustees Monday approved a new three-year contract with the superintendent.

VanWagoner’s contract was set to be extended automatically anyway given his positive evaluation, but rather than add a continual series of addendums to his contract, trustees approved a new cleaned-up version of the agreement. The contract sets a 2025-26 base salary rate of $214,683 (a 1.5 percent increase over 2024-25). That salary will increase two percent each year in 2026-27 and 2027-28, with 2028-29 to be negotiated in the future but not reflect any decrease, the terms state.

The contract includes longevity pay adjustments for years of service that were extended to other TCAPS staff, plus other benefits. Newman-Bale said trustees and VanWagoner hope to incorporate terms in the future that protect the district from a trend of large superintendent buyouts across the state, applicable not just to VanWagoner but to future TCAPS superintendents. While not finalized in time for this contract approval, those conditions are still being explored with TCAPS attorneys and could be included in future agreements. Trustees are expected to have an in-depth discussion in February on VanWagoner’s superintendent goals for 2026, which will align with the district’s recently adopted strategic plan.